Well, Well, Well

Water is basically the most important thing we need as humans to live. It even makes up 75% of our body chemistry. We can survive without eating food for around 30 days, but without water its a dirt nap after only about 3 days, depending on the conditions. So when you are building a home away from the city this becomes priority number 1. In the city you can pay to tap into the infrastructure for water and sewer and pay a monthly fee depending on how much you use. Easy enough right? When away the from the city it becomes more quite a bit more difficult. You have to create your own way of disposing of waste (Septic system) and obtaining water (spring water, trucking in water and storing it or a well). Our “best” options was a well. The reason I enclosed best with “” is because wells I have learned are a fickle beast. You would think well drillers would have a way of increasing their odds to make sure you get water. But it really is a guessing game even for them and they do not provide any guarantees.

So we return to our title “Well, Well, Well”. You have to say it slowly to get the irritation factor that is needed. Explanation below.

Well #1- We purchased the property and it had a well that existed but was not permitted and there was no information provided. Upon doing a lot of investigation we found out it was installed in the 1970s. It had static water level at 100′ below the surface and it was around 450′ feet of total depth. We took a chance, had it repermited, installed a casing (4″ sch40 pipe) and a pump. Upon testing it was only giving off around .05 gallons of water per minute 72 gallons per day. Not enough!!!

Well #2- This was drilled to 1200′ (The Empire State Building is 1540′ tall just to give you a reference.) The result? About the same amount as the original well. At this point we were very bummed out. But we chose to carry on.

Well #3- This was placed about 100′ away from where our second well was at due to the positioning of our leach field. This well was drilled to 750′ and we found water. Woohoo!!! +1 gpm 1,440 gallons per day. This will supply our home with enough water to keep us all squeaky clean and well hydrated.

So to complete our little fiasco it unfortunately cost us double what our budget was for our well. This will require us to be a bit more frugal in other areas but we wont have to worry about trucking in water and dealing with that hassle.

So a little tip, when you open up your tap or flush a toilet, remember how easy it was and appreciate it for what it is.