Not really sure what I could do with this, or what I may find under it.

The wife has been leaning on me to do something about this ~4ftx5ft concrete pad in the middle of our back yard. I believe it is covering the old well which is still functional on a really old piston pump in the house. There is a 1" line that goes below grade from the well, into the basement where the pump is located. From what I can tell, this could be from when the house was originally built in 1937.

I was going to just leave it be and worry about it if/when it became an issue but noticed that since the previous owners had been using the pad as a fire pit, the concrete is starting to crack.

There is nothing sticking out of the concrete nor is there any holes or access points.

Any thoughts as to what I could/should do with this? I would like to replace it with something not so in the way, and move the fire pit to a better spot.

Any insight into how to approach removal of it if that is the direction I am to take?

Here is where it is located in respects to the house (I was standing in the hall on the second floor).


Here is a slightly closer shot of the concrete pad (Everything on it was actually removed and not burnt as seen there).

 

Dug wells like this were pretty common. Most have been abandoned and filled in so children don't fall in them. That may be the right thing to do here.

My grandfather had three of them and he had a manifold in the cellar where he could valve off two and use one. This was handy since not all of them had water at any given time. But all of his were over a foot above grade so surface water didn't go in and pollute the water.

You need to take the lid off so you can really see what is happening. Backhoe? Front end loader? Big prybar and friends to help? Maybe dig around it to see what is there?

He had to replace a cover once and I helped. We used 2x6's and poured a slab with rebar in it I think it was about 2" thick. Then we took a couple of pieces of the left over rebar and bent them and put the ends in to use for handles. We used those handles and some cable to pick up the cover. Maybe we used the backhoe, I can't remember, but he was old and I was young, and we weren't up to moving something that heavy, so I assume we used something powered.

If you are going to abandon it, then fill it in. Maybe you can break up the cover and let it fall in -- so what? less fill. We don't need to be reading about some kid, long after you moved, walking in his back yard and falling in because covers don't last forever.

 

I'm kind of reluctent to fill it in, but the wife has been on me to remove it's pump and tank from the basement (not that we really need the space).
If I take the pump and pressure tank out, I really don't need a second well.

If I do keep it, I'll probably make a new lid as I really would like to see what is under it.

 

Well, if you don't want to abandon it, you could make a new cover, or make a cute little well house, you know, with a rope and bucket? Or, put a 1 1/4" pipe in the new cover and then you could put a pitcher pump on it -- those are always conversation starters. When you have some friends over, you can show the folks how a pitcher pump works. Most people don't know . . .

But you definitely want to build up the sides. It's polluting the ground water now.

 

So... Replace the 1930's piston pump with an 1800's pitcher pump....

I like it.

 

A lot of people use a second well for irrigation. In fact, if you want to water the lawn much, a second well is an excellent idea. Why put strain on the drinking water well?

Drinking water wells only have to put out small amounts or water for brief periods of time tens of minutes. Irrigation wells have to put out large amounts for long periods of time hours -- so irrigating from a drinking water well puts a lot of strain on it. And if you strain it too much, it turns into Chinese fire drill time. Not having drinking water is kind of a bummer, but hey, at least the grass is green, right?

 

I was considering using it for watering the grass, but would have to run it unfiltered to save on that equipment. If I was to do that, I would have to run seporate lines to the outside as I need good clean water for detailing my black car.

We'll see what I end up doing to it. As I mentioned previously, I would like to keep it, but the wife wants it out.

 

"I would have to run seporate lines to the outside"

What you would do is mount a pump on the new cover, then run PVC to wherever you want irrigation water. You wouldn't want to use it to wash your car anyway. Then you would have to add a tank and all that stuff. An irrigation system works best when it is simple.

If you want to get fancy, then you can add zones and either manually turn them on and off or put in electric solenoid valves and a timer. This stuff used to be expensive, but not so much anymore.

Biggest headache is getting power down there to the well. I know this sounds crazy, but some people around here have a separate drop and meter just for the irrigation well. City water costs so much that they still save money.

It's probably better just to stick with the pitcher pump. Harbor Freight has one for ~$25. Works great.

 

The pump and large tank in the middle of this picture is what is attached to that well currently. Very simple piston pump and large pressure tank. Currently (thanks to some great plumbing by a previous owner) it is directly connected to the house lines AFTER the filter and water softener. The pump power is off and the valve connecting it to the house lines is turned off. This would be what I would run another line from to water the grass if I went that direction.



The pump does have a newer electric motor and 40-60 regulator switch. Runs like a champ.