# drilling a well deeper



## backwoodsdream (Sep 20, 2012)

We are all about diy, but I don't want to touch this one with a ten foot pole (or a two hundred foot pole!)

If a well is dug to 200 feet abd achieves 1 gpm, what are the chances that digging deeper will reap mor gpm? 

1. Is it naive to assume that water has been reached so another 100' would produce a usable well?

2. Looked on county website at wells in surrounding areas. They were mostly 200-300 feet with a couple at 600' and mostly achieved 10-15 gpm.

Good creek on property for irrigation, btw. This well would be for family of 4.

Thanks for answers. Normally I just google the heck out of a project, but I'm really not understanding a few of the basic points of how a well works. Funny, I grew up with a well that my dad and uncle put in. Talk about learning how to appreciate. The basics!


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Check the surface elevation of those wells. With that you should be able to figure if the bottom of your well is below or above the other wells. Someone on the top of a hill with a 600' well could be higher than you. I don't know where you live but the land grant college in your state will have a geology department that should have geological maps to determine what formations the other wells are tapping. The state should also have a geological agency with the same info.

If there's oil and gas wells nearby the well logs can also tell you what's underground and far down it is.

Depending on where you live drilling farther may or may not make sense. Here it doesn't. I have a 400' hole in the ground that proves the point.

Talk to the drilling companies in your area for more info. Also find a dowser to figure out if the well is in the right spot.

It all comes down to you doing local research.


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## nickvree (Sep 26, 2012)

Geologist here: You'll want to talk to the state survey instead of the geology department of a land-grant college if you want to do the research yourself.

But I would highly recommend talking to a drilling company - it's what they do, and will have the knowledge needed.

and from my understanding, you want to get more water from your current well. If you drill deeper and the rock you're going through is in the same aquifer, then you would theoretically get more GPM. If you're at/near the bottom of the aquifer, drilling deeper won't do too much. _However_, by drilling deeper, you will get more potential water storage in your well, which could help during the peak times of the day.


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## backwoodsdream (Sep 20, 2012)

Thanks, guys. I plan to collect a few bids once we are local. Just trying to figure out the balance between science and gamble.


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## cnsilver (Feb 20, 2008)

We are in area where wells constantly go dry or water is never found on the land. Several subdivisions haven't been able to provide the resource. We use a ram pump to bring ours up from the creek 600ft below.. slow but steady. We be happy with that but if we do build the banks probably wont go for it and will have to drill. But I would bate to come up dry and $20000 in the hole!!!


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## Catalpa (Dec 18, 2011)

You don't say where you're located, but here in MI there are certain areas where trying to drill deeper on a low producing well will only get you salt. So definitely check all the sources you can, well logs, drillers, state college and department of environment or health department before making your decision. You don't want to just guess on this one and end up worse off.
One factor will be the size of your existing casing. Anything under 4" will be almost impossible to deepen.
Here's a good site for getting a better handle on wells: What exactly is a drilled well? - Wellowner.org


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## PD-Riverman (May 24, 2007)

I am no well pro but going deeper does not mean more gpm on most cases. I got a well that is 230ft and I get 7gpm, I have another one about 100yds away that is 52 ft deep and it produces 42gpm, I have another one 1/2 mile away 50ft deep and it produces 27gpm. Have another one 1/8 mile away that is 30ft deep and it produces 5gpm. To me the deeper the stream the more screen can be used, with a decent size drop pipe, the more water it will produce with a big pump---pumping. The 230ft pump is a deep well pump the rest are shallow well pumps. Alot of times the well can have the water----but the pump is not drawing it out. I had a pump that was pumping just under 1 gpm, changed pumps and I got 4gpm.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

1gpm is nothing to sneeze at, unless your wanting to irrigate acreage.... pump it at 1gpm into an above ground storage tank... and you'd get ~1400gallons per day. That's a lot of water.

Start redrilling and you could mess up and get nothing!


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## backwoodsdream (Sep 20, 2012)

You know I thought about that.. Texican. We have all the water we need from the creek for the farm. Former owners just purified that. They had a bit of livestock and a large (acre or so) garden. I juar don't know that I want to mess with filter/purify, especially since well was already dug. Maybe I will price out pipe for keeping toilets/floorheat on current system and plumbing only potable needs to abandoned well project. (Husband will probably say no way... but I am not opposed to being creative. Saves a lot in labor to do it ourselves.)


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## nickvree (Sep 26, 2012)

Are you finding that the current rate isn't sufficient for you? 

And when you say 1 GPM, is that how much your pump provides to your house, or how quickly your well recharges?


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## backwoodsdream (Sep 20, 2012)

Ok... re-thought the whole process... LOVE you guys! (Nickvre- 1gpm well was dug but not finished because owner "ran out of money")

So... if we installed a holding tank, would that be installed underground? What would that be made of? How do you keep it clean?

Off to google, but you all always have bettet answers.

Eta- Nick, 1gpm is what is listed on county website and what seller told us.


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## nickvree (Sep 26, 2012)

Hmm... not sure what an unfinished well would really consist of - uncased? Not finished to the total expected depth?

I've reached the limit of my abilities through the internet  I'd look into getting an estimate/information from a drilling company, they should do that for free.

Good luck!


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## Plowpoint (May 2, 2012)

There is not enough information provided to make a true assessment of your situation.

We know your well is 200 feet deep, and know your recovery rate is 1 gallon per minute, but how high is your water from the top of the well...that is what we need to know?

You can check that by using a string and small block of wood. Tie the long string to the block of wood and lower it into the well until the string goes slack. Mark the string and then pull it up. If the block of wood is wet, then you know it floated on the water. Then measure how far down the water was and subtract that distance from the depth of the well.

In my case, my well is 290 feet deep. The water is 17 feet from the top. Since a well holds 1.5 gallons per linear foot, I have just over 400 gallons of water always in reserve...that is before I even calculate recovery. Since a family of 4 consumes on average, 150 gallons per day I have WAY more water then I ever need.

Lets say your well has a static water level of 40 feet, a rather low depth. Even with conservative numbers like that, you have enough water in reserve to sustain a family of four. Granted you do not have enough to run a dairy farm, or start a water bottling plant, but I am surprised you are having a water shortage.


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## wharton (Oct 9, 2011)

PD-Riverman said:


> I am no well pro but going deeper does not mean more gpm on most cases..


 This is 100% opposite of the situation, here in northeastern PA. Setting a rig on top of an existing casing, to find additional, deeper veins, is both common, and usually sucessful. That said, my driller, who has been doing it since the 1950s, told me that it can be a tricky and difficult process, particularly if the original well was done with a pounding rig, as these holes can sometimes be amazingly out of plumb and twisted.


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## backwoodsdream (Sep 20, 2012)

County's website says well is 198', static water levl is 70', casing depth is 198', csg dia is 6

Greek to me.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Usually well drillers bail a well here after drilling to get GPM. Some newer drillers will insert a pump. Well 198,' water level 70'. 198'-70' is amount of water in well 128' x 1.5=gallons of water in well. You will need to size pump and pressure tank to your use so well is not drawn down too fast/long. Or you can install tank, above or below ground. If above you need a tank that will not let sunlight get to water as it causes algae growth....James


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