Did you ever think you’d like to drill your own water well?
Jerry Bonner of Bonner Custom Homes did. He put a plan into action at his new English cottage-style home at The Retreat. It never occurred to me that he would have a water well drilled on the property because he is within Marietta city limits.
Fact: There are over 15 million homes in the U.S. with water wells, and over 6,000 are drilled per week.
When I was driving by his neighborhood on the way home from work the other day and saw a drill rig mast piercing upward through the trees, I had to stop in and see what was up. Jerry happened to be at the job site, so I took the opportunity to ask him about the water well.
Here’s what he had to say when I asked him 2 questions about the water well…
#1 – Why would you drill a water well on a property where water is provided by the city?
The quick and easy answer is to save money in the long run.
Jerry owned a fully landscaped home a couple of miles from where the English cottage was built.
When he received a 1-month water bill in the summer of 2005 for over $600, he knew that the next home he built for himself (and his wife) would have a water well on-site.
Jerry tells me that the price of drilling the new water well will pay for itself within a summer, or two. That is a very wise choice considering that he just spent tens of thousands of dollars (my estimate) to have the new landscaping installed at the English cottage. The well water will mainly be utilized for irrigation purposes with city water supplying water for the home.
He used a water well drilling service (Askew Well Drilling) that he has had experience with before. And these boys know what they’re doing!
You can see from the photos above that there are 2 well drilling trucks. One truck has the rotary drilling rig and the other truck has the water well casings that keep the well from collapsing, and to keep the sand, rock and grit out.
#2 – How deep do you have to drill to hit water?
Have you ever heard the saying, “How much does a 2-bedroom house cost?” The same goes for drilling for water.
The men drilling the well had to drill down almost 580 feet through solid granite for this particular well. They hit some water at around 250 feet but the water pressure wasn’t sufficient so they kept drilling.
They wound up drilling to approximately 500 ft. to get 20 gpm.
They said that they’ve drilled down as much as a couple thousand feet to get a good well and as little as 100 feet, or so. Not only that, the depth needed to hit water could vary 50 feet over from where this well is drilled. Go figure.
How To Drill Your Own Water Well
For a tutorial that provides technical instructions needed to construct safe drinking water wells, check out Lifewater Canada, a registered, non-profit humanitarian organization.
How Water Wells Are Drilled
- Here is a basic description of how a water well is drilled.
- American Ground Water Trust provides a wealth of information for drilling a safe water well.
- See how much it cost to drill this water well.
- You might want to consider a mock rock to conceal your water well pump.
- If you’ll be digging a well, here’s everything you need to know.
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