Opinions on a well situation

[WNYBuckHunter]

Our house in Bristol, which sits on top of a rather large hill (1100-1200ft) has 2 wells. One is close to the house, and Im not sure how deep it is. The other is a shore well on the bank of our pond. I moved there last year, before the drought conditions got real bad, and the closer well went dry, followed by the shore well a month or so later, when the pond level got below where it needs to be. I ended up hauling water to fill the shore well (which has a 400 gallon cistern built into it) every couple of days until almost winter time, when we finally started getting rain again. Now that well is a pain in the ass to fill, as it sits 450ft away from the house, downhill, so I have to drive my truck back there with a 300 gal tank of water on a slope with sometimes slippery grass and a 30 foot deep pond at the bottom. Not something youd want to do in any type of snow. The well thats close to the house doesnt hold enough water to bother filling it.

Fast forward to early this summer, everything had been going fine running off of the shore well until we got back from a 4 day camping trip and found the back side of the hill completely soaked when it hadnt rained in 4 days. We went in the house and the water was barely a trickle. I noticed that the pond level had dropped a bit so I started investigating the issue. I ended up calling a well guy to come in and pressure test the line going to the shore well, as I suspected it had split. He found that it had, and quoted us between $4000 - $4500 to replace the line, as its a 450 ft run, and has to be routed to avoid the septic tank and leech field. Since then, we have been running on the other well, but my girlfriend is nervous it will run dry and we will be SOL.

I started looking at other options and came up with the option of digging a large hole in the front yard (I have access to an excavator) and burying a 1500 gallon cistern and run a line/electric into the house and tap into the system that the shore well is currently hooked to. The fill for the tank would be within 20 feet of the driveway, so filling it should be no big issue. The local town water supply is just down the hill from me, and I can get close to 1000 gallons for @ $6. The tank, pump, etc would cost us less than $4000.

The other option would be to dig a completely new well. I have no idea how deep we would need to go to get consistent water, but I have noticed that a fairly large number of people around us haul water all year, and everyone seems to have water hauling tanks and setups just in case.

In any case, what are some of you that are living up on hills doing for water systems? Any of you that have a cistern system? I do know that a house with only a cistern would be hard to sell, but we would still have the one well connected to the house, and I plan on running a new line for the shore well over to our garage, which is detached from the house, to use for washing cars, etc. as I wont have to worry about avoiding any septic or anything else.

[Arcade Hunter]

I have a 40 ft drilled well that kept running dry during the summer months.  I had two options... one:  drill the same well deeper to 100 FT.  At the time it cost 40  bucks a foot.  Since the septic was within 100 ft of that well, the drilling company wouldn't do that for me, understandably so.    They had to drill a new well.

The cheapest thing might be to drill your existing well deeper.  If the existing casing is still in good shape, they should be able to do it.  They may also be able to blow the well.  They will pressurize it effectively fracturing in inner walls of the well to allow more passages for the water to flow.  Wells are not cheap, so hopefully, they can get your original drilled one up and running.

[Doc]

Water in Bristol can be a problem depending on the location in the township. There is a lot of black sulfur in the ground, and drilling an expensive well can still offer up only nearly unusable stinky water. Down in the valley, we have sulfur and quick-sand and heavy mineral content (iron).....all problems. Also, there are a few places in town that don't seem to have a whole lot of water of any sort. A couple of years ago Bristol Center had to pipe in public water that came many miles over the hill from Canandaigua Lake. They just could not get any reliable useful wells down there. Take a tour around the neighborhood and talk to as many neighbors as possible to see what their experiences are. Also contact a local well driller (I don't have any names. My guy croaked many years ago) and get some guidance from them. Chances are they have put some wells into the area, and they know what the local aquifer is like. They also may have some alternative suggestions. Probably there will be no cheap options.

[DDT]

Call Jim Fraser@ 4552401.

Local, good, inexpensive. Fixed my leaking line a couple years ago.

[DDT]

I've been a lurker for a couple of years. Your post made me sign up. I'm in Bristol too.

[grampy]

24 minutes ago, DDT said:

I've been a lurker for a couple of years. Your post made me sign up. I'm in Bristol too.

Welcome to the site! Would be cool to hear some of your hunting/fishing adventures! Join in anytime! Look forward to hearing more!

[growalot]

Well problems are a PITA... yours seem to be really bd...We have lots and lots of water on our hill, saying knocking on wood...we are 1900 ft but we have to buy bottled water to drink....It was perfect until a combination of torrential rains and new farming above us ..e-coli contamination. IT may have been cleared up in the last 3 years but I can't get Mr. B. to pull the pump and bleach the system...It is a real pain...

Our new coffee maker has a cleaning cycle...and with this Avoca 5 gal bottled water the system needs cleaning all the time...you should see the crud that comes out of that maker, lines to pots bottom with calcium...He's just about ready to do the well and gets another "rush" job

I'd get another estimate or two then see if installing a new tank would be best...sounds like a well dug isn't a real option from your description. If you have an excavator available can you get a trenching bucket and do the digging your self...then buy the line and do the install?...If they are buying the material, they are putting a mark up on it I'm sure so you price out the cost of material to get an idea of what they are actually charging.

[Lawdwaz]

7 hours ago, WNYBuckHunter said:

Our house in Bristol, which sits on top of a rather large hill (1100-1200ft) has 2 wells. One is close to the house, and Im not sure how deep it is. The other is a shore well on the bank of our pond. I moved there last year, before the drought conditions got real bad, and the closer well went dry, followed by the shore well a month or so later, when the pond level got below where it needs to be. I ended up hauling water to fill the shore well (which has a 400 gallon cistern built into it) every couple of days until almost winter time, when we finally started getting rain again. Now that well is a pain in the ass to fill, as it sits 450ft away from the house, downhill, so I have to drive my truck back there with a 300 gal tank of water on a slope with sometimes slippery grass and a 30 foot deep pond at the bottom. Not something youd want to do in any type of snow. The well thats close to the house doesnt hold enough water to bother filling it.

Fast forward to early this summer, everything had been going fine running off of the shore well until we got back from a 4 day camping trip and found the back side of the hill completely soaked when it hadnt rained in 4 days. We went in the house and the water was barely a trickle. I noticed that the pond level had dropped a bit so I started investigating the issue. I ended up calling a well guy to come in and pressure test the line going to the shore well, as I suspected it had split. He found that it had, and quoted us between $4000 - $4500 to replace the line, as its a 450 ft run, and has to be routed to avoid the septic tank and leech field. Since then, we have been running on the other well, but my girlfriend is nervous it will run dry and we will be SOL.

I started looking at other options and came up with the option of digging a large hole in the front yard (I have access to an excavator) and burying a 1500 gallon cistern and run a line/electric into the house and tap into the system that the shore well is currently hooked to. The fill for the tank would be within 20 feet of the driveway, so filling it should be no big issue. The local town water supply is just down the hill from me, and I can get close to 1000 gallons for @ $6. The tank, pump, etc would cost us less than $4000.

The other option would be to dig a completely new well. I have no idea how deep we would need to go to get consistent water, but I have noticed that a fairly large number of people around us haul water all year, and everyone seems to have water hauling tanks and setups just in case.

In any case, what are some of you that are living up on hills doing for water systems? Any of you that have a cistern system? I do know that a house with only a cistern would be hard to sell, but we would still have the one well connected to the house, and I plan on running a new line for the shore well over to our garage, which is detached from the house, to use for washing cars, etc. as I wont have to worry about avoiding any septic or anything else.

How's the water in Lima?

[G-Man]

Why would you pay for a cistern when you can just have the well closer to the house dig deeper till you get flow you need? The water will be purer than cistern as mold will form on walls as it's drawn down.. I'd contact a well driller and just go deeper another 100 ft will be under the cost of your cistern or pump..

[WNYBuckHunter]

19 hours ago, Arcade Hunter said:

I have a 40 ft drilled well that kept running dry during the summer months.  I had two options... one:  drill the same well deeper to 100 FT.  At the time it cost 40  bucks a foot.  Since the septic was within 100 ft of that well, the drilling company wouldn't do that for me, understandably so.    They had to drill a new well.

The cheapest thing might be to drill your existing well deeper.  If the existing casing is still in good shape, they should be able to do it.  They may also be able to blow the well.  They will pressurize it effectively fracturing in inner walls of the well to allow more passages for the water to flow.  Wells are not cheap, so hopefully, they can get your original drilled one up and running.

I thought about that, but there's no way to get a drilling rig in there anymore. There are 40 ft maple trees within a few feet of the well. 

[WNYBuckHunter]

18 hours ago, Doc said:

Water in Bristol can be a problem depending on the location in the township. There is a lot of black sulfur in the ground, and drilling an expensive well can still offer up only nearly unusable stinky water. Down in the valley, we have sulfur and quick-sand and heavy mineral content (iron).....all problems. Also, there are a few places in town that don't seem to have a whole lot of water of any sort. A couple of years ago Bristol Center had to pipe in public water that came many miles over the hill from Canandaigua Lake. They just could not get any reliable useful wells down there. Take a tour around the neighborhood and talk to as many neighbors as possible to see what their experiences are. Also contact a local well driller (I don't have any names. My guy croaked many years ago) and get some guidance from them. Chances are they have put some wells into the area, and they know what the local aquifer is like. They also may have some alternative suggestions. Probably there will be no cheap options.

I'm at the top of the hill above the fire dept on 64. All kinds of water issues around me. The well we have has times where we get the sulfur smell and the water is hard, which messes with our appliances. That was one of the reasons I was thinking of the cistern. Don't have as much to worry about with the city water I can get at the town fillup. Just a pain to haul it. 

[WNYBuckHunter]

16 hours ago, growalot said:

Well problems are a PITA... yours seem to be really bd...We have lots and lots of water on our hill, saying knocking on wood...we are 1900 ft but we have to buy bottled water to drink....It was perfect until a combination of torrential rains and new farming above us ..e-coli contamination. IT may have been cleared up in the last 3 years but I can't get Mr. B. to pull the pump and bleach the system...It is a real pain...

Our new coffee maker has a cleaning cycle...and with this Avoca 5 gal bottled water the system needs cleaning all the time...you should see the crud that comes out of that maker, lines to pots bottom with calcium...He's just about ready to do the well and gets another "rush" job

I'd get another estimate or two then see if installing a new tank would be best...sounds like a well dug isn't a real option from your description. If you have an excavator available can you get a trenching bucket and do the digging your self...then buy the line and do the install?...If they are buying the material, they are putting a mark up on it I'm sure so you price out the cost of material to get an idea of what they are actually charging.

Yeah I'd be doing the whole job myself. The tank is the most expensive part because it has to be shipped up here from Georgia I think. 

[WNYBuckHunter]

15 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

How's the water in Lima?

Couldn't tell ya, haven't lived there in a year. Lol