Who has knowledge about water wells? Thinking about having one drilled as a backup source of water. Please PM me if you know anything about drilling water wells…

Thanks!

Sure wish I could, but our ground water is all brackish. Good luck

Last I heard it's about $20 a foot (plus all the equip/electric)- prepare to shell out $$$$$

What is the ave. aquifer depth for your location?

I like the idea. I'd also look into fixing it so I could use a hand pump to draw water if necessary.

Our well (510' deep) cost 17.5k. Water has 17ppm of iron. Water treatment system to make the water usable was 5.5k.

Good water is 400’-600’ in our area. I have two quotes for around $22k for a 500’-550’ well. 7” bore with 4” PVC and 40’ stainless screen on bottom. First quote is just the cased and capped well. Second quote includes 1 1/2 hp pump, pressure tank, etc. Basically a fully functional well vs. a cased hole for the same money…

My plan is to install a 4K+ gal tank above ground that I can draw from as needed

Be prepared for several things....high cost, long waiting period and lot of excuses. I have been on waiting list for as long as 17 months to get a water well drilled. Last price I got was $29,000 for a complete well for a 400' well.....this was about 6 weeks ago with 7 month waiting list. First one to ask for a deposit upfront also. Price of fuel, PVC pipe, wiring, etc are all way up in price. Had a friend tell me he paid just over .20/ft for 2" PVC pipe pre-covid...today it is over $2/ft. With 6" PVC well casing a lot higher than that.

I know there is a website that shows all the drilled wells in your area, which ones were dry holes and which ones were producers along with their GPM Flow. Hope you aren't drilling in Northern Coleman County......

Considering the current state of horse [censored] and where you are , I’d drill it.

What county?

Good friend is in the know

Never again.

Central freestone county…

Do any of your neighbors have wells? When you say "good water" have you tasted it, seen if it stains the porcelain? Good water to one person is not so good to another. Depths can get tricky with PVC vs steel, wire guage, pump HP. I talked to the best well servicer in my area. He was not a driller. I asked him who the best was and he gave me the name of the guy that drilled his well, the driller with the best success and the least problems down the road. Lots of scammers in that trade. Go by their yard. Look at their equipment. Is it old, junkie or is it newer and well maintained. My well is 275' and didn't have a very thick pay zone. I think it was only 12-14' but got good water. He drilled two wells for me. The first one wouldn't clear so he drilled another and didn't charge me. Not many will do that. I didn't expect that but was a nice surprise. Mine was $7500 10 years ago. That's roughly $30/ft. It included 1 HP pump and 80 gallon pressure tank. Last thing you want to do is spend the money on a 600' well then have to add a bunch of filters and crape.
I went to that website Concho referred to and it was good information. Sorry I don't remember the web address.

X2

I had a well dug and equipped on the south end of the ranch in March. I started talking to the driller about 4 months before, when they were working on my windmill. I kept, politely, checking in with them and low and behold, one day the dad of the operation said he wanted to come out and check the site.

I was a little taken back at the end price, but realize now it was right in line.

As stated above, do it sooner rather than later.

Wish I’d done it 7 years ago like I had planned….

Did an appraisal for a proposed commercial property outside of Pleasanton a week ago. They had a line item in their budget of $12,000 for a water well. I was pretty suspect of that number, if it could be had for that amount I’d write a check tomorrow but I just don’t think that it’s anywhere near what the deal cost would be.

Had a well drilled up here last summer, guy came from 2 1/2 hrs away and drilled about 4 wells in our lot area up in the mountains.
We paid $7000 and they helped us install the pump.
Our well bottomed out at 52 ft, has good water at 32 ft, nice and cold.
Getting it tested next week we hope.

We had an old guy witch the spot for us and we hit great water, 7 gpm.

"Good" water and "usable in an emergency" are two very different things.

There is a database of water wells that is available online. It's a little irritating to use, but with patience you can find what you need.

Find your map grid and maybe the closest surrounding ones on each side. Check out every well to see what the depths are. You may find there are less than desirable wells that are a LOT shallower. Get the info on any you find close to you, then use the appraisal district maps to find the owners. Knock on their door with a six-pack or a box of pastries and ask them about their well.

A hunting buddy is in an area where everyone said you needed 550 - 600', with a pump at 450. We found out that 65 feet got you a reliable, low-flow well, but the water had a lot of iron. Drinkable, but it messed up your fixtures, toilets, and sinks. He borrowed a DYI setup and drilled his own well for < $300 dollars. He put a solar pump in it (about a grand, including the solar panels) and it pisses out about a half gallon a minute, all the time the sun is shining. A great emergency source.

When I inquired back in 2014 for the farm it was around $20k.

There are some new wells being dug around here. They are around 600 +0r- ft. With a pump, pipe, wire and just a pressure tank around $35.000

You'd be a whole lot cheaper doing rain water capture like I am. And your water would be guaranteed clean.

If I ever sell, and start over somewhere else, I will catch water. I don't care what water sources are available. I like it that much.

Good luck on your well if you go for it

My neighbor's ranch that is in Hamilton county has no tax/fee on the water he pumps from his two water wells, he said in the county to the east of them Bosque you have to register the well and pay some sort of tax/fee on the water they pump out. You might want to look at that for your county.