Our well was drilled on Monday/Tuesday and we're glad to have this behind us. This was one item where we knew the costs were really not in our control since we couldn't be sure what we'd come up against or how deep we'd need to go. Miller Well Drilling did a fine job getting the work completed, a very professional crew. The driller, Bobby, took the time to explain just what he was doing, what to expect, and the options for us to consider.
The well ended up being 422 feet deep with 80 foot of casing. Casing is the steel pipe that keeps the drill hole open until the hole reaches solid rock. Our casing is steel but PVC is also used. Water flow is 3 gallons per minute (GPM) with a static pressure of 350 feet. This means that we will have 350 feet of water (about 350 gallons) standing in the well above the pump when it is suspended in the well. As water is used, it will be replenished at the rate of 3 GPM or about 180 gallons per hour. This rate should be more than adequate for household use, we won't be able to do any large scale irrigation or anything but weren't planning for that anyway. The driller also recommended that we install a 4" liner in the well as well because they had noticed some larger chunks of rock being brought up by the drill. This means that the rock/wall of the hole might crumble at some point and if enough rock fell on top of the pump, the pump wouldn't be able to be removed if needed and the well would have to be abandoned. We ended up spending about twice the amount of our well allowance because of all these factors, well depth, lining, and increased pump size because of the well but it's done and we're on the way to having our own water supply. If any well experts are reading this, feel free to let me know if anything doesn't make sense as this is the first well we've ever had.
The nice thing about having the well done is that we'll soon have a water supply for our trailer on site so we won't have to haul in water anymore! Here are some pictures of the well drilling.
A YouTube video is at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGlVIjsYUSw
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