Jeff needs help on well question.

[SwampDonkey]

A new well and one that sits a long time unused is bleached before use here Jeff. That being said, it wasn't too many years ago a lot of folks were on spring wells here and I doubt they was ever bleached. I think we dug a new well at grandmother's in 94, spring up until then. And my cousin was on the same spring, he dug a well a few years ago to.

[barbender]

It's not the water itself,  but bacteria that could be present in the pipe you drove in.

[Gary_C]

I agree that it is not the quality of the water that is an issue. It's the iron pipe that you introduced into the water table. Here is what is written in Wiki:

Iron bacteria can be introduced into a well or water system during drilling, repair, or service. Elimination of iron bacteria once a well is heavily infested can be extremely difficult. Normal treatment techniques may be only partly effective. Good housekeeping practices can prevent iron bacteria from entering a well.

Water placed in a well for drilling, repair, or priming of pumps should be disinfected, and should never be taken from a lake or pond.
The well casing should be watertight, properly capped, and extend a foot or more above ground.
When pumps, well pipes, and well equipment are repaired, they should not be placed on the ground where they could pick up iron bacteria.
The well, pump, and plumbing should be disinfected when repaired.


They normally disinfect all new wells here with chlorine tablets but you can use chlorine powder, bleach or dairy sanitizer. Both the bleach in a jug and the dairy sanitizer can be used and they are both sodium hypochlorite with only the concentration being stronger for the dairy sanitizer. Bleach is 4.4% and sanitizer is 6.6%.

Normally the sanitizer is placed in the lower part of the well and left there for at least 24 hours. Then you just pump the water out on the ground till you have flushed the chlorine from the well. It's no big deal.

[Jeff]

Iron bacteria is not a health issue. It is a cosmetic and palatability issue. Its the slimy rust looking stuff that sometimes occurs in a well.  This is a driven sand point well. it does not have a typical casing where you store water and then pump it out. I will chlorinate the new tank and pump when I get it, but the well having been pumped for a long period to rid it of sand in my opinion is not at all a risk for bacteria unless there is bacteria in the actual water supply and that is highly unlikely here. The well will be tested once it has a permanent pump and supply line in place. I already have the supplied test bottle and paper work in the truck. It was recommended to me by the water treatment facility on how to take a sample of the new well and it did not include any type of chlorine introduced into the well itself.

The other wells we have done were PVC wells. Pretty hard to get Iron bacteria from a PVC pipe.

[thecfarm]

We just had ours water tested for the wife's cooking license through the state. Have to have it tested every year.

[chet]

After taking the 5 footer out I could see that the water level was only down another 6 inches. Almost an artesian! 

I took down my tripod and found a slightly bigger line to try and pump through. We timed the well and it was pumping 10 gallon a minute via a 5/8" line.   I now have an elbow and a plug in the well pipe until we are ready to use it. 

I think you may have drove dat point inta da township water line.  :D

[Jeff]

Today I got the well house almost done. My design allows me to work on the well without having to bend way over and reaching down in a well house. Its built low so it simply covers up with snow in the winter when its not being used. If we need to use it in the winter, I'll shovel it out. The 120 volt pump is in and works good. I'm also plumbing in a 12 volt system with a future solar charger so we can get water without the generator hooked up.  I need another check valve and a fitting before I can finish up that part of the system.



  

 

[red oaks lumber]

nice looking system

[WmFritz]

I like the hinged base idea.
Saves your back from lifting the whole house off for access.

[Jeff]

 I added some extra roof over hang for the stop when open, and the overhang in the front works as the lift point. The two short chunks of 2X4 you see in the front aligns everything when closed.

[Jeff]

The base is made from bug killed tamarack 4x6 that Burlkraft and I sawed up a couple years ago. Outhouse left overs.

[sandhills]

Very nice Jeff.

[Brucer]

And if you ever need to do repairs, when the cover is open you have a convenient surface to spread out your tools .  I'm sure you planned it that way, too ;D.

[OneWithWood]

Where's the cup holder? 

[Freedom6178]

I'm curious about the pipes possibly freezing in winter?  Or is the water level under the frost line.. I am really interested in doing this at our property in the UP. (Bark River area). Any info on the equipment needed/used would be greatly appreciated.. Thanks

[Jeff]

Freezing is a big concern. I've added my union so I an undo one thing and remove the entire pump for winter. As for the well that has a high water level, all you have to do it put something in there to displace the water. I am going to use a chunk of light pvc with a cap glued on the bottom.

[r.man]

I work on a lot of seasonal water systems and many of them use a " dog house " style building for the pump and tank and that is by far the best one I have ever seen. A close second would be the same thing without hinges. I have worked on ones that looked as good but they were fixed buildings with doors. The nicest looking one was a work of art, raised concrete slab, 2x4 walls, peaked shingled roof with soffit and fascia, siding that matched the cottage and a proper door with locking door knob. The whole thing was the size of a big dog house but to work on the pump you had to kneel on the ground and stick your head in through the door. Beautiful for looks, terrible for repairs.

[Jeff]

Video of the workings in my well house. I got the 12 volt off grid part working today. I have a couple hoses in there now cluttering things up but I'll clean that up somehow. I've got a couple ideas on how I'll to do that.

http://youtu.be/9rfVnS8wffk

[WDH]

You have to have a good sense of accomplishment for doing this.

[OneWithWood]

Looking good, Jeff.  Have you thought about installing an elevated or pressurized tank that you could fill using the generator?  Then you could have a supply of water that would last a while without the need for a power source.  Of course it would probably not function during the winter.

[yukon cornelius]

I used an old but non leaking hot water heater in our first little cabin for water storage. it was on a shelf in the closet area. 30 gallon electric tank was short enough to elevate it above the sink. I used a frost free through the wall spicket mounted low outside to connect to fill it or drain it. mine had an inlet through the side low and another up high. the upper outlet I put a vent hole to let air out when filling and in when empting. it was also the full indicator as water would come out when full. I would fill it when it was above freezing. 30 gallons goes a long ways when its just gravity pressurized. water pressure = 1/2 psi per foot of elevation. I had a chalk board near the sink I would keep a ballpark record of water use. it worked great when we were hauling water til we got in our house and were hooked to the well. I spent a whole winter in the 12x12 cabin with the family coming out every night for dinner.

[SwampDonkey]

That sure looks great Jeff. Me, I'd have to hire ya to get it done. :D

[Ruffneck]

Very cool! I believe water is the biggest gamble a person can make when buying undeveloped rural property. The charge is the same whether it turns out to be a good well or the worlds deepest post hole. Water is life! Well done  :D

[Jeff]

The story is finally told of how to drive an Off grid water well with a 20lb propane tank and a T.V. antenna! 

Making this video I took as a challenge. My previous video on putting up a solar fence I got a comment about I probably wont make a video of driving a well after beating on that grounding rod I had to put in.  So, I felt it was required to do so. Cause I could This well was on the property I sold in order to buy back our family cabin

STEP FORWARD GUILTY CHALLENGING PARTY!  :D ;)

Drive a Water Well with a Propane Tank and a T.V. Antenna Offgrid. NO MONEY!! - YouTube

[Old Greenhorn]

I enjoyed that video a lot. Making something valuable from whatever is laying around is where it's at.
 I also enjoyed the prior video but frankly you exhausted me with all that driving. Holy cow, I needed another beer before it was done. I think my hands were even hurting. I would have just cut that sucker off with a hacksaw and called it 'good'. BTW, you can run several ground rods and tie them together to improve your ground and another trick is to lay down some salt and water it heavily, increasing conductivity.
 The 'testing process' you used made me laugh harder than I should. You do know that you can buy a tester for about 8 bucks right? :D :D