# Well Depth - 400 feet?



## wesimkins (Jul 8, 2005)

Hi,

My family is looking into a piece of property and after speaking to the realtor he informed us that wells in the area typically are no more than 400 feet deep. Does this seem a little extreme to you? I have heard of 150-200 feet not being a problem but 400 feet? In his defense the realtor did say it would likely cost about $20,000 for the well and pump, I just dont want to complicate things more by purchasing property without water easily accessible.

Thanks for your thoughts,


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## shawnee (Oct 31, 2004)

Our well ran us about $6000 and we only went l70 ft. The cost was due to the fact that the fools didn't line it up with the other wells of homeowners near/around us and drilled 2 dry holes. They waterwitched AND lined it up with other folks well lines and voila! Learned the hard way; we budgeted only $3000 and had a hard bite...It wouldn't surprise me at all if that was the figure (possibility could even run higher) you may have to live with...good luck! That is pretty almighty deep....


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

Ours is somewhere over 360 feet.


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## coventry49 (Nov 28, 2003)

When I lived back in Maryland, I had a neighbor who had to go 1200 feet for a well. Cost him tens of thousands of dollars. Ouch!


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## wesimkins (Jul 8, 2005)

I didn't know they could did that deep 

Thanks for your input. I guess its not so extreme after all.


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

Here in Texas wells typically go 800-1200 ft.


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## snoozy (May 10, 2002)

Don't know what state you're in, but 7 years ago my well of 328 feet cost $12,500, including pump, etc. Someone just had a well drilled on the next property over, and the wellguys told me it would be $20,000 for the drilling alone now. So that sounds about right -- but there are lots of places which have cheaper wellguys than out here. Where are you?


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## Cornhusker (Mar 20, 2003)

Our well was around $12,000 2 years ago and went 400 ft deep.
that price included 3 new hydrants, trenching, drilling, pumps, pipes, tanks, the works.


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## heather (May 13, 2002)

Our well is 200 ft deep & will cost approx $4500 completely lined

A 400 ft well is not crazy -
In our township I've been told we have some of the deepest wells in the state at 700-800 feet.
That being said, I can't believe that a 400 ft well will cost you $20,000?  
Did you type that correctly?
If so, start getting quotes!


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## BackwoodsIdaho (Nov 2, 2004)

Well depths vary all over. Our neighbors (1/4 mile up river) drilled three 600' dry holes before they decided to develop a spring for water. When we drilled, I was nervous about the cost but we hit water at 90' and went another 12' feet to make sure. We put a stainless steel filter and capped it. The static level on the water is around 10' even though we had to go 100' to find the vein. I put in a 12vDC slow pump to a 1250 gallon cistern. All told, we spent < $3000. But, the only work we hired out was the placing the well stem - everything else we did ourselves.


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## Jan Doling (May 21, 2004)

My ex saved money by letting the driller stop at 30 feet...in drought times we now worry about it sucking up shale and sand instead of water. The neighbors have a 64 foot well and their water quality is much better than ours.


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## Snowdancer (Sep 23, 2002)

Ours in WI was 520'. It was already in place when we bought it but lightening struck and zapped the deep well pump-that's when we found out just how deep it was! 
It sure was nice, clear, icy cold water though!! :angel:


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

Backwoodsidaho- Just wondering (not to steal the thread) did you put the casing in yourself too? We are wondering the best way to develop an uncased 380 footer.


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## DrippingSprings (Sep 22, 2004)

First well was hand dug. Was only thirty feet deep and had a constant level at about 18 feet. Was 6 feet across and cost me 0. Me and a uncle dug it by hand. Second was a driven well. Alot easier but cost right at 350 to do. Then I started anew house and just built a cistern of cement that we filled via rainwater through a good filter and from the driven well. Cistern was the most cost efficient of the three when you factor in labor involved etc. We connected our rain gutters and could feel the cistern from empty very easily year around.


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## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

Wells in my area are between 500 and a thousand feet, sometimes more. Cost is typically between 20K-30K dollars for drilling, casing, pump, booster pump, bladder tanks, various electronic doodads like a wellsaver and floats, and a typical 5,000 gallon storage tank.

The county allows up to 8 houses on a well, so most wells are shared between several neighbors to absorb the cost to drill it & keep it up. (Our water tends to be saline & full of calcium and silt, so it's hard on equipment. At five years we've replaced the in-ground pump twice, and the booster pump to the bladder tanks iirc 4 times.)

Leva


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## kmaproperties (Jul 6, 2005)

we live in northern ohio and have many folks in our area with wells in the 350-450 ft range, and others myself included with 45-60ft. wells. we built a house 2 years ago that is 3 miles from my home and they went down 120 in one spot then the owner wanted to try another spot, moved the rig and ended up at 385 ft. boy was the owner mad at himself for that choice. so to wrap it up you just never know what you are going to get.


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## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

Drilled wells in this area 'typically' are about 200 ft., but I have heard of them deeper than 400 and as shallow as 50. Cost is approx. $50/ft. which includes the casing, but not the pump or digging below frost line to do the plumbing fittings, etc. That adds up to about another $1500 generally speaking. 
The well I had drilled was 140 ft. 
I can see a 400 ft. well costing well over $20,000, easy.


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## DrippingSprings (Sep 22, 2004)

I have always thought the ''deeper is better'' was mostly to line the drillers pocket with cash. I am sure in some cases that it is completely necessary. But in my neck of the woods almost everyone had a hand dug well fifty years ago and they never had a h20 problem. Everyone in my family had a hand dug well until about twenty years ago when ''city'' water came to the country. So they paid 500 dollars not counting pipes etc to run ''city water'' and pay 30-50 a month for what they used to have for free. Doesnt make sense to me. There were five in my household as a kid growing up. We all bathed, drank, washed clothes watered the animals garden etc all out of a thirty or so foot deep well. As did most of the neighbors. Now they all have city water that tastes like a swimming pool and in the last two years there has been two notices sent out about ''just letting you know that LAST MONTH monitoring stations showed we had more than acceptable levels of (name your fav nasty) and by the law we have to let you know" Of course this a MONTH after they FAILED that they let you know.


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## SteveD(TX) (May 14, 2002)

DrippingSprings said:


> I have always thought the ''deeper is better'' was mostly to line the drillers pocket with cash. I am sure in some cases that it is completely necessary. But in my neck of the woods almost everyone had a hand dug well fifty years ago and they never had a h20 problem. Everyone in my family had a hand dug well until about twenty years ago when ''city'' water came to the country. So they paid 500 dollars not counting pipes etc to run ''city water'' and pay 30-50 a month for what they used to have for free. Doesnt make sense to me. There were five in my household as a kid growing up. We all bathed, drank, washed clothes watered the animals garden etc all out of a thirty or so foot deep well. As did most of the neighbors. Now they all have city water that tastes like a swimming pool and in the last two years there has been two notices sent out about ''just letting you know that LAST MONTH monitoring stations showed we had more than acceptable levels of (name your fav nasty) and by the law we have to let you know" Of course this a MONTH after they FAILED that they let you know.


Best water I ever tasted came out of my grandma's hand dug well. Probably 25-30 ft. deep. Our place in the country has a hand dug well - 25 feet deep. I test it twice a year. Water tastes great, but has a slight iron smell. Iron stains is the only problem we have; could probably get a water softener to take care of the problem, but haven't so far. We usually buy bottled water to drink just because of the smell. Our "deep wells" in the area are around 600 feet according to local drillers, even though we have springs everywhere. Cost is about $14 per foot including casing, plus the cost of the pump, tank, etc. But I don't really see the point.


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## BackwoodsIdaho (Nov 2, 2004)

sisterpine said:


> Backwoodsidaho- Just wondering (not to steal the thread) did you put the casing in yourself too? We are wondering the best way to develop an uncased 380 footer.


No, I had to have a licensed driller do the casing and it is better that way. I would be worried about an uncased well esp. in north idaho where the soil is so sandy


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## computerchick (Jun 24, 2005)

wesimkins said:


> I didn't know they could did that deep
> 
> Thanks for your input. I guess its not so extreme after all.



We are close to the MD/WV line and our second well (the one we use for the house) is 1280 ft ;-p

Andrea


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

The well where we live, in Arizona, is 350 feet. We just had one put in on land 1/4 mile away that went down 450 feet, and cost a little over $12,000.oo.

Remember, cost of gas for running the generator if there's no electricity and steel for casing material keeps on rising, so costs are going up fast. :grump: 

As far as "deeper is better", I agree. When I moved to this hollow, there were 4 families, now there's 17, with acrage for 8 more homes up for sale. Multiply that by whatever and by gum, Maw, the water level in the acquifier keeps goin' down........


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## wesimkins (Jul 8, 2005)

thanks so much for all your replies! We are just looking at buying this property so nothing definite yet


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## LittleJohn (Jun 24, 2005)

Here in MO state law requires you to line your well 100 feet with bentonite and you need another 20 feet for the water to seep in (assumeing you have water at that depth). So its basicly illegal for wells to be less than 120 feet. Ours is about 250 feet I think.


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## johnghagen (Feb 3, 2004)

:bow: For all my complaining here in central IL. we have bored wells at 40 feet and a head of water equallized at 26 ft, 36 inches in diameter.Cost us 3500 six years ago drilling only.


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## pcwerk (Sep 2, 2003)

wesimkins said:


> Hi,
> 
> My family is looking into a piece of property and after speaking to the realtor he informed us that wells in the area typically are no more than 400 feet deep. Does this seem a little extreme to you? I have heard of 150-200 feet not being a problem but 400 feet? In his defense the realtor did say it would likely cost about $20,000 for the well and pump, I just dont want to complicate things more by purchasing property without water easily accessible.
> 
> Thanks for your thoughts,


You can find plenty of places with a well already in it...costs too dang 
much to drill one now days!
james


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## Judy in IN (Nov 28, 2003)

DrippingSprings said:


> I have always thought the ''deeper is better'' was mostly to line the drillers pocket with cash. I am sure in some cases that it is completely necessary. But in my neck of the woods almost everyone had a hand dug well fifty years ago and they never had a h20 problem. Everyone in my family had a hand dug well until about twenty years ago when ''city'' water came to the country. So they paid 500 dollars not counting pipes etc to run ''city water'' and pay 30-50 a month for what they used to have for free. Doesnt make sense to me. There were five in my household as a kid growing up. We all bathed, drank, washed clothes watered the animals garden etc all out of a thirty or so foot deep well. As did most of the neighbors. Now they all have city water that tastes like a swimming pool and in the last two years there has been two notices sent out about ''just letting you know that LAST MONTH monitoring stations showed we had more than acceptable levels of (name your fav nasty) and by the law we have to let you know" Of course this a MONTH after they FAILED that they let you know.



Dripping Springs, 

AMEN, brother! I can't for the life of me figure _why_ people are so hot to tie into a city water system! I'm on a well here, and there's an old well in the barn that I'm considering putting a manual pump on _just_ to have it. City water just takes out your worries of well maintenance and replaces it with worries over nasties. I don't like to drink water that's sat in pipes for DAYS anyway. (I water my flowerbeds first)


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## trappmountain (Jun 22, 2005)

We have a lot of natural underground springs here on this place. Our well is only 90' and even in drought years we haven't run out of water. All depends on how far befor they reache water.


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## Bluecreekrog (Jun 21, 2002)

My well is 20 ft deep, It has about 5-7 feet of water in it. Neighbors well is about 30 ft away on a direct line from mine, he uses his regularly and says it dosen't go dry. I don't use mine as the cost of pump, tank, pumphouse and such was pretty close to the price of putting in county water.


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## Swampthing (Feb 16, 2005)

$10/ft here in Kentucky, casing included. Mine went 430'.

Those guys are making a lot of money off you folks.


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