Posted: 1/23/2012 7:41:52 PM EDT
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Ok so I'm privy to a bit of information about a business that has been on a well since it was constructed. Now the city has run water to the property line of the facility and the building managers are planning on hooking into city water and sewer. My question is should we cap the well, would you be able to use it again? If we do not cap the well we'd still be able to use it but would the water quality be the same as it is now should we need to use it again?
The building in question is going to be a regional command center should a disaster strike the area. I'd like to propose that the building managers keep the well open JIC the city water mains are busted. What say the hive? |
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Most of the time, you can cap and reopen usually after a cleaning.
What I can suggest, however is hook up to the city but keep your well using the water for lawns, washing cars, gardens, livestock etc. Saves a lot of money that way and keeps your well active. Tj |
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Quoted:
Most of the time, you can cap and reopen usually after a cleaning. What I can suggest, however is hook up to the city but keep your well using the water for lawns, washing cars, gardens, livestock etc. Saves a lot of money that way and keeps your well active. Tj Yep, I'd want to keep my well just in case city water ever goes down. And, if you have need of water aside from what is used in the house your well water will be cheaper. |
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AFAIK you can't just "cap it". It'd probably just be easier to not use it. I worked at a well drilling company and we did a few well abandonment's. It involves pulling the pump and pipe out, preferating the sides of the well casing, and pouring a bunch of bentonite or grout down to plug it. This ensure that surface water can't contaminate the water table, and any pressure can't start flooding the area. ETA- at least in Wa, we use steel casing to line the sides, and the "Cap" that goes on top keeps stuff from falling in, there's actually a hole cut in the side for a pitless adapter where all the water comes out from. ETA-2 Might want to check local laws regarding well abandonment. I know many states require formal abandonment performed by licensed drillers if a well is not in use. |
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Quoted:
Most of the time, you can cap and reopen usually after a cleaning. What I can suggest, however is hook up to the city but keep your well using the water for lawns, washing cars, gardens, livestock etc. Saves a lot of money that way and keeps your well active. Tj These are the things I need. Thanks for the help. What all is involved in cleaning a well that's not been used for a while? |
| I like the idea about keeping the well to use for irrigation. We don't have too much livestock to wash/water but we do have a nice lawn and some trees to water. Do you think that it's viable to draft up a letter to a company explaining to them the benefits of keeping a well rather than abandoning it? I would expect that it would also increase the survivability of the facility should an earthquake hit and damage any water lines running to the building. |
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Quoted:
I like the idea about keeping the well to use for irrigation. We don't have too much livestock to wash/water but we do have a nice lawn and some trees to water. Do you think that it's viable to draft up a letter to a company explaining to them the benefits of keeping a well rather than abandoning it? I would expect that it would also increase the survivability of the facility should an earthquake hit and damage any water lines running to the building. Probably not a matter of drafting a letter, more of figuring out what the rules are. Some municipal water systems will require residential customers to cap a well before city water is connected, others will not. If the former you won't have a choice if you want to get hooked to city water. |
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Quoted: I like the idea about keeping the well to use for irrigation. We don't have too much livestock to wash/water but we do have a nice lawn and some trees to water. Do you think that it's viable to draft up a letter to a company explaining to them the benefits of keeping a well rather than abandoning it? I would expect that it would also increase the survivability of the facility should an earthquake hit and damage any water lines running to the building. Call a local driller, they should be up on the regs. I've gotten water out of 2" diameter monitor wells that were out of service for years, usually not too bad. You can always redevelop the well if need be. For wells less than 100', it's pretty reasonable to do yourself. |
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Are you getting city sewage or will you be on a septic tank? This question tends to determine whether or not the municipal water system wants you to cap your well. The reason is that in many cases they will assess your sewage fee based on how many gallons of city water you use in a month. They don't want you hooked up to city sewage and paying almost nothing for it because you are using your well for household water. Some will make exception for irrigation systems. Other will make no exceptions. Like the other guy said call a driller or talk to someone at the water department.
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I'll contact a local well driller and ask them for some information. As for septic or city sewer...I'm not too sure about what we'll do on that. I would like to believe that all of this stuff has been thought about regarding keeping the well open and all, but I'm just not too sure if it has. All this stuff gets my gears turning and keeps me thinking.
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