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 Mobile ViewWATER PUMPS, TANKS, TESTS, WELLS, REPAIRS AIR DISCHARGE at FAUCETS, FIXTURES AIR INLET VALVE, WATER TANK AIR VOLUME CONTROLS, WATER TANK BIOLOGICAL POLLUTANTS Bisphenol-A, BPA CHEMICAL CONTAMINANTS in WATER CHECK VALVES CHLORAMINE / CHLORINE Tests CHLORINE IN DRINKING WATER CHLORINE in WATER, HOW TO TEST FOR CISTERNS DEBRIS in WATER SUPPLY, Water Heater DRINKING WATER TESTING DRINKING WATER - EMERGENCY PURIFICATION DRINKING WATER - EMERGENCY SOURCES EPA GUIDE to WATER QUALITY FHA WATER TESTS REQUIRED FILTERS, WATER FLOW CONTROL VALVES FOOT VALVES, WELL PIPING GALVANIC SCALE & METAL CORROSION GREYWATER SYSTEMS HARD WATER - SOFTENERS HEAT TAPE USAGE GUIDE LEAD POISONING HAZARDS GUIDE Legionella Legionnaires' Disease METHANE GAS SOURCES MVOCs & MOLDY MUSTY ODORS MSDS Material Safety Data Sheets MUNICIPAL WATER PRESSURE IMPROVEMENTS ODORS GASES SMELLS, DIAGNOSIS & CURE ODORS IN WATER OZONE HAZARDS Pesticide Exposure Hazards PIPING IN BUILDINGS, Clogs Leaks Types PLASTIC CONTAINERS, TANKS, TYPES PLUMBING SYSTEM ODORS PRESSURE CONTROL SWITCH ADJUSTMENT RADON HAZARD TESTS & MITIGATION RELIEF VALVES - Water Tanks REVERSE OSMOSIS CONCENTRATE DISPOSAL SEWAGE PATHOGENS in SEPTIC SLUDGE SEWER GAS ODORS TANK TYPES: WATER, OIL, EXPANSION, ALL VALVES, PLUMBING WATER CONTAMINANT LEVELS WATER FILTERS WATER HAMMER NOISE DIAGNOSE & CURE WATER HEATERS WATER ODORS, CAUSE CURE WATER PRESSURE & FLOW MEASUREMENT WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR WATER PRESSURE REPAIR GUIDE - WELLS WATER PUMPS, TANKS, TESTS, WELLS, REPAIRS WATER PUMPS, TANKS, WELLS - BASICS WATER PUMP CAPACITIES TYPES RATES GPM WATER PUMP CONTROLS & SWITCHES WATER PUMP PRESSURE CONTROL SWITCH WATER PUMP TYPES & LIFE EXPECTANCY WATER PUMP PRIMING PROCEDURE WATER PUMP PROBLEM DIAGNOSTIC TABLE WATER PUMP REPAIR GUIDE WATER PUMP SHORT CYCLING WATER PUMP WONT STOP RUNNING WATER PURIFIERS WATER QUALITY TESTS, CONTAMINANTS, TREATMENT WATER QUANTITY IMPROVEMENT WATER SHUTOFF VALVE LOCATION, USE WATER SHUTOFF VALVE, WELL PUMP WATER SOFTENERS & CONDITIONERS WATER SOURCE ALTERNATIVES WATER TANK: USES, TROUBLESHOOTING WATER TANK AIR, HOW TO ADD WATER TANK AIR INLET VALVE WATER TANK AIR LOSS SIGNS WATER TANK AIR VALVE REPAIRS WATER TANK AIR VOLUME CONTROLS WATER TANK BLADDERS & CAPTIVE AIR WATER TANK CAPTIVE AIR vs TRADITIONAL WellMate WATER TANK CONTROLS & SWITCHES WATER TANK LIFE EXPECTANCY WATER TANK PRESSURE CALCULATIONS WATER TANK PRESSURE GAUGE WATER TANK PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE WATER TANK REPAIRS WATER TANK REPLACEMENT WATER TANK SAFETY WATER TANK SIZE & VOLUME WATER TANK TYPES: WATER, OIL, EXPANSION, ALL WATER TESTS, CONTAMINANTS, TREATMENT WATER TEST CHOICES & WATER TEST FEES WATER TESTING GUIDE WATER TEST INTERPRETATION WATER TREATMENT EQUIPMENT CHOICES WELL PUMP PRIMING PROCEDURE WELLS CISTERNS & SPRINGS WINTERIZE A BUILDING More Information |
This article series describes how we measure the depth of a water well. We caution that the amount of water available and the water delivery rate ability of various types of drinking water sources like wells, cisterns, dug wells, drilled wells, and even artesian wells is not answered just by measuring the depth of the well itself, but still we often need to know this number in order to know how to shock the well or how to prepare pipes, controls, and well pump choices or settings. The sketch at page top, courtesy of Carson Dunlop, outlines what happens during a well drawdown or well flow test procedure. Details are below. Readers of this document should also see Water Tank Types and before assuming that a water problem is due to the well itself, see Water pump and pressure tank repair diagnosis & cost an specific case which offers an example of diagnosis of loss of water pressure, loss of water, and analyzes the actual repair cost. In a companion article, How to Test Well Water Quantity, we describe both valid and questionable ways people measure well yield, and we offer some simple steps any home owner or home buyer can take to check the adequacy of water pressure and water quantity at a building. © Copyright 2012 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use page top links to major topics or use links at the left of each page to navigate within topics and documents at this website. Green links show where you are in a document series or at this website. How To Measure the Depth of a Water WellFirst you have to find the well. Second you need to know what kind of well is installed: driven point, drilled, or hand dug well, for example. Two Key Questions to Ask About the Water WellIf you are purchasing a property served by a private well of any sort, here are the critical questions to ask about the well itself:
Watch out: Measurements like the well depth, well flow rate, well recovery rate are all useful, but taken by themselves some of these numbers can give a false reading about the basic question of how much water is in the well? What we really need to know is the total quantity of water that can be drawn from the well and the quality of that water: is it potable, hard (mineral laden), smelly, dirty, requiring treatment for any aesthetic or health-concern contaminant? See How Much Water is In the Well? and see How to Test Well Water Quantity. How to Find the Depth of a Well - String and Weight MethodThe Water Ace Pump Company offers this nice, simple well depth measurement procedure that works for drilled wells or hand dug wells. We have added some details.
For relatively shallow wells, 30' or less, we sometimes use a tape measure directly, but a weight on a string assures that the line used to make a measurement is absolutely straight, so more accurate. Watch out: be careful putting anything into your well, that you don't send down a weight that gets hooked on pipes or valves in the well bottom. Use a small fishing weight or a rounded object and tie it carefully. Watch out: this procedure is important for matching the well pump capacity to the physical depth of the well opening in the ground. But it does not tell us much about how much water is actually in the well. Except for artesian wells, the top of the water level in the well will virtually always be some depth lower than the top of the ground surface. Matching Well Pump Capacity to Well DepthWater Ace continues:
FYI the five foot deduction from the physical well depth used to estimate pump capacitu is assuming that the water pick-up end of your in-well piping will be held about five feet off of the physical bottom of the well. That's because placing the water pick-up too close to the very bottom of the well risks picking up silt and debris, clogging the foot valve, piping, and water pump. Additional reading about water wells:
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