Need help with water well

[CHICKENHEAD]

Today while I was clearing my land off with my tractor, I came across a hole in the ground that was covered with some steel slates. After further careful inspection I found the hole to be an old water well. The well has no pipe or casing and is around 24" wide. I dropped a rock in the hole and it took about 10-15 seconds before I heard anything. Is there anyway I could test to see if this well would be worth running a pump down and using it for irrigation? There is no telling how old it is. Is there anyway of knowing if there is actually water in it?

[haypoint]

Tie a washer on some cotton string. Let it down the well until you can "feel" the washer on the bottom. Tie a knot so you'll know the total depth. Then as you pull it up, check the string for wetness, that's your water depth.
Then get yourself a pump and see if you can empty it. If you have a replentishment faster than you can pump it out, then it may be a sourse of irrigation water.

[Windy in Kansas]

If it took 10-15 seconds for the rock to hit water it is probably so deep that it would not be cost effective to use for irrigation if there are other sources available.

[ginnie5]

we too have an old well on our property. We checked it and it was like 68' deep with water 14' down. We put a pump (hand) on it, pumped out what was in the pipe and that was it. What a waste of time and $ since we had to buy the pump. Hope yours turns out better.

[dunewalker]

On a sunny day, get a large piece of mirror and reflect the sunlight down the well. You might be able to see how far it is, & if there is water, and the condition of the walls.

[crafty2002]

When I was in jump school they taught us that an object fell 16 feet the first second while picking up speed. It fell 32 feet per second the next second and it had reached the maximum speed it could fall then. So if it fell for 10 seconds it is a little over 300 feet deep. 15 seconds it would be over 450 feet deep.
Unless you have enough wind and build a wind mill to pump the water it would be costly to use for irrigation but on the other hand, if you had a drip system that only dripped water at the base of each plant and you have dry weather it may be well worth the time and money.

Hay point is right about the string but I would use someting heavier than a washer unless it's a big washer. A 1/2" bolt 2 or 3" long would be better.

But be very careful around the edge og that well. A well that wide can collapse several feet away from it and take you with it in a heart beat. And once it starts going it won't be any climbing back. I know that from experiance. I uncovered a hand dug well here in the back yard and was checking it out. I don't know what it was but something told me to get a rope and I did. It was 5 minutes after I did the ground I was on gave way and when the rope caught me my head was under the ground level. I just about pee'd my pants. That's when I found out I could still use my left hand some.
I would lay some 2" x 12" atleast 10 - 12' long around it to stand on and even then I would tie a rope around me and to some like a truck or tractor and keep it fairly tight because it doesn't take much slack as I found out to go down a ways.

Good luck and be careful
Dennis

[Helena]

I also say..be cautious..around this old well. A local boy many years ago fell into an old well his father had covered like...20 years ago with plywood..and it rotted and the boy fell into it and they found the little guy days later..dead.. I would try and fill it in and then cover it with metal...old wells scare me..and I'm sure there are alot of them around any old homestead. Perhaps you can make use of it ...if not fill it in.