Water Well Drilling

[TBone]

I'm looking into building an off grid one room cabin on a piece of property I have back on a fairly remote little lake. It'll only be used occasionally as a little get-a-way for a day or two at the time. I hope to power it with a quiet little 3400 watt 120v inverter generator. For water I guess I'll have to put down a well but I don't have any idea of the cost. I was told by a person on the adjoining property that his deep well was about 120 feet deep but it was already there when he moved there so he doesn't know how much it cost. Any idea from ya'll how much it costs to dig a well and put a pump that can be run on 120v? I've got a 240v generator but it's loud and a gas hog. (My water usage will be very minimal)

 

[Diggin It]

If you're only going to be there briefly and don't anticipate much need, why not haul a supply with you?

Alternatively, rain collection? Using lake water? There are ways to purify for drinking.

 

[RalphVa]

Our experience was in putting in a well at a little place in Vermont. Think the well was well less than $3k at that time. Fortunately, our old 1986ish well here is still going strong but only slightly less than 2 gpm.

Definitely go with an outfit that can put in a brushless motor to cut down on startup requirements for a generator. In fact, you could probably get one that'll work on solar, 12v and all. Just use an inverter to power it from a generator. That's the way I'd go.

Ralph

 

[grsthegreat]

ive personally never run into a 120 v well pump......i guess they may be out there, but ive never seen one. on my well pump chart, anything over 85 feet needs a deep well submersable pump. ive wired lots of those in over the years and they have all been 240 volt.

maybe some well driller can chime in if im incorrect.


edit: just for giggles, i called my friend who installs well pumps. they do make 115V deep water submersable pumps. he thinks a 1/3hp it 1/2hp would work in a 4" casing, but may only deliver 2-3 GPM at a depth of 120 feet. he doesnt selll many 115 v pumps due to larger inrush requirements on the service. going to 230v cuts the amperage in half. makes generator starting alot easier, especially in systems without softstart or frequency drives.

His thoughts are drilling to depth is so expensive, why go cheap on a pump.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

How about a shallow well with an above ground pump, that's what I have at my hunting camp, I use it for washing dishes, clothes, toilet and taking showers, I use 5 gallon jugs of water for cooking and drinking, also put down a shallow well with a pitcher pump at our old hunting camp, it was 13' deep and we pumped out of it for 20 plus years.

 

[Jstpssng]

As somebody else suggested, run a shallow well pump from the lake and haul in your drinking water. That's all that many camps have, while others simply have a 5 gallon bucket and path to the lake.

 

[TBone]

How about a shallow well with an above ground pump, that's what I have at my hunting camp, I use it for washing dishes, clothes, toilet and taking showers, I use 5 gallon jugs of water for cooking and drinking, also put down a shallow well with a pitcher pump at our old hunting camp, it was 13' deep and we pumped out of it for 20 plus years.

That's what I'm gonna look into. There are a couple of springs that feed the lake so it seems like there would be water not too far beneath the surface. GPM's would not be too important and a pitcher pump would be ok too. Does a shallow well have to be dug by hand?

 

[TBone]

As somebody else suggested, run a shallow well pump from the lake and haul in your drinking water. That's all that many camps have, while others simply have a 5 gallon bucket and path to the lake.

I thought about that but the lake is about 50 feet from where the cabin will be and up a pretty steep incline.

 

[TBone]

ive personally never run into a 120 v well pump......i guess they may be out there, but ive never seen one. on my well pump chart, anything over 85 feet needs a deep well submersable pump. ive wired lots of those in over the years and they have all been 240 volt.

maybe some well driller can chime in if im incorrect.


edit: just for giggles, i called my friend who installs well pumps. they do make 115V deep water submersable pumps. he thinks a 1/3hp it 1/2hp would work in a 4" casing, but may only deliver 2-3 GPM at a depth of 120 feet. he doesnt selll many 115 v pumps due to larger inrush requirements on the service. going to 230v cuts the amperage in half. makes generator starting alot easier, especially in systems without softstart or frequency drives.

His thoughts are drilling to depth is so expensive, why go cheap on a pump.

Good point. THANKS.

 

[Deere Dude]

Any thought to run a line from your neighbors pipe?