first time driller

I'm driving a well for the first time. My house well is 57 ft. I'm trying to drive a well by my pond to provide water for it when it gets low in the summer. I've driven down 50 ft so far and don't really know what to expect. The 1.25" diameter pipe I'm driving goes down at varying degrees of effort. I just went through a section from 46 to 50 feet that went very easy and quick. At 50 ft I heard the water run out of the pipe that I had put into it. I drove another foot and put on a hand pump and began to pump with no results. I filled the pipe again and the water stayed in it and did not go down. When will I know that I am in water and what will happen so I know when this happens? The well I'm driving is about 40 yards from my house well. I'm a rookie at this and would appreciate any help. The 50 feet I am down has taken me about two months to obtain, so I'm willing to keep going until the job is done. Again thanks for your help, the guys at my local well drilling place laughed at my questions and were of no help.

Those guys may have been laughing for a reason. I think at 50 foot you have gone past any shallow water that may be available.

Are you driving a well point? If so, what size pipe etc? If your not driving a well point, what is your drilling method?

bob...

I'm driving an 1and 1/4"galvanized pipe with a 42" screened drive point. Why would it matter if I went past the shallow water? Couldn't I get into the same water vein that my house well is also in? The water static level on my house well is about 10 feet below the surface. Wouldn't a well I drive also be at the same static level, so I could use a shallow well pump? Seems that everyone has had a good laugh at my efforts. Any advice would be gladly accepted.

I have seen very few people able to drive a point that far into the ground. I'm actually giving you a lot of credit for having done that.

Have you been checking every joint (five footers I assume) with the Pitcher Pump to see if there is any water there?

How deep is your house well?

bob...

first time drillerI'm sure the neighbors are tired of hearing my banging.

I assume my joints are tight because after every five foot section I fill the pipe with water. The water I put in is almost always still in the pipe. My house well is 57 feet. When I hit 50 feet with my self driven pipe I heard the water run out of the pipe. I have been trying to pump after every section I drive in with a pitcher pump but so far nothing happens. My wife thinks I'm crazy as I have been driving this pipe in the ground for two months. I built a teeter totter looking contraption using 180lbs from my barbells in the basement, crude but it works. I'm sure the neighbors are tired of hearing my banging. I tell them I'm practicing throwing horseshoes, I don"t think they beleive me!I won't give up, I just need to know what to look for or what to do the next time I hear the water run out of my pipe. Thanks for helping

Bob...

When are you going to tell him you can't use a pitcher pump to draw water up past 27' max... "physics" should I go back to my old post to remind him why, i.e. the water boils at that suction, you just get water vapor.

Rancher.

How is he going to get a jet assembly down this 1 1/4" well to pull the water if the level is beyond 27'? I say ask the questions first before you start slamming! It might be a big waste of time if you dont.

Sammy

Well, if the water is below 25 feet, it won't work at all. Even though I have seen an 1-1/4" packer jet. Somebody made one years ago, I tried one on a 28 foot water level and it wouldn't work. Go figure! I don't think they caught on real well and would think you would have a real hard time finding one today.

He did say that his house well has a ten foot water level, so no matter where he winds up, if he's in water the water level will be the same.

The fact that water won't leak from your five foot joints does not mean the air won't leak in. An air leak that can stop a pump from priming might only be a slow drip under 60 psi of pressure.

bob...

deerslayer44 said:

At 50 ft I heard the water run out of the pipe that I had put into it.

Click to expand...

I don't think he still has water at the 10' level.

Rancher

What I meant was, if he gets into the same vein that his house well is in, and the water table is still 10 feet, so will the level in his driven well.

bob...

Yes, but it sound like he hit a layer of dry gravel and all the water in his pipe drained out, at least that's what he said. Out here we hit caverns, and sometimes lose the bit down the well, of course that's not a 1-1/4" hand pounded well.

Rancher

Yeah, I read that part too, and don't quite know what to make of it. Since I've never had it happen to me. If he is that deep, and in gravel, I would expect it to be water bearing.

bob...

finally water

I'm not sure what happened, but at 53 feet water started coming out of my pipe. It ran for about five minutes and then settled down to about ten feet below ground level. I put the pitcher pump on and began pumping. The more I pumped the better the flow. I'm not sure about the physics tip I missed, but it does seem to work. I going to try and hook up a shallow well pump and see if I can get it to work. Should I quit driving, or try to go deeper into the vein?

I'm not sure what happened either. A well has a static water level that does flucuate over time, but not that short of a time. I believe that the water level is 10 feet just like your house well, but I can't for the life of me explain why the well would flow for 5 minutes. With an 1-1/4" well, 20 gallons per minute would be an awful lot of water. More like 10 to 15 in most cases where the vein is in a coarse enough sand. So if your getting that amount of water already, I would stay where you are. Be sure to give the top of the pipe a good clockwise spin until you have all joints as tight as you can get them. Then you can go shopping for a shallow well jet pump right here: Jet Pumps

bob...

Speedbump, thanks for your help. When and if I get a pump set up I'll let you know how it went. Again thanks!