Finding a well?

[dawg53]

Quote:
Careful priming it, it could lead to a septic tank you dont know about. Never know what's in them wells.

 

[SLWyandotte]

witch for it. cut a forked stick and hold the prongs loosely. when the free point turns down, you've found water. (just make sure it's not your water line or septic tank.) it finds any water, not necessarily the well so you will probably find all the potential wells on the property.

 

[tinychicky]

try a divining rod (or forked apple tree branch), you may have "the gift"

seriously, it might be worth a try. even if it doesn't work, an hour or two running around trying to find water could be fun if you have a few friends with you!

we've got an old well in our woods, too. it's kinda cool considering how old it probably is. the wooden frame finally fell down a few years ago, but the rotted wood and a few peeling bits of paint are still there. luckily it's covered up, so no one's ever fallen in (i hope

) good luck finding your well!

 

[Carols Clucks]

Hmm we are supposed to have an old well also............I know I fell in a graywater tank that had rotted out......sure hope I don't need Lassie to come and get me out of the well (we are cleaning up the part of the property it is supposed to be on)


Moms old dog was named Lassie (from the pound) and my son Timmy..........boy did we have fun with that when they were together

 

[BarkerChickens]

You can go to your local city or county and get water records. The water agency/district for the area should have records too. All wells should be recorded with lithology information, well construction diagram/information and location. Most areas have well records that date back to the early 1900s, so unless it is a REALLY old well, the local agency that governs the records will have it archived somewhere.

As for whether it is there or not is a whole different matter. Many areas have required old, unused wells to be abandoned. Depending on how the well was constructed, this may include overdrill the well (essentially drilling it out) or pressure grouting (pumping grout into the well to render it unusable). The purpose of the abandonment is to protect the groundwater from surface contamination as well as misuse of groundwater resources.

If the well is still there, you will definitely want to verify with the well us usable and that the water is still potable. Depending on the groundwater conditions in your area, many old wells are now dry due to the groundwater levels dropping to below the screen level of the well. In this case, water in the well is usually residual water and/or surface or rain water that have entered the well casing.

 

[GarlicEater]

Quote:
Especially if one of them is named Wheezer....

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Ya, I doubt we could "legally" use the well even if we had one and found it. We got some quotes on a new well and HOLY COW! All the regulations, build requirements, permits, etc. are crazy. I was shocked at how much was required (all the different wall, materials, etc.) and therefore the cost was crazy high.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
Careful priming it, it could lead to a septic tank you dont know about. Never know what's in them wells.

I know you meant this in all earnestness, but

 

[dacjohns]

Drive a tractor around the yard. If the well is two feet or more in diameter your tractor tires will find it. Be ready to bail off real fast.

 

[australorpchick]

Thanks for all the replies. Our neighbor is an older gentleman, who's lived in the area between 10 - 15 years and remembers the original owners. We have a copy of the survey and there's no well noted. However, the survey shows the property in it's current layout and this place has been remodeled 2, 3 or more times. The neighbor believes the well is located right near my chicken coop/run, behind the garages, and mentioned that this area is usually green throughout the year. The spot that it could be located is more than 50 feet away and uphill of the septic tank.

What makes us more curious is that there is a chainlink fence that divides the septic area and the chicken area. On the septic side of the fence is a spigot sticking about a foot out of the ground and another knob in the ground. About a foot away on the other side of the fence is another spigot in the ground and another knob in the ground. There's no irrigation sprinklers on this side of the house. The septic is the older style, so we don't have grey water to irrigate with. The septic was pumped shortly after we made our purchase offer and approx. 6" - 12" of dirt had to be removed. So who knows what could be under the dirt?! The President of our POA is a surveyor, so I was also going to ask him to repin our property and see if he could find the well. Otherwise, I'll go ahead and call the appropriate agency and find out if there are records regarding this mysterious well. I'm hoping to get down to the county office sometime soon. I really want to see if I can find the original plans for the house. Right near this area, you can see the old concrete steps that used to lead down from some now-nonexistent door. We keep finding new things about this place. It's only 39 years old, but DH and I find it fascinating when we find something that was part of the original design. Like DDs room used to be a carport, so you can still see the exterior trim in her storage room and there's a spigot too. We removed an ugly welcome sign and found an electrical box for an intercom. We found another intercom piece in the guest house. When we moved in, we found out we had 2 septic tanks, not just one.

Does anyone else live in a house that keeps handing out surprises.