Old well, should the water be so low?

[livingend]

I'm about to close on a piece of property that has an old well on it. The well head is 6 7/8" on the outside. I'm hoping to install a DIY pump jack/piston pump to move water for gardening and during construction (maybe an off-grid back up). I dropped a plumb bob down the well and hit water at 79' and then gravel sediment at about 85'. I know this because next I sent down a stainless cup and it rested on the bottom, came back up with white gravel in it and water so clear and cold. I don't know how long the well has sat with no pump or anything. It's got a block on it to cover it. It doesn't seem at all normal that the well should be so shallow (water depth). Can I install the PVC pump I want or is this well likely be unusable?

As little as I know about all of this, someone who know even less has suggested that the replenishment rate may be higher than I expect. I just don't want to go kit this thing out only to find that there isn't enough water in the well to pump.

 

[Valveman]

A regular water well submersible would be easier and better. But only 6' of water in the well isn't much to work with. I would try to blow out some of that gravel and see if I couldn't get another 10' of depth to work with.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[livingend]

A regular water well submersible would be easier and better. But only 6' of water in the well isn't much to work with. I would try to blow out some of that gravel and see if I couldn't get another 10' of depth to work with.

The manual piston pump is only a solution to lack of electricity at the site. If I position my piston right, keeping it off the floor and the tip low in the water, it should be able to replenish the 2-3 gpm the pump can move?

 

[Valveman]

A lot of people use hand pumps for back up. But you would need some really strong arms to make it pump 2-3 GPM under pressure.