accessibility to an existing well on an urban lot

[biscuits]

I recently had a 400' well drilled in the back corner of my 100' x 210' city lot. I am now making plans to rebuild a residence on the property and could use some advice on future accessibility.

The driller says there should be no circumstance that a drilling rig would need to revisit the well area. He did say it would be wise to leave access for a service truck that can pull the submersible pump when necessary.

Because my lot is only 100' wide and I am trying to design a single-story home, every bit of space is precious. If necessary, I can flip the driveway to the other side of the lot and design a detached drive-thru garage that would allow the required 11' height clearance but would rather not if it isn't 100% mandatory for the health of the well.

I have read on the Web about the ability to pull a submersible without a service truck but do not know if companies are offering that service here.

Any opinions or suggestions on the accessibility issue will be most appreciated.

Thank you!

[Texas Wellman]

What part of texas are you in?

I would not want a service truck driving through my garage under any circumstance. I've been on those tough jobs like yours where you could not reach the well easily, taken down lots of fences, and bargained with neighbors for access. One time we pulled a well by going through the neighbors yard (with his permission) but he said he would not allow that again. You need to be able to access the well, period. Yes, there are some mini-rigs that will allow wells to be pulled but I'm willing to bet most service guys prefer their rig, we never even owned one of the port-a-pullers.

Option two is to have it hung on poly-pipe. I don't really like this option but there are lots who are doing it.

[ballvalve]

Hang it on poly or plastic and you can pull it by hand. Maybe you could have drilled in front of the house.

[biscuits]

I'm in Austin.

What is the concern about allowing a service truck to drive through a garage that has a 12' x 10' commercial garage door on both the front and the back? It would be on nothing but a straight lane of paved concrete from the time it left the street to the time it backed up to the well head.

[biscuits]

Attached is a layout of where the well house is (red box) and how a drive-thru garage would accommodate a service truck.

[dlarrivee]

Maybe you could have drilled in front of the house.

He said it's already drilled.... Good suggestion though.

[jimtum]

There doesn't look like there would be a problem, I have a friend of mine doing the same thing and it is no problem.

[Texas Wellman]

Not a problem really. I would just prefer not to drive my service truck through anybodys garage but would not hesitate if there was no other choice. I would just make sure there was enough clearance. Can't recall exactly how much overhead clearance a pump hoist needs but 11' sounds close.

[Porky]

Pul-A-Pumps http://www.pulapump.com/ work great, but is there one in the area? Before I would let our pump unit go through any ones garage I would require the owner sign an agreement that the garage is clear and my company would not be held liable for any damages then that's do able.

[drick]

I'm not in your area, but I had to remove my pump a few years back and the well company used a Pul-A-Pump even though they had clear access to the well. It worked with no problems. I'd just check with well drillers in your area to be sure that someone had one.

If you go with the detached garage route you don't necessarily have to have a second door on the back. Just frame the garage as if there was a door there, then frame in the opening using bolts instead of nails to secure it to the existing frame. If you have to get the well truck thru it will be a PITA to remove the wall, but the odds of needing to do it are pretty low and this way you at least have the option.

-rick