Water Well - Use it or close it?

nuttyginger

Hello All,

My FIL has just found a water well in his garden. Its slightly more complicated in that its actually part under a single storey kitchen extension. Its 26 foot/8 meters to the water and then 14 foot/4 meters of water.

Firstly does anyone know if house insurance may cover this, if its necessary to move it?

Secondly, is it worth keeping it? Theres very little information around the net, but i seem to think that he could extract quite a lot of water without paying anything. If he got the house put on a meter, then it would be just the standing charge to pay.
Are there any grants around for this?

Any advice greatfully received.

Nuttyginger x

SailorSam

Could you bottle it and sell it ?
Do you remember Del Boy and Rodney trying to make their fortune with Pelham water.

ariba10

If you intend to drink it I would strongly recommend that you get it tested first.

There could be sewerage contamination.

DVardysShadow

House insurance won't cover filling it. Probably good for watering the garden, might be acceptable for bathing and washing clothes. But not drinking or dishwashing.

The difficulty is extracting the water. At 8m deep, it probably would require drawing with a bucket, which could be difficult if it is half under an extension. A hand pump would be 1m higher, so 9m to draw, which probably is too deep for a handpump to work.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

ariba10 wrote: »

If you intend to drink it I would strongly recommend that you get it tested first.

There could be sewerage contamination.

In any case it would need analysing/sterilising first whether you intend to use it in your home or your garden.

Who knows how long its been down there & what is in it.

Doozergirl

DVardysShadow wrote: »

The difficulty is extracting the water. At 8m deep, it probably would require drawing with a bucket, which could be difficult if it is half under an extension. A hand pump would be 1m higher, so 9m to draw, which probably is too deep for a handpump to work.

I juat laughed so hard! It's not funny but we really have moved on from drawing water from a bucket :0

I was literally reading about this yesterday. It's a bit complicated to calculate but essentially you get hold of a pump and pump the water out of the well and test the flow rate by seeing how long it takes to refill - this decides whether you can use it for the sole water source to your house. If you can get 100-200 litres through a day (I think 100 litres is usual in a home) then you can use it for a sole water supply.

To draw, you would need an automated pump and a filtration system. I am not personally aware of any grants for this sort of thing but I can imagine the payback would actually be quite quick.

We had a house with a well in the cellar and the people that bought it have put in a pump and use the water directly to water the garden.

BandJB

ariba10 wrote: »

If you intend to drink it I would strongly recommend that you get it tested first.

This is an absoute necessity. Do you have any idea what the source of the water is? Is the well tapping into the local water table or fed by natural drainage from nearby high ground? Depending on the source and local land usage (past and present) it could be contaminated by anything from agricultural fertilisers to heavy metals from industrial spoil.

We've got a well which is fed by natural drainage (run off) and the level fluctuates dramatically according to the weather. It can rise by in excess of a metre in an hour or so when we have a good storm, and in a dry spell it goes so low that it's too 'muddy' to even think about drinking it.

If the water quality is good a simple UV filter might be all that is necessary to provide potable water: otherwise it might be suitable for garden use, washing the car, flushing the toilet etc. - anything which doesn't actually involve imbibing the stuff. From that depth you'd probably need an electric pump to a holding tank and then draw the water from the tank at low pressure. Anything else would need a powerful and expensive 'industrial' pump. Will the expense outweigh the savings?

We just made ours safe with a heavy duty grill and treat it as an oversize garden ornament. But then, we live in Wales and mains water is cheap and plentiful around here!

nuttyginger

DVardysShadow wrote: »

House insurance won't cover filling it..

Would house insurance cover the work to either make the extension safe (I think a lintel (sp) would need putting in), or to move it so its not over the well itself?

nuttyginger

As far as water quality, there is currently loads of it and when we got it up it was crystal clear. I think its groundwater and it seems to be filling down primarily coming in through the sandstone layer that is about 5 meters down.
My sister in law works in a lab and actually tests water for a living so shes going to take a sample and check it out.
We did a more crude test and drank some.... tasted fine and no ones been poorly! lol
I was thinking a holding tank and filtration system, but i didnt know what that might cost...??

1984ReturnsForReal_2

nuttyginger wrote: »

As far as water quality, there is currently loads of it and when we got it up it was crystal clear. I think its groundwater and it seems to be filling down primarily coming in through the sandstone layer that is about 5 meters down.
My sister in law works in a lab and actually tests water for a living so shes going to take a sample and check it out.
We did a more crude test and drank some.... tasted fine and no ones been poorly! lol
I was thinking a holding tank and filtration system, but i didnt know what that might cost...??

Silly gits..........

There could be mercury or anything in there...

DVardysShadow

Doozergirl wrote: »

I juat laughed so hard! It's not funny but we really have moved on from drawing water from a bucket :0

I was literally reading about this yesterday. It's a bit complicated to calculate but essentially you get hold of a pump and pump the water out of the well and test the flow rate by seeing how long it takes to refill - this decides whether you can use it for the sole water source to your house. If you can get 100-200 litres through a day (I think 100 litres is usual in a home) then you can use it for a sole water supply.

To draw, you would need an automated pump and a filtration system. I am not personally aware of any grants for this sort of thing but I can imagine the payback would actually be quite quick.

We had a house with a well in the cellar and the people that bought it have put in a pump and use the water directly to water the garden.

You might laugh, but physics will get you in the end.

An electric pump will only do any good in this well if it is actually situated down the well, because of the depth. Otherwise you are stuck with a bucket.