I have an existing drilled water well that lies along a creek where an old house was. The well was drilled 25 feet deep and they hit water. They then drilled it 25 feet deeper. It has a very good supply of water. The previous property owner said he had used it many times to fill a portable 250 gallon water tank he hauls on his pickup to get water to fill his cistern

I am building a house back on the hill from this location. It is approximately 500 feet higher in elevation (660' vs 1150') . I checked it with a GPS today. The length of line I will need to run to get to the new house is 2000 feet.

I want to try to utilize this well for my water source and am trying to find out the best way.

There is a building next to the well that I could put a pump in, or a storage tank. I thought of placing a cistern up where my new house would be and pump the water up to it, maybe putting it on a timer. Then adding another pump up at the house???

I have been told I could do it by just placing a submersible pump.

I have availability of electric at both ends. The additional cost would be a minimum monthly charge of $7.50 per month for the meter where the well is. I could utilize the electric there for other reasons.

I am looking for advice on what type of system would be best. What size and type pumps, water line size, etc.

Another option would be to drill a well at the new location but here is what I know about that. Approximately 1000' northeast of my new house a water well had been drilled several years ago, 200' plus deep, and they run out of water. But, approximately 1500' southeast of my new house a gas well had been drilled several years ago, and they hit water at 100' that flooded the well to a point they could not continue and had to plug the well??? Both of these wells were near the same elevation of my new house.

-- Denver Davis (dldavis1@citlink.net), November 16, 2001

Answers

We get our water from a spring about 50 feet lower than the house and about 500 feet from the house. The water pressure is very low and it takes a long time to run a washer full o water. 500 feet up and 2000 feet away is going to be expensive, for the pumps and the pipe and digging the ditch for the pipe. Building a house before you get your water supply in can be a serious error. I have a friend that built a house and never did get water in the four wells he drilled. Check out all the choices and best of luck.

-- David (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), November 16, 2001.

Denver, we have a well that is drilled that is approx. 250 feet from the house, however the house is just a gentle slope on higher ground. We went with a cistern next to the well and have a pump house there with power and our pressure tank. I have heard that pressure tanks can be noisy if you opt to have them in your basement lets say. We have a pump in the pumphouse and in the cistern with something called a "coyote" that turns the pump off in the cistern if for any reason the pump in the well shuts off. We have lost pressure in the pump in the pumphouse twice (always when my husband was out of town, of course) so you know who has learned to prime the pump. So that is a total of 3 pumps that we hope and pray run for a long time. We also have a wall heater in the pumphouse to keep everything from freezing. We had a neighbor that had a backhoe that helped offset the cost of taking the water line to the house. Our cistern is a preformed concrete box that is buried that holds 1,800 gals. of water. We have been here over 6 years and other than the incidents mentioned above have been very satisfied. I do agree with the other post that says get your water issue settled before you build. Best Wishes. Mary

-- Mary (Mary@home.com), November 16, 2001.

Boy, I dunno Denver. Even with a submersible pump I think it'd be a stretch. A 500' difference in elevation translates into approx 250 PSI just to get the water to your house and that doesn't take into account the friction losses in the 2000' of pipe.

So when you're doing your figuring estimate for 2000' of trench work probably below the frost line, a transfer station about halfway between the well and house with another pump to boost the water the rest of the way etc etc.

You might be better off with a well drilled nearer the house.

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), November 16, 2001.

Im thinking of a double cistern,, one at the well,, with a pump,, to pump to a cistern at the house

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), November 17, 2001.

what about putting a cistern at your house. The pump from the well could keep the cistern full with a float and then you could have a pump at the house for the cistern for your water with better pressure.

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), November 17, 2001.