How to select contractor?


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Old 07-30-06, 12:38 PM
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How to select contractor?

Location: Central Florida, sandy soil

1) Knowing nothing about well, all I can ask is how much it will cost to get a 4" well. What are the important factors in well? Depth? Casing material? Pump size? Flow rate? Pump brand?

2) They say shallow well water is not as clear of foreign material (not for drinking but for irrigation) as deep well water. Is this true? I can get shallow wells DIY.

Thanks.
 
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Old 07-30-06, 12:52 PM
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Find some reputable drillers in your area and get some quotes. Most cannot give you an exact quote due to the difference in depth of the aquafers. I had a new well drilled in Ocala and it was $1600 for 130 foot depth. I lucked out and it went through a limestone deposit (which the driller said he couldn't believe) which was supposed to be better. My well didn't include anything but the drilling and 4" casing as they hooked up all the existing stuff I had from my old well that collapsed. Since it was drilled 4' from the old well, I had the electrical and supply piping right there. Good luck.
 
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Old 07-30-06, 01:03 PM
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1) I don't know who is reputable and who is not. How do I know who's reputable and who's not?

2) In fact, 2 contractors gave me a number about $5000. Nobody gave me a varying number like $100 per foot, etc.
 
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Old 07-31-06, 09:33 AM
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According to a couple of contractors, in my area, 200-250' will get me a good well (in terms of flow rate and purity). And it would most likely be an artesian well.

1) If I put the pump above ground, will the natural flow rate of the well be the pump output? In order to get 20-25 gpm, will I have to put a submersible pump in the well? Thanks.

2) If I use the water for irrigation only (15 gpm flow rate), do I need a holding tank? I wonder if frequent on-off would be worse than constant on.
 
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Old 08-01-06, 02:21 PM
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It's not that you are being ignored, it's just that you are finally coming across with some of the goods, like "what do you want this for?"

Did you know that there was a lot to this?

"East Central Florida" is a big place and the hydrology is quite different where I am on a ridge (the highest point in Winter Park) vs. Deland vs. Cocoa Beach. Shoot, a half-a-mile from here, water is 3 feet down and here it is 13' down -- to me, that's a big difference.

Also, there are numerous regulations and ordinances to deal with and two different water management districts.

First thing I would want to know is why do you think you need 4"? That's what you would need for a "deep" well (deep defined as over 25' drawdown level) using a submersible pump, but most folks don't use those kind of wells and pumps for irrigation unless they are in agriculture and then, they go bigger since they have to get a permit anyway, so why not ask for more than they need?

Permits cost money so most people try to avoid them.

I dunno about SFWMD, but SJRWMD doesn't require any permit as long as the casing of the well is under 2". That pretty much excludes wells with a drawdown level of over 25' since sumbersible pumps that fit into 2" wells are mighty scarce.
They do want to know about one that you have after it is in, though. In theory they will keep track of it, but they haven't for 40 years. Their paperwork is more screwed up than mine.

Most folks in East Central Florida use 2" wells for lawn irrigation, if that is what you are after. They can *usually* produce the 18-20 or so GPM necessary to do what they want. But here is where I think the old-timers tend to go wrong . . . they don't use screen. They create a bowl at the bottom by over pumping. Then in a few years, the bowl "collapses" and they have to put in a new well. I and 90-year-old man who started putting wells around here when he was 15 pretty much came to the same coclusion and that is the well screens are a whole lot better than just a pipe.

Okay, so now we look at the county. In Orange county, no permit is needed unless you go deeper than 40'. The diameter is unlimted. Keeping up with this? 2" less than 40' and your in like Flynn.

Now the City. 25 foot setback (if you are in the county, see what they want) then the city says "see Orange County" as the nuts and bolts of the situation.

I don't know all the rules and regs for well drillers, but I know that there are drillers out there that will put in a 25 foot well for ~$500. That does not include the cost of the pump. If you have a good well, a pressure tank isn't needed.

I was used to West Central Florida hydrology, so I was bit surprised to see how much different it was over here. I drove my first one and came up dry. Well, not absolutely dry, but 2-3 GPM was not enough. I noticed that I was getting into clay and clay won't pass water.

So I tried again and this time I went the Brady Products method.
The pieces parts are available at Home Depot, but if you try this, ask me, 'cause I got tips.
http://bradyproducts.com/documents/wellinstallation.pdf

Now this is for a 1 1/4" well. I went down 35' even though I had water at 13' because here I had many layers of sand, then clay. I put in 13' of wellscreen and I don't think that 6' of it is actually exposed to water bearing sand.

I got more water than I need, but it is loaded with iron. This was a shock to me because over on the other side of Orlando, iron is not much of a problem.

The City of Winter Park has several 8" wells down to 300' or so and they don't have iron, they have sulphur. Pick yer poison.

Now, you could be closer to the coast which means brackish water is down there. I dunno. Iron, sulphur, salt. Only local knowledge will work for that.

I found out most of what I know around here by asking the old-timers. For you to find a good well man, I would stop and ask the irrigation repair guys . . . they will know if they don't do shallow wells themselves.

If I were you, I would go shallow like I did unless there was some serious reason not to. There could be a serious reason to spend 10 times the money to go deeper, I dunno, but I would ask the old folks what they do 'cause I can tell you now, they won't spend a bunch of money on their grass if there is a cheaper way.

And I forgot to say that even though I had to put in much heavier gauge wire for the pump, I still made sure that the well was at least 40' away from my or my neighbors houses. That's all we need is a sinkhole swallering things up.
 
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Old 08-01-06, 09:41 PM
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Thanks for the reply. It was very informative. The reason I need a deep well is 1) I want to be able to drink from it and 2) I may grow trees there, say, a tree farm, and need a good flow rate down the road. I talked to pros (nurserymen) and they recommended 4" deep well.

I initially thought about a shallow well with multiple well points. But I was told that shallow wells have sediments and need more maintenance. (filter, etc) Is this true?
 
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Old 08-02-06, 07:37 AM
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No sediments in my 35' deep well. Iron, but absolutely crystal clear and nothing settles out either.

I don't think, in this day and age, that I would be drinking from a shallow well (under 25 feet). We just have too many sources of groundwater pollution.

Most people have two wells if they want irrigation. Irrigation needs low pressure (25 psi), but high volume. Drinking water needs are vice versa. That's why a drinking water setup has a pressure tank where an irrigation setup usually doesn't. Besides, once the 25 gallons (or so) in the pressure tank is gone, all the water has to come from the well anyway.

If you are depending on a well for drinking water, you don't want to risk screwing it up by overpumping it or anything. You can have a little sediment or sand in an irrigation well, but you don't want much of that in your drinking water.

The agriculture people around here that depend on water for their living likewise put in deep wells. But since they put in 6 or 8" wells, they are told by the water management district how deep they are allowed to go. Usually around 300 feet.

If you live in a place where drinking water wells are common, why don't you do what 99% of the people do that live in those places? Ask the neighbors what they are doing. The neighbors know a lot more about things than anyone else does. I couldn't ask the neighbors because none of them had any irrigation wells and after I put my first one in, I found why.

Only then, though, after I came up pretty dry, did my back yard neighbor mention that a next door neighbor (before the current occupant) had tried a well, 20 years ago, but couldn't get enough water out of it. And the long since dead neighbor hadn't done it himself, either. He had paid someone to dig it for him.

Did I mention that even if you pay someone, there are no guarantees? Ask the neighbors who they use, how deep their well is etc.

If you need general info on how wells work etc, then Fred Dungan's page is good.
http://www.fdungan.com/well.htm

also, this there is good info here:

http://www.lifewater.ca/
 

Last edited by Vey; 08-02-06 at 07:56 AM.
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Old 08-02-06, 08:01 AM
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Thanks again for the reply.

1) My immediate neighbor has a deep well. I didn't ask the size, but it seems to be about 3-4 inches. I don't have too many neighbors to ask around.
2) Local contractors say deep wells in my area go to 200-250'.
3) 6 or 8 inch wells: I am not in agricultural business. I cannot even justify 6" well on permit application.
4) Separating drinking and irrigation: I haven't thought about it. A smaller drinking deep well like 2" and separate shallow wells. Please tell me how much it costs to have a shallow well drilled and what kind of flow rate can be expected. I know you said a drill can come out empty. Any ball park figure will help my planning.

You also mentioned screening a well. Can it be done DIY or does it require professional installation? I read the Brady well point installation. But it doesn't say anything about screen. Thank you.

PS: Well location: Lake Wales, Polk County, west of Osceola
 
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Old 08-05-06, 09:09 AM
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DIY wells in FL. . . be careful!

Shallow Driven (Sand Point Wells) are fine for irrigation but due to so many contaminates leaching in the ground I'm concerned with drinking the water today. . . depending on the location and area.
Florida has very strict water well regulations and my not allow wells to be driven or drilled by DIY. I think they require a Florida licensed well driller to obtain the drilling permit and submit a completion report. A properly driven well should be clear and free of any silts. A well point and a screened well are the same in that they both filter out the sand and silt.
Properly driven and screened wells in the right formations are capable of supplying 80 gpm or more. Keep in mind that any well drilled or driven may be low or high in iron. There is a chemical (Rid-O-Rust) that can be injected with sprinkler systems to keep the iron in water in suspension (will not precipitate into staining rust).
 

Last edited by mattison; 08-05-06 at 10:29 AM. Reason: E-mail address removed.
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Old 08-07-06, 12:11 PM
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Thank you for the explanation. I tried sand point well once but had to give up. I used my neighbor's garden hose and didn't have enough pressure or flow rate. If you can give me a practical tip in addition to Brady Well Point Instructions, I will appreciate.
Thanks.
 
 

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