Anyone dug their own well...?

[z4chris99]

we have a 40ft well and an old school hand operated pump and stone basin... it's pretty cool but no real use to u

[PoshTwit]

More ponderings:

At present, I have a mains water top-up connected to the rainwater tank which operates via an actuator whereby, if the water level in the tank drops below a certain level (IIRC ~10%) a ball valve in the tank drops and the actuator opens the top-up valve to make sure a useable level is maintained.

My current thinking would be to adapt this arrangement so that, should the level drop sufficiently to open the actuator, the borehole pump is switched on to top-up.

I can then alter the pipework so that in the event of everything running dry, I can have a bypass valve that will allow the whole system to run direct off mains, rather than mains -> tank -> outlets... Although I presume some sort of non-return valve would also be required to prevent rainwater back-feeding into the water main?

... Of course it's all pie int he sky until I dig a really deep hole in the back garden...

Found an extending (up to 10m) earth auger on Ebay that I think will do the job! Time for some test-holes methinks...

[Tazza]

Does anyone know if there is an way of identifying reputable bore-hole drillers?! The equivalent of the FSA for bore-holes?

I am thinking of a bore hole for domestic use including drinking water

Thanks

[PoshTwit]

Tazza said:

Does anyone know if there is an way of identifying reputable bore-hole drillers?! The equivalent of the FSA for bore-holes?

I am thinking of a bore hole for domestic use including drinking water

Thanks

When I get the auger - I'll come and do it for you!! I would not recommend actually using the water for anything though...

One of the websites linked (near the end of page 1 I think) is very useful for this, although I'm not sure there is any "regulation" as such.

[Steve_W]

Tazza said:

Does anyone know if there is an way of identifying reputable bore-hole drillers?! The equivalent of the FSA for bore-holes?

I am thinking of a bore hole for domestic use including drinking water

Thanks

Not that I'm aware of. Bare in mind that they all tend to have some sort of caveat along the lines of "we don't guarantee to find water" so you could just be paying for someone to dig an expensive hole!

Obviously there's a better chance if several folk around you already have working wells or boreholes.

[Tazza]

Thanks for the replies. Was I mistaken to think that with a decent filter, the stuff can be used for drinking (and obviously, more importantly), for cleaning the car?

[PoshTwit]

Tazza said:

Thanks for the replies. Was I mistaken to think that with a decent filter, the stuff can be used for drinking (and obviously, more importantly), for cleaning the car?

Too many variables to give a yes/no answer...

Suffice to say, some do use it for drinking, others just for watering the garden. Water quality would need to be tested regularly as some contaminants cannot be removed by a filter alone.

My plan is to use it to supplement my current rainwater harvesting system, so as long as the larger particles are filtered, it is fine for washing cars, flushing toilets, etc.

[Esseesse]

Any update on this?

My new house has a reasonable sized garden, and it'd be nice to be able to water it as much as I like without running up a big bill. Obviously, digging my own well/bore hole is more attractive than paying someone £6k+.

Came across this American site about drilling your own hole... http://www.drillyourownwell.com/

Any idea if it's possible to estimate your water table level?

[bill swizz]

I've used that system with a plastic drain pipe to drill a small borehole so we have water at the stables without having to connect up to the mains.

In soft soil with a water table only about 4feet down in summer and about 1 foot down in winter it was really easy, took about an hour to get fully working and using a solar powered pond fountain pump to gently pump water into a series of water butts we have more water than the horses could ever need. Once full the water butt has an outlet pipe that overflows to a second butt, and so on for the 4 butts we have, then when the 4th is full it overflows back to the borehole.

The plastic pipe of the borehole sticks up about 2 feet above ground level to prevent soiled water from the horses getting into it which might happen if it was at ground level, even with the return pipe it never overflows so I guess soaks back into the water table.

[Gingerbread Man]

I've plumbed two houses a drinking supply from wells. Typically a company came to site to check the water supply and they then specified the treatment needed.

Both times the treatment plant had been located outside in an out house but there is no reason it couldn't be located internationally if rooms available. When outside a frost stat runs a selection of bar heaters to keep frost at bay.

The treatment typically consists of a partical filter, (looks like a ball ball of string to which the water flows through), a neutraliser based around limestone chippings if required, then a UV light setup to kill any nasties. These vary in size and sometimes number depending on demand. This can then flow to loft tanks for a gravity setup or something like a Grundfos whole house pump which is basically a large tank with a pump grafted to the outlet, this provides the pump noise away from the house and a 3.5bar wager main, typically feeding an unvented cylinder.

Both of these have yearly services, limestone topped up, UV bulbs replaces, partical filters replaced etc.

Both are also their sole means of water, not an optional fancy.

[Esseesse]

Bill, that sounds really good. Was that at the bottom of a valley or something? How come the water table was so high/shallow?

I gather that you need to go deep for anything drinkable, for doing the garden you might get water without having to go so deep.

Found a really cool map with various past official/registered boreholes here... http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/home.htm... Amazed that the info was freely available online!

[Esseesse]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251200114710

[jason61c]

Now i'm looking into this!

Southwest water is one of the most expensive in the UK, I could save about £500 a year using pumped water for toilets/gardens etc etc.

Any recent blogs etc on how people have done it? I'd also like to build a well type thing in the Garden.

PH is awesome!

[jason61c]

Just to add, looking at the bore hole data for the one closest to me(about 30m away) This is the report....

http://scans.bgs.ac.uk/sobi_scans/boreholes/809878...

Does that mean that water is 1.5m down?

[bill swizz]

Esseesse said:

Bill, that sounds really good. Was that at the bottom of a valley or something? How come the water table was so high/shallow?

I gather that you need to go deep for anything drinkable, for doing the garden you might get water without having to go so deep.

Found a really cool map with various past official/registered boreholes here... http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/home.htm... Amazed that the info was freely available online!

The paddocks lead down to the river so are actually an old watermeadow, basically the water table is at whatever height the water in the river is at. The stables are built up 15 centimetres above ground level as then they are above the highest floods that the water meadow gets in the winter.

I would not want to drink the water because it is too close to the stables, but if I put another in for watering the garden well away from the stables I would perhaps go down two metres and see no reason why it would not be ok to drink as the current water is crystal clear when it comes out, but would really only use it for watering the garden.

[Esseesse]

jason61c said:

Does that mean that water is 1.5m down?

It does look like it doesn't it. I guess this might be water that is good for the garden and toilet, drinking water would be deeper? Some else will know better...

[jason61c]

Esseesse said:

It does look like it doesn't it. I guess this might be water that is good for the garden and toilet, drinking water would be deeper? Some else will know better...

Looks like a new project though

[S6PNJ]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

Been playing 'pimp my pump' today.
2hp pump and a 35L pressure vessel. Should be good to power a 300m sprinkler loop hopefully.

As I'm hoping to move into our new home soon which has a working well (so we are told) I'm going to be looking for something like this - where do I start and where did you get yours from? I take it you have some sort of filter where the pipe goes into the well do you?

[S6PNJ]

Cheers and Damn! I think our well is circa 30' deep so 9m or so, but I don't know if that is the base of the well or the top of the water. When we viewed the house, the well cover was on and padlocked. Notwithstanding the fact you are in NL, do you have any brand names etc I can google to see what I can find over here? We'll be looking to use the well as we have 2 acres of garden which my wife will be looking to 'cultivate' as it is currently just lawn (pretty much) with a few shrubs and bushes, no veg patch or flower beds to speak of.

[bimsb6]

magooagain said:

I seem to remember in the UK there were various pregnant women that over a period of years drinking well water gave birth to babys with some kind of problem(blue babies.

.?