Well ran dry

I watered for six hours straight this morning and my water pressure dropped. I checked my well and only had 5 feet of water. The well is 42 feet deep from top edge and the diameter is 30 inches. I checked my well 3 hours later and had 14 feet of water. I have only lived here for 4 years. I don’t remember the flow rate for the well. Any advice other than the obvious? Can I get the well dug deeper if I have more problems or should I get another well dug? How much does it cost to dig a deep well.....100 ft or so? The house was built in 1989. It is dry here but was very wet last year. I didn’t think I would have an issue because the water table was high this spring. Thanks in advance for any helpful advice.

around here a new 6" well is app 8k -- if you are happy with the water quality, I would look into a couple of storage tanks and pump out of that. I don't know what the regs are in your state but in ours you pretty much have to abandon the old hand dug wells because you can only pull from one aquifer here. This is about the time for your lowest well levels in our area at least and if you have had a particularly dry summer that can contribute as can new wells and neighbors pumpiing more than normal. If you have a sustainable level of 2-3 gpm you can feed your house -- just cannot water a garden very well.

We have a 1000 gallon holding tank. The well is 430 feet deep and produces maybe a gallon a minute. We have static water to 90 feet in a 8 inch casing and raised my family on that but constantly ran out of water. Since we installed the holding tank no problems. The well pumps into the tank and then water is pumped to the house. Ther is a float in the tank and when it is not full the pump in the well kicks in and fills it. I highly recommend this system.

If you dig deeper, you might risk hitting bad water or dig past your hardpan and lose what you have now.
Does anyone out your way have deep wells? You may need to do that if you need more water during droughts.

Just did the math your recovery rate is app 2.5 gpm. Provided you don't have a dry fall it shouldn't get any worse. That is still a substantial rate. Typical garden - ag sprinkler is 5gpm (in our area) so if it took you 6hours to run low on water that is good. One thing to remember is that " just because you drill a hole - doesn't mean there is water in it", if you are concerned about future requirements talk to a couple of well drillers in the area-- or look up some of your neighbors well logs online. Oregon water resources has all well logs online now -- but remember that well drillers tend to be optomistic about the hole they drilled -- if it says 15gpm and tested by bail or air cut the gallonage to 10? depends on the driller alot. If it was actually test pumped for a number of hours you should still derate it but not near as much. not knowing your area and what you typically run into down below the surface i would need to see a well log to give you better info. I am not a driller , but have been doing ag and domestic pumps for about 30 years so if you would like some assistance in making your decisions on what to do, i will try to steer you in the right direction.

Also just remember 1/2 a mile can make a difference dads house has about a 360 foot well my house is around 460 and a farm we had cattle at its around 560 all within a 1/2 mile.

Bob-- most definately my dads and my wells drilled by the same driller about ten years apart almost identical depths app 1300 feet apart --- totally diferent water -- his is almost undrinkable (sulfer) and mine is great -- most of my neighbors had to drill wells around the same time frame. the same driller did alot of the work and he went to the same depths and used the same aquifers (levels) for the perforations. I have a neighbor less than 1 mile away that has a deeper and very low yielding well. the drillers have access to some info that we don't . I respect a good driller and there are many around here that i wouldn't use. If you decide to drill a new well don't make your decision based upon price. DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

Holding tanks is a good first start. I assume your overhead or sprinkler watering the garden. If so consider a low pressure drip system. You'll end up saving water as you're only putting it where needed over a longer period.

Typically a well will be finished and screened in whatever is the best water bearing formation, which in your case must be 42 ft. Depending on the structure, the next good formation could be at 70 ft., 200 ft. or somewhere in between. I think your recovery rate is pretty decent and you should be ok.

Trapdog -- remember that the old hand dugs do not have screens or peforations -- they tend to pull their water from wherever its at.

Thank you H2ORat, if my flow is 2.5 gallons a minute and does not slow I should be ok for the house but will have to be careful watering shrubs and the garden. Thank you for all the information. I believe the well tested higher..... someone told me that wells sometime improve when they are used more......any truth to this? SundanceMtnman you gave me another option if I have more trouble or want to water outside more. 52Carl some people do have deep wells in the county. I don’t believe anyone has one near me. Warrior I like drip irrigation. I may use some drip tape in my garden next year. Bob_Iowa, we have deep water well on our farm one county north of where I live. Sometimes the water is bad for drinking. I heard one farm a few miles from ours had a high sodium/salt content and they couldn’t use the water.

Sometimes the wells will improve -- sometimes they will gets worse == typically with hand dug they will get worse. The processes used in drilling have changed alot over the years.

Man I feel for you people out West. There is water every where in Mi. Most above 100 feet. My well is a 82 feet with a jet pump and I get 5.5 gpm. Well drilling is a lot better than the old days of just pounding down a point and pipe. Good luck!