Drainage to empty well

cdsoldev · #1 08/29/13, 02:24 PM

I have a problem with water pooling under my home (after heavy rain) and around my yard (after mild rain). The 0.75 area of land I live on is flat so draining to a place of lower elevation would take some doing (and may be off my property). I was hoping I could drain the water to one or both of the "empty" wells I have. One went empty over 10 years ago (before I lived there) and the other went empty 2 years ago (at which time I switched to city water). These are questions I'm polling your brilliance for:
1. Is this a terrible idea?
2. What if connected the well drained to to the outdoor water spigots? (and used it for watering the lawn, etc.)
3. I'm researching the depth of the wells now but can't find any documentation. Is there some government site (in Durham, NC) that may have this information?

Danaus29 · #2 08/29/13, 02:54 PM

Off hand I would say it's probably illegal even though fracking companies are allowed to do it. Reasons being; contamination of underground aquifer and soil contamination.

Now if you had a closed cistern and were going to use that to water your outdoor plants that would be ok.

As for the info, unless the board of health issues well drilling permits there might not be any record. If a permit was never issued there are no records.

FarmboyBill · #3 08/29/13, 04:24 PM

I think it would be fine to hook it to a well. I doubt if I broadcast it to everybody tho.

FarmboyBill · #4 08/29/13, 04:26 PM

If nothing else, dump down a good sized pk l.oad of dirt, then dump down a couple yards of concreter. Viola a ready made cistern. That, assuming they are dug wells.

davel745 · #5 08/29/13, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

I think it would be fine to hook it to a well. I doubt if I broadcast it to everybody tho.

The way things are you probably did already.

plowjockey · #6 08/29/13, 04:31 PM

Are your neighbors still on a well?

Sounds like a good way to possibly poison an aquifer.

Nimrod · #7 08/29/13, 04:45 PM

Unused wells should be sealed so rain water doesn't carry pollutants into the aquifer. Don't intentionally drain water into an unused well for the same reason. You could contaminate the well you get your drinking water from and neighbor's too.

How does your soil perk? If the soil can absorb the water, I would take a 55 gallon barrel with no lid and bury it in the yard open side down. Cut a hole near the top and run a piece of 4 inch PVC into it. Use some drain tile type pipe to direct the water under your house to the PVC. Bury the whole thing. The water will flow into the barrel and slowly perk into the soil. By the time it reaches the aquifer it will have been filtered and the bacteria will have had a chance to gobble up the pollutants. If this is illeagle I did not advise you to actually do it.

jwal10 · #8 08/29/13, 05:55 PM

I would not put water down a well unless it was potable water. Having said that, The county here had my DS bury a 3' tile, 4' long, upright as a dry well for his roof drains. It has large river rocks for a bottom so the water can perk into the soil....James

joebill · #9 08/29/13, 06:19 PM

During times of high groundwater, that well may be a direct link to the aquifer that supplies people's drinking water. Very bad idea to use it like that. Some states require that dry wells be filled in for that reason.....Joe

fishhead · #10 08/29/13, 06:44 PM

That sounds like a good way to contaminate the aquifer for a very long time.

What about burying a cistern to use for watering your garden or lawn?

rambler · #11 08/29/13, 07:18 PM

1. Bad idea.

And illegal.

You could make a real mess for many people aside from yourself.

You are injecting bird poop and other bacteria into the aquifer that is shared by many people, even of it is dry for now, it is still the aquifer zone where the water and gunk will flow right down to the remaining water.

Bad idea, real bad.

Paul

Fire-Man · #12 08/29/13, 07:18 PM

I would in NO WAY pump water into a well. You can put a sump pump under your home and pump that water to a neat outdoor swimming pool(can get them cheap on craigslist), then you can use this water for things around your home or run a water hose from the pool to the lowest spot in your yard and let the water drain slowly till the pool empties----waiting for another rain. Put you a few mosquito eating fish in this pool, maybe some fish to eat in the future. A Thought!

If you put some fish in it then you can drain it down to a depth that the fish will be ok but where you will still have plenty of room for future rain water.

davel745 · #13 08/30/13, 05:33 AM

How about when you pass and the next people come to your place, will they be poisoned?

fols · #14 08/30/13, 06:39 AM

Years ago I saw our neighbors (not super-close to us, luckily), with a hose going down into their well coming from their nasty swimming pool. I called the county to file a complaint and the girl I talked to wondered why that was a problem. I wanted to hit her over the head! She never did get it.

cdsoldev · #15 08/30/13, 08:36 AM

Thanks for all the prompt and useful feedback. The idea of possibly contaminating the aquifer didn't occur to me but it seems obvious now. I guess I'll have to build some sort of coy pond or cistern.... I'm sure I'll be asking for advise about this in the coming months. Thanks again!

fishhead · #16 08/30/13, 04:15 PM

When you are pricing things look at pond liners. They have a 25 year warranty.

We're in drought here again so water storage for use in the garden rises to the top of ideas. I'm fortunate to have a 200 acre lake to pull water from but that may not always be the case and times of plenty are followed by scarcity.

jwal10 · #17 09/01/13, 11:02 AM

First, you need to make sure the yard is all sloped away from the foundation so the water is not seeping in. Do you have eaves troughs and downspouts? Do you have a crawlspace drain and a perimeter drain? If you still have a drainage problem under the house, you need a sump pump. This will pump your excess water anywhere you want to put it, cistern, drywell, pond or to the street or drainage system....James

edcopp · #18 09/01/13, 12:38 PM

Bad idea, BUT it's done all the time. Like FB said it is just one more step to pipe your toilet to it. Out of sight out of mind. Let the next guy down the line worry about it.

plowjockey · #19 09/01/13, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwal10

First, you need to make sure the yard is all sloped away from the foundation so the water is not seeping in. Do you have eaves troughs and downspouts? Do you have a crawlspace drain and a perimeter drain? If you still have a drainage problem under the house, you need a sump pump. This will pump your excess water anywhere you want to put it, cistern, drywell, pond or to the street or drainage system....James

This is a good point.

Water under a house (or in a basement), is caused by bad (or no) gutters/downspouts, about as much as anything else.

Been there done that.