Drill or Filter, what would you do?

[drick]

I have a 3 year old 6 inch 375 foot drilled will producing 2 GPM. The iron content started off low 0.1ppm, the second year it was 2.4ppm, and it reached 13ppm the third year. I assumed the casing seal into the bedrock had failed as it the water quality seemed to be worse when it rained so I paid the well driller $500 to send a camera down and check it out. At 40' the seal looked fine. At 46' there is a small amount of water entering. The majority of the 2gpm seems to enter the well through a crack at 112'.

So the well looks okay. However the water quality and quantity suck.
Recovery rate: 2GPM
Iron 13
Manganese 1.9
Hardness 110
ph 6.62

My well guy want to install a $3500 salt based filter. He would not elaborate any more than this on the filter (I feel myself being ripped off already). I thought you were supposed to use chlorine and a carbon filter for high levels of iron ??? Anyway-

I want to drill another well close to my neighbors 20+ GPM well with near zero iron/manganese ($3700 to drill + probably $2000 worth of excavation to bury 200 feet of pipe and hoping I don't run into ledge higher than the frost line).

I feel like either option is a crap shoot. The filter would probably work and is cheaper (especially if I install my own), but I think it would use so much salt the department of public works would back up to the drain line for the filter to get the salt for the roads in winter. I'm thinking it would also be a maintenance nightmare. Drilling costs more, but my neighbor's water is soooo much better it seems like its worth a shot, but drilling is unpredictable, maybe I get 20gpm, maybe I get the same lousy water I have now.

Help me decide. Thoughts anyone???
-Doug

[speedbump]

Drilling the new well is a crap shoot.

That crack could probably be sealed off with a piece of pipe and a seal. I don't know if the crack is in Rock or in the Pipe, but a repair is possible. Maybe not with your present driller though. A filter is not the answer to water that bad.

bob...

[drick]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the response. The well casing goes to 40 feet. The small amount of water (maybe a 1/4 gallon a minute) at 46 feet is through a crack in the bedrock. My driller did say he could seal it off.

When he had the down hole camera in the well there was no apparent orange streaking below the crack, however the static water level of the well is within 10 feet of the top of the well so that spot is usually under water.

I don't know that the iron enters through that crack, however the surface water where I live does have a naturally high iron content to it. Do you think that sealing this crack is worth a shot or should I just stick with drilling a new well?

[sammyhydro11]

Before putting a seal in the well, i would seriously consider hydro fracturing it so it will produce more water. Once you put that seal in you will not be able to fraque it and you will be left with only 1 3/4 gpm. Develop the well, then seal it!

sammy

[speedbump]

I would seal it. You can do like Sammy suggests and have it Hydrofracked first. I would be curious to see if the water level is from the crack instead of the actual level from the aquifer. This would explain the high iron.

bob...