Property & Access to water source

[NoahJohn]

I recently purchased five acres of property. It is all pasture. I am going to be placing a small cabin on the property. What are my options concerning wells? What are the hand pumps that the Amish sometimes have? Would that enable me to have a cheaper way to access water?

Thanks!

[whiterabbit454]

do other people in your area have wells? i know where i live no one has wells they use cysterns(sp?)

[rambler]

Every thing from a 2 inch sand point 15 feet deep to a drilled hole 500+ feet deep with a pump at the bottom, to no available water at all.

A start would be to know where you are located????

Some states & counties have requirements, no sandpoints, no shallow wells, etc.

--->Paul

[Wisconsin Ann]

As Ramble said....SO many different options, depending on where you are located. Even in a single county you can find water at 50ft down or 400ft down (as in our county in Wisconsin)

If you have a problem with standing water in your area, there's probably an ordinance against a shallow well (because of contamination). If you're in an area that has a lot of rock outcroppings you'll probably find they need to drill, but it will go well because the rock is easier to set a well thru than sand (rock is harder to drill, but it doesn't fall back into the well like sand does)

so. Where are we talking about?

Your best bet (from personal experience) is to 1)as your realtor about a driller. 2)ask a neighbor who drilled their well. 3)look in the yellow pages for well drilling and talk to the guy (they'll do an estimate. usually free of charge)

[Gary in ohio]

Originally Posted by NoahJohn

I recently purchased five acres of property. It is all pasture. I am going to be placing a small cabin on the property. What are my options concerning wells? What are the hand pumps that the Amish sometimes have? Would that enable me to have a cheaper way to access water?

Thanks!

I would never purchase property till I knew about the water rights. The answer to your question can range from You have no rights to even access any water on your property to you will need to drill a 500ft hole to get any water. hand pumps are only good to 20ft, some special pumps to 50ft. Where are you located and what does your property document say about water (if anything).

[artificer]

Originally Posted by Gary in ohio

I would never purchase property till I knew about the water rights. The answer to your question can range from You have no rights to even access any water on your property to you will need to drill a 500ft hole to get any water. hand pumps are only good to 20ft, some special pumps to 50ft. Where are you located and what does your property document say about water (if anything).

Don't water rights (selling/buying) tend to be a south western phenomenon? At least in Wisconsin it seems that you can drill on your own property for a private well. Is it even possible to sell you water rights, so someone down the line can't drill on the property? (in the midwest?)

Pitcher hand pumps only work to about 20 feet because they use suction. If you get pump with the piston on the bottom, you can go to 300' with this pump. I believe I've seen some pumps advertised that will go to 600'.

If you can't drive a sand point for the well, be prepared to be shocked at the sticker price. The well casing alone is $15/foot. Our new well was 285' with 197' of casing. Cost was $11k.

Michael

[Wisconsin Ann]

Originally Posted by artificer

If you can't drive a sand point for the well, be prepared to be shocked at the sticker price. The well casing alone is $15/foot. Our new well was 285' with 197' of casing. Cost was $11k.

Michael

We should note that a significant cost for us was caused by the limestone we had to drill through. It is not all solid....in places it creates pockets or swiss cheese-like areas...the casing (cement) just oozes out into the surrounding rock. With our well, they had to use a lot of bentonite to seal up the cracks in the rock...but only after they'd used half a pallet of cement