Water Wells Need Help

[sumdumguy]

Our large bore well is down to almost zip. We contacted well driller and he says that we are on the edge of a large lake. When our well was drilled in 2001, there was water 7-8 feet down. Driller says lots of water still below us with small diameter well.

Wondering:

Do we need to drill a new well?

Can you drill a small diameter well without a large well?

Is directional well drilling an option for reaching larger pool of water?

Agrivillers must have experience with water-related issues.

[furrowtickler]

We have a small bore deep well on its own ,240ft
Water has lots of iron but water level never changes
You may just have to go deep
We have a fairly costly iron filter set up for the house but never have to worry about low water
Even in 2000- 2002 drought here we had unlimited water. Just have to deal with the iron
Good luck

[AlbertaFarmer5]

I am no help here.
Just pleased that our water table is below grade this summer, a pleasant change from last summer when it was above grade in many places, even on the side hills. Looking into unused well casings around the farm, and water is down 3 or 4 feet below grade, which is 6 feet below the normal static level. And, no, that is not a typo.

[foragefarmer]

Can you drill a small diameter well without a large well?

Is directional well drilling an option for reaching larger pool of water?

Agrivillers must have experience with water-related issues.

We did drill a smaller diameter within the larger diameter well because we did not want to change the well location.

The large diameter well is only 5-6 feet deep. Filled some of the larger diameter in with gravel before drilling

This may be an option if you like your current well location.

[biglentil]

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Poke a deep test hole somewhere else, run a new line. How do you know forsure there is water down deep. Would be terrible to completely bugger your old well when there is nothing below. I'm not sure if they can deepen your existing large diameter, but that's where I would start.

[GDR]

What is a large bore well? How wide and deep? Pretty well all 5 or 6 inch casing here old ones 4 inch and depth all over the map but not too many shallow wells.

AF5 where I grew up (only 10 miles away) there were half a dozen unused wells around the farm that would over flow on wet years and on dry years would be a couple feet down. Few natural springs also, dad had them piped through the corrals for constant flowing water, no heat and no power but stock always had water. Used to be a pain and a mud mess at times but I wish I had that here, it's amazing the difference when you have to pump every gallon.

[furrowtickler]

Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Poke a deep test hole somewhere else, run a new line. How do you know forsure there is water down deep. Would be terrible to completely bugger your old well when there is nothing below. I'm not sure if they can deepen your existing large diameter, but that's where I would start.

Find a trusted well driller that knows the underground hydrology.
We were lucky , a local guy knew exactly where amd how deep the underground streams and veins were
He came to farm and said where do you want the well
He knew exactly how deep and water quality was going to be .
Some areas may not be so lucky , but find an experienced driller for your area . They will have a very good idea .... or should
Like experienced older farmers , you can’t beat years of experience and knowledge

[blackpowder]

Exactly. In AB the log data is all stored with govt.
A driller familiar with your area and formations etc.
For example, some areas they never run screens. I've seen some scab together whatever was in the shop for casing.
They'll also have the right equipment for your area, for example top drive if necessary.

[sumdumguy]

The well we have is 36 inch fibreglass cribbing, 50 ft. down It’s 20 years old. The water is good, no iron. It recovers at about 200 galons per hour. We have two producing wells in the yard but the second one would cost a lot to trench, likely nore than a new well would cost.

[Sodbuster]

Water is important on a farm operation, we trenched from a well 2 miles from us when we had livestock and dugout went dry and have no regret.

[Jay-mo]

I will echo the advice to get a driller that is familiar with your area.

[TOM4CWB]

The well we have is 36 inch fibreglass cribbing, 50 ft. down It’s 20 years old. The water is good, no iron. It recovers at about 200 galons per hour. We have two producing wells in the yard but the second one would cost a lot to trench, likely nore than a new well would cost.

Sumdumguy,

You would be surprised how little directional drilling can be done for! Our natural gas co-ops in eastern AB have rigs that are amazing and very skilled people who direct drill 10-15-20' down below; then for hundreds of feet vertically for surprising cost... only dig a hole at each end... and don't dig anything up, can go under most obstacles with little problems! Half a day did 400' 2-1.5" plastic water hoses fed in, $10,000 approx. then Fed electrical wire through to other end in one of the hoses; way down under all existing power and gas lines.

Cheers