When I had an irrigation well drilled, a two-man crew with portable drilling rig did the job. As the rig drove the well point down, it used water under pressure to lubricate the point, and most of that water came back up out of the whole, carrying material from the bottom of the well. When that material included ancient sea shells, they would stop drilling and test the well to see if it would produce water. The rest of the time the material was mostly clay and sand.
I would say that if you can force water down the pipe and then examine what flows back out, watch for a change in material (i.e. from clay to sand or gravel or shells) and when you see a change, stop and test to see if you can produce water from the well. The crew I hired had a gasoline powered pump to apply suction to the well pipe to try to pull water out. My well went down to about 70 feet, but the 1 hp pump sucking on the top of the pipe could not produce too much volume - about enough water to run one sprinkler head. Driller pulled the pipe back up to about 40 feet, and then we got enough water to run three maybe four sprinkler heads, and called that good. Ten years ago that cost me about $500 for the drilling and about $300 for the pump and pipe and valves. -Max -----Original Message----- From: mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of harry watkins Sent: Sunday, November 07, 2010 9:39 PM To: Mercedes Discussion List Subject: [MBZ] OT DIY water well I am driving a well through my basement floor in the hopes of being able to reach good water. I have rookie questions because I'm a rookie. If any of you have knowledge or experience, tell me what to look for that will give a clue that water is close. My house is built into a red clay hill and the first 17 feet have been through clay. Thanks Harry 86 300 SDL _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com