down 400 ft and getting wet sand

[campergirl]

I just bought a piece of land in moses lake washington hoping to retire in the country. My problem is that when they tried to drill my well, the first 200 ft was basalt rock. After that, it was another 200 ft of wet sand. The driller sugguest that we try another spot. Has anyone encounterd this problem ? Do I try to go deeper , or try a new spot? Does anyone have an idea how much sand in depth there could be before hitting basalt rock again. This is so heart breaking, as I used all my saved money on this well. Thanks for any input on this. I guess the sand is too fine to keep drilling..hmmm

[GREEN_ALIEN]

Originally Posted by campergirl

I just bought a piece of land in moses lake washington hoping to retire in the country. My problem is that when they tried to drill my well, the first 200 ft was basalt rock. After that, it was another 200 ft of wet sand. The driller sugguest that we try another spot. Has anyone encounterd this problem ? Do I try to go deeper , or try a new spot? Does anyone have an idea how much sand in depth there could be before hitting basalt rock again. This is so heart breaking, as I used all my saved money on this well. Thanks for any input on this.

Uh oh, someone didn't get thier land witched first.... Did you ask your neighbors how deep they had to go? did you check with the county health department ? (they keep well logs)

It is a crap shoot, either way it is going to be more $$. Talk to some neighbors and see how deep they are and that will give you an idea of what to do.

[campergirl]

Originally Posted by GREEN_ALIEN

Uh oh, someone didn't get thier land witched first.... Did you ask your neighbors how deep they had to go? did you check with the county health department ? (they keep well logs)

It is a crap shoot, either way it is going to be more $$. Talk to some neighbors and see how deep they are and that will give you an idea of what to do.

My neighbors well is between 315 and 450 ft. Hope this helps

[GREEN_ALIEN]

Originally Posted by campergirl

My neighbors well is between 315 and 450 ft. Hope this helps

You can always go another 50 or so feet and see what happens. At least you will be as deep as the neighbors. Not much else you can do, a dry hole is a dry hole. Before you start over ask around for someone that can witch water and let them check your place.

[sisterpine]

OMG is this not your worse nightmare! We drilled a 380 foot dry hole this past summer! For a cost of $8000! Nearest neighbors wells (1/2 and 1 mile away) are 40 and 60 foot with good water. We had a witch and a electrical seismic test done both indicated some water at 250-300 feet. We hauled water for 5 years as I was afraid to drill a 10K dry hole LOL- 8 K plus 1500 for the testing equals....you guessed it almost 10K. Our driller said to go deeper would be robbing us and he could not do that...said he never got out of granite and quartz rock and saw no changes at all as he went down! My prayers are with you on this scarey endeavor! Kathleen (our property tested out to be boulder baolith (sp))

[sidepasser]

Hi,

I had three bored wells (all dry) before deciding to drill a well. Had the best old time well driller I could find come out and believe it or not, he walked around the property, studied it for a while, then pointed to a spot and said right here.

We went 300 feet, then 350, then 400, then 450...I was a nervous wreck, and he just kept on smiling and said he could go 500 feet max but we'd hit water before them. Yep at 485 feet deep, we hit the underground acquifier and I just about cried. At 8.00 per foot for a dry hole...that would be way too expensive.

Old guy's dead now, but he sure knew how to find water. I got enough water to supply a small subdivision (if I wanted to share it, which I won't and don't). But i'd have some geological studies done and get yourself an old timer or water witcher to help. Amazing folks those water witchers. My old guy didn't do that, he just studied the lay of the land, the trees, the three dry holes and then moved over about two hundred feet from the dry holes and said that was the place. Don't know exactly how he did it, but sure glad we got water!

Sidepasser

[Bruce in NE]

"After that, it was another 200 ft of wet sand."

Isn't that what you want, wet sand? A long screen with pump at the bottom should give you water. Or am I missing something?

[Mudwoman]

The well guy around here has been doing wells forever. Before that, it was his dad---whom he learned from. He knows the lay of the land and can tell where to drill. Our well is wonderful, but certainly is not in the place I would have picked for convenience and asthetics. Our well is 140 ft, cost less than $2000 for everything and puts out 60 gpm. I have never seen or heard of this guy drilling and not hitting water, but he picks the spot himself and you live with it------and I have seen several of his drills be in a terrible place considering where the house is and the drive way etc. You have to understand that not every spot on land has pockets of water. You might check out other well guys. Sorry this has been a bad experience for you.

[Denise K.]

Drilling wells can be a battle in Eastern Washington. The water is there but the depth in some areas can really get you. We passed up on purchase of a place as the best forecast was 300 feet to poor water and 600 feet to good water, if everything went well. Put the price of buying the property out of reach. Good Luck in reaching water. (were in Kennewick not to far from Moses Lake)
Denise

[campergirl]

Originally Posted by Denise K.

Drilling wells can be a battle in Eastern Washington. The water is there but the depth in some areas can really get you. We passed up on purchase of a place as the best forecast was 300 feet to poor water and 600 feet to good water, if everything went well. Put the price of buying the property out of reach. Good Luck in reaching water. (were in Kennewick not to far from Moses Lake)
Denise

Hi Denise,

It's the darnest thing. The driller says that the sand is too fine and can't drill anymore. First he hit basalt rock, then the sand came..Our driller says he's never encountered anything like this. So, needless to say, we will have to try another spot. OUCH $$

[Denise K.]

Good Luck on your next spot. Sure hate to have you have to spend so much on the well. But you need water!
Denise

[GRHE]

The problem with drilling sand is that the bit can't bite, it needs structure. The wet sand may have little or not flow; that is it may not percolate enough water to be worth trying to pump up 400 feet. When dealing with sand you usually have to drive a well rather than drill, but I do not know to what depth anyone drive anymore. We have issues like that around my place. Our well is 45 feet though shale and pea gravel with good water, and have 6 surface springs on the property. Next-door neighbor has 3 holes through granite to 400+ feet that half the year have a little bit of water in them. He bought a water tanker that he fills from his brother’s spring up the road and drive water into his house. He even has Oregon ashes one the property, which is a tree that the well witches look for when prospecting. They are water trees and tend to live right on top of underground springs around here. He took a backhoe and dug one up. The "spring" bleeds 2-3 gallons per hour, just enough for the one tree that was there. This is one of those things that happens in the mountains, the water seams are narrow and move up and down over short distances. I sure wish you good luck finding water, as you say $10,000 dry holes are no fun at all.