# Old Fashioned Well in the Woods



## Gunga (Dec 17, 2005)

I bought an old house on some land out in the country. The property next to mine is a 300 hundred acre duck and deer hunting property. Across the road is a few hundred acres of timber management land. 
I was walking my property line with the hunting land and found an old well. The old roof has rotted off of it but the brick sides are about 3 1/2 feet tall and the brick interior down to the water looks to be in good shape. It is about 30 feet to the water from the top. I am excited to have found this old well in the event the modern well pump to my house fails. 
I would like to ask anyone with experience how I should treat the water if I ever need to use it. I have water filters which I will use but I thought I may shock the water ahead of time with a gallon of bleach. Is that a good idea ? 
I figure if I put bleach in the well every now and then ahead of time the water will be free of bacteria if I ever need it. I suppose I should take a sample of the welll water to the county extension office for testing also. 
Anyone have any other ideas ? I just want to have the well water available to use for an emergency.
Thank you


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## Waterwheel Farm (Oct 10, 2011)

I had one of those at my last place. It was 26 feet deep to the bottom, and usually maintained about 10 feet of water in it. Basically anymore that type of well is considered unsafe to drink from. You could chlorinate it, but because it is so shallow it will always be susceptible to contamination. It would be fine for watering the garden or use for other types of water. That's what I used mine for when my primary well pump quit and it took a few days to pull it and replace it. I installed of those cheap pitcher pumps on mine. It would pump, but if I remember right the limit on those is about 24 feet of lift, and you're gonna get a workout getting the water out. If your water is 30 feet down, one of those styles of pump probably won't lift it that far. You can always treat the water once you get it out of the well and make it potable via various methods in an emergency. First thing I'd do is repair the top to keep it sealed from critters falling in...or worse yet, kids.


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## Gunga (Dec 17, 2005)

Thank you for the advice WWF. I figure I will just cover the top with a piece of plywood to keep stuff from falling in it. I was just going to use the old rope and bucket method to get water out if I ever need it. Then I suppose I can boil and filter the water if I need to drink or cook with it.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

I sure wouldn't fill it in. 

I like 35% hydrogen peroxide for my water decontamination needs. The stuff is actually good for you in proper concentrations....not so chlorine. :yuck:
Use peroxide in the same quantity/ratio as you would the bleach.

Is all surface water adequately drained away so that none can enter the well ?
Are there any commercial operations in the general vicinity that would lead you to believe that there may be underground contamination ?

If I have water tested, it is by a private, professional entity, and not the "state" facilities. The state doesn't want anyone having access to anything but their highly chlorinated, etc. municipal water that you get to pay for, and, hence, I don't trust their motivation when it comes to testing water from a private supply.


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## SCRancher (Jan 11, 2011)

Yea I would use something more durable than ply-wood - tin roof material at the minimum.

I would have it tested for sure.

No idea about the bleach thing - I would do some serious googling on that one.


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## bee (May 12, 2002)

Ummm..not to be a "sicko" here but it has just recently been in the news about the authorities looking to close missing persons records from a 20+ year killing spree by a pair of men that were caught but would not give the dump locations for their victims. The surviving one is talking now and the authorities are working on their THIRD old abandoned WELL recovering bones,shoes, handbags etc...

Even if you don't have serial killers in your area animals can fall in and drown. Just sayn'.
bee


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## Helena (May 10, 2002)

Yes..please cover the well. Had a small boy many years ago that fell and died in an old well that his father years before that had placed wood over it for..safety. It eventually rotted and the little guy fell into it..took days before they found him. Even if it is above ground as your is...please keep it safe. What a lucky find !!!


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## secretcreek (Jan 24, 2010)

bee said:


> Ummm..not to be a "sicko" here but it has just recently been in the news about the authorities looking to close missing persons records from a 20+ year killing spree by a pair of men that were caught but would not give the dump locations for their victims. The surviving one is talking now and the authorities are working on their THIRD old abandoned WELL recovering bones,shoes, handbags etc...
> 
> Even if you don't have serial killers in your area animals can fall in and drown. Just sayn'.
> bee


Realistically a critter or two could have fallen in and upped the "protein" content. But I would be absolutely thrilled to have found a well in that great of condition. We have a spring and springhouse to refurb come springtime... It's not close to the house, the old well that was abandoned is somewhere under yard near one of the back doors... I'd like to see that one refurb'd too. I'm currently working full time for our small business for no pay so there's no extra money for anything but bills and food and an occasional car repair, right now. BUT I will keep bringing the subject up!
-scrt crk


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Sssshhhhh.... listen closely.... this is a secret, that not many living souls know...

IF you go without water for 24 hours, all of the little prejudices and worries disappear quickly. Two days, and you don't care what's swimming around it.... Have some means of purifying (boiling always works.... bring all the water to a boil, and let it roll a few minutes longer) it... filter, iodide, or bleach.

I've ran out of water twice in my life. Once in Arizona... a spring that should have had water, didn't. Spent 24 hours without, and realized if I didn't get creative, I was dead... at the end of my rope, I ran across a dead spring, with a few mudholes full of unmentionables... drank heartily, thru a bandanna, and was ever so grateful. Other time was in Alaska, stuck in a lava field...

Keep some means of treating water, on hand... even if it's for small quantities. When it counts, that 'nasty' water will be precious... and more valuable than someone's 'clean' water, inaccessible, because the grid is down and they have no way of getting it out of the ground...


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

Don't assume that well will necessarily have water when you need it either.
Bunch of strange stuff going on now, a drought could easily dry up a well in the wrong location or even water being diverted by some intentional or freak occurrence. 

If your really think it may become a necessity, put in a few cisterns. you could fill them from rain or drop a pump down that old well. Just cause the powers out doesn't mean you can't power a pump.


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## logbuilder (Jan 31, 2006)

As I look at my place and think about preps, water is one of my weaker areas. I have a well that is 110 feet deep so it has a pretty big pump that needs 220v. I have a generator that I can power it with but that takes gas. I do have stored gas but that is finite. I have a river that is about 1/4 mile away downhill. Then 1/4 mile back uphill with water. It would work but not easily. Of course I am prepared to filter the river water if need be.

I'd love to have a well that was only 30 feet deep with a big opening. If I had it, and I sure wish I did, I'd do the following.

1. line up a water pump so that I could pump it dry.
2. when somewhat dry, I'd go down there with lights and 5 gal buckets and start cleaning it out. Someone above pulls, empties and sends them back down.
3. once clean, spray it down with somewhat mild bleach solution from a garden sprayer. Have breathing mask and clothes that you can trash. Be safe. 
4. Now you have a clean well, a good starting point.
5. cover with whatever you have to keep things out. blue tarp would work fine.
6. Build a frame and a way to lower and raise a bucket. Don't attach the bucket and rope other than to test from time to time.
7. come up with a more permanent cover. several suggestions and thoughts about that already.
8. when it fills up, if you still have access to that water pump, pump it dry again.
9. let it fill up and dump a cup of bleach in
10. after a few days at least, take a sample and get it tested. As long as the water is not being contaminated, it is what it is.
11. if you ever need it, attach bucket and then put it thru whatever filters you have in your preps.

Sounds a lot better to me than hauling it 1/4 mile uphill.

Can you estimate how much it will hold? Might be a lot which would be great. You could do a quick measurement when you are down in it and later try to calculate volume. One thing you might want to know is how fast will it refill. A drawdown test would help there. But if you just plan on using it in emergencies, again, it is what it is. The one thing you would learn is whether there is enough stored and a good enough replenishment rate such that you are confident you don't need more. If you think you do, consider pumping into a secondary cistern.

Good find for sure! Isn't that cool when you buy property and discover additional positives. Kind of a lagniappe.


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## Gunga (Dec 17, 2005)

Thank you all for the great comments. I'll try to answer some of your questions.
I think the surface water drains away nicely. The well is on a flat spot but towards the top of a rise of the land. I assume an old homestead was nearby which has been taken back by nature. The sides of the well are in good shape and I didn't see any breaks in the wall.
There isn't any industry around here. The neighbor is a 300 acre duck and deer hunting property. Across the road is ownned by a timber management company. Up the road is about 100 acres of pasture with dairy and beef cows. 
I haven't figured out how deep the water is in the well. Now that I think of it I will drop a weighted string into it to measure its depth. 
I think it would take a historic drought to dry this well up. There is a 10 acre lake about a mile away and by my figuring the well water is about the same level as the nearby lake. Just roughly figuring by how far down it is to the well water and how the land rises from the lake to the well. I'm guessing the well water is at the level of the local water table.
Forerunner- thanks for the hydrogen peroxide tip. I hadn't heard or thought of that before.

There is a lot of moss and algae in the water and on the sides of the well. I'm not sure what that says about the potability of the water.


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## ldc (Oct 11, 2006)

The moss and algae are responding to the ph of the brick sides of the well; the green stuff in the well suggests it isn't regularly added to by an underground spring. I'd worry about e-coli from the cattle farm up the road; ground water both spreads and seeps! That's the "why" to test it! Good luck, ldc


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## Vickie44 (Jul 27, 2010)

Found a similar well by my place , still has hand pump but no innerds( leathers ), ground level and open except for some metal supports laid over . It is 30ft deep with 10ft water. My plan was to throw a couple HTH tablets in there and cover it over , wait a while and then check the water, just so I know what I have. I think I would like to fix the pump also


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