Well point and boreholes in CT

Man I'd love to do this, but I've got beach sand from about 3m down (3km from the coast). I started drilling my own borehole a while ago - got 16m down (can go max 30m as I have piping / pump for that) and then the swivel broke and started spewing too much water (so I didn't have the pressure to get the cuttings up out of the hole).

I think i'll give it another go in Dec, but probably remove the swivel from the mix (and possibly jet, instead of drill now that the hard stuff has been cleared)....
 
shadow_man said:
Man I'd love to do this, but I've got beach sand from about 3m down (3km from the coast). I started drilling my own borehole a while ago - got 16m down (can go max 30m as I have piping / pump for that) and then the swivel broke and started spewing too much water (so I didn't have the pressure to get the cuttings up out of the hole).

I think i'll give it another go in Dec, but probably remove the swivel from the mix (and possibly jet, instead of drill now that the hard stuff has been cleared)....
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My only concern would be ingress from the salt water. I'm about 5km from strand beach but 800m from the lourens rivier which is why I have water at less than 4m deep.

Basically the underground section of the river. images%20(2).jpg
 
AchmatK said:
My only concern would be ingress from the salt water. I'm about 5km from strand beach but 800m from the lourens rivier which is why I have water at less than 4m deep.

Basically the underground section of the river. View attachment 1411055
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Yeah part of the reason I went DIY is I can afford f’ups as they’re just my time, not my money too!

I will probably try 12-18m with a WellPoint surface pump and deeper with a submersible and find the sweet spot.
 
This is an interesting thread. About a year ago I had a wellpoint put in, after quite a few companies told me I would not get water where I am.

I know the area, I grew up here. Where my house is, used to me a marsh.

So far I've been pumping 2kl or more a day into a 2.2kl jojo tank. I run the pump an hour at a time, every second hour. It yields between 500-700l per hour. Somehow this varies, but there are many factors that can influence that.

The wellpoint pump is a 450w Metabo pump, and it sprays the water into the tank. Another 750w pump is linked to my irrigation system.

By spraying the water into the tank, I get rid of all sediment. I also see the far side of the tank getting stained with what I presume is iron or some other mineral.

The water is crystal clear when running the irrigation system. There are no stains on any wall, paving or tiles. Not even on the pump housing or electrical boxes,where it would have stood out.

Just thought I'd contribute a bit to this thread.
 
Bliksis said:
This is an interesting thread. About a year ago I had a wellpoint put in, after quite a few companies told me I would not get water where I am.

I know the area, I grew up here. Where my house is, used to me a marsh.

So far I've been pumping 2kl or more a day into a 2.2kl jojo tank. I run the pump an hour at a time, every second hour. It yields between 500-700l per hour. Somehow this varies, but there are many factors that can influence that.

The wellpoint pump is a 450w Metabo pump, and it sprays the water into the tank. Another 750w pump is linked to my irrigation system.

By spraying the water into the tank, I get rid of all sediment. I also see the far side of the tank getting stained with what I presume is iron or some other mineral.

The water is crystal clear when running the irrigation system. There are no stains on any wall, paving or tiles. Not even on the pump housing or electrical boxes,where it would have stood out.

Just thought I'd contribute a bit to this thread.
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That's brilliant.

I'm still going strong at roughly a kl every day feeding my whole house.

You should stop get it tested just to know in the event that you might need to use it for more than just irrigation.
 
AchmatK said:
That's brilliant.

I'm still going strong at roughly a kl every day feeding my whole house.

You should stop get it tested just to know in the event that you might need to use it for more than just irrigation.
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I did consider testing, but I the whole testing process sounds like a ripoff and frankly, a bit scammy.

I've read your experience, and I've contacted another company in Milnerton. You send 2x 1l bottles of water not older than 24hrs (if I remember correctly), pay upfront. But if there is a backlog, you run the risk of the water not being feasible for testing again and then they send it somewhere else. For that, you incur an additional fee.

There are simply too many variables. I'll probably enquire again in the future, but this incident annoyed the hell out of me.
 
Actually, it would be quite useful if you or Achmat would post the details of the water testing outfits. I am really intrigued to know why the municipal water in Vredekloof tastes as it does (terrible).
 
Geoff.D said:
Actually, it would be quite useful if you or Achmat would post the details of the water testing outfits. I am really intrigued to know why the municipal water in Vredekloof tastes as it does (terrible).
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This is the chemical test and my sample was too old for the microbial tests and I had to send them a second sample. I'll try and find the results but I think its in this thread somewhere in 2018.

Maybe I should send you a 2l bottle from my well to taste. My family can't stand tap water anywhere and we bottle water from our well when go out. 1776096727.jpg
 
I received a request about a research survey.

I am a Research Assistant for a project through the African Climate and Development Initiative at the University of Cape Town. We are interested in hearing from groundwater users in Cape Town about their experiences with and motivations for installing and using boreholes/wellpoints/wells. I was hoping I could post a small invitation to the study on the forum so that we might be able to recruit some borehole/wellpoint-owners to participate in the household-interview portion of our study.
Would you feel comfortable sharing the following invitation or distributing it to your connections?

How do we value our boreholes?
Researchers at University of Cape Town and Cardiff University in the UK are studying the use of groundwater through wellpoints and boreholes across Cape Town. This is part of a larger project asking similar questions in five African cities that face different challenges to their water supply.
If you are 18 or older, live in a household that uses a borehole or wellpoint, and wish to contribute to improving our understanding of this important resource, then we would like to hear from you. The interview takes no more than 30 minutes and can be done online, over the phone or in person. To participate please follow this link: www.surveymonkey.com/r/SSJ2RT8
You can also read more about the project here: https://acdi.uct.ac.za/water-stressed-cities
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Six years on and the well has met all our water needs. I was filing the pool when I noticed the flow from the pump in the well was not pumping it's usual rate.

Looked inside the well and it was running dry. I think we had less rain and a few more properties in the street dug wells since I did mine. I'll need to dig it another meter deep. It's still deep enough to keep my water tank topped up that feeds the house but just not enough to sustain a continuous flow such as filling a pool.

Summer is also the best time to dig it deeper as its normally at its lowest level.
 
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Halfway through the well expansion dig. I laid a concrete ring a few years back on how big I wanted to make the well so they are digging down from that concrete ring.

I need to order some bricks so we can brick up the well wall after they are done digging. 20240312_125336.jpg
 
I run my wellpoint pump for 10-20min every hour into a tank as it gets later in the summer season. Seems to be the most efficient in getting water out.
 
xrapidx said:
I run my wellpoint pump for 10-20min every hour into a tank as it gets later in the summer season. Seems to be the most efficient in getting water out.
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Mine is on a float switch and tops up my water tank throughout the day as needed.
 
AchmatK said:
Mine is on a float switch and tops up my water tank throughout the day as needed.
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I initially had that - but - found as the neighbours dropped wellpoints, and seasons changed - I couldn't maintain pressure, so now I give it time to top up.

Fortunately, its managed via home-assistant, so I only know if there's an issue if my tank hasn't reached full in 24 hours. (hasnt happened in a few years)
 
so achmat you literally dug the whole yourself and ran few pipes down to collect water ?

the guy who did my parents used that long pipes to find water and he went down to 6m

but they water pressure in bellville isnt the best so looking for someone else to dig another hole
 
I.am.Sam said:
so achmat you literally dug the whole yourself and ran few pipes down to collect water ?

the guy who did my parents used that long pipes to find water and he went down to 6m

but they water pressure in bellville isnt the best so looking for someone else to dig another hole
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Correct.

We have an underground river here so there's some big rocks and drilling with those water drills would not have worked. Going to finish up tomorrow.

Sometimes it's just a matter of digging it deeper. Having a submersible pump at the bottom of the well is also better than having a pump above ground sucking up the water. Depending on what pipes, connectors and non return valve is used, they can lose water prime and water pressure.

My submersible pump at the bottom of the well fills up a water tank and from there there's another jet pump that feeds the house so we don't ever directly rely on the pump in the well to supply the water pressure needed. As long as the water tank has water, the jet pump takes care of the water pressure to the house.
 
Busy building up the well wall. Going to go another 2 bricks high, plaster the outside and may put some stone cladding.

It's 2.2m wide..

Eventually will add a roof and bucket on a rope so it will be a working manual well. Just need to figure out where to get the mechanism to lower the bucket with a ratchet gear system so it doesn't drop back down. 20240506_130251.jpg20240506_162031.jpg
 
AchmatK said:
Busy building up the well wall. Going to go another 2 bricks high, plaster the outside and may put some stone cladding.

It's 2.2m wide..

Eventually will add a roof and bucket on a rope so it will be a working manual well. Just need to figure out where to get the mechanism to lower the bucket with a ratchet gear system so it doesn't drop back down. View attachment 1705933View attachment 1705937
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I've been following this thread, and you're quite lucky that well is yielding as much as it does! Well done.

What would the point of a bucket be? Don't you already have it connected to your house?
 
Bliksis said:
I've been following this thread, and you're quite lucky that well is yielding as much as it does! Well done.

What would the point of a bucket be? Don't you already have it connected to your house?
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In case there is a solar flare or EMP.
 
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