Lawn sprinkler well $?

[Alan in Little Washington]

My lawn is getting really dry again and it costs too much to water it with city water- the cost of the water plus higher sewer bills which are based on water usage. I have realized, however, that to get the lawn I want, I need to irrigate. So I am looking at putting in a (shallow?) well and installing a sprinkler system.

First, I have heard the water table is not deep here in E. NC. I also realize that I could probably borrow or rent the equipment to drill my own well. I also know about and have seen the orange stains caused by the iron in shallow well water.

All that being said, can you guys in the landscaping business (DaveO, Jon Todd?) or anyone else tell me the going rate to have a (irrigation) well sunk? Do most well drillers charge by the foot, or is there a basic fee (and others,) plus a price per foot?

Has anyone drilled their own well? What are the potential pitfalls? Any recommendations?

Once the well is in, I plan to plumb the sprinkler heads and wire the 110V/220V pump, low voltage zone valves, and timer, myself.

 

[Travis Porter]

I believe most wells run in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 dollars a foot. The pitfall is there is no guarantee to hit water.

 

[RandyJ]

Alan, Most well drillers charge by the foot. They are usually not interested in doing shallow wells because it costs them too much to bring in their equipment and set up. Most will tell you shallow wells aren't safe drinking water and recommend going several hundred feet deep for "good" water(read Mucho $$$$$). For irrigation purposes, shallow wells are fine.
I have located water (dowsing) and hand drilled several wells over the years using an old-fashioned hand auger. Of course this was in an area with few rocks. I would think Washington's soil is relatively sandy with few rocks. Might not be too big a job.
My cousin is still using the well we dug for his new house over 30 years ago! He also uses it for irrigating his garden and watering livestock...It's in Fayetteville and is about 35 ft. deep.

Good luck,

 

[Joe Scharle]

Alan, when I lived in Va. Beach almost everyone had a shallow well and jet pump setup for watering. Standard practice was:
3 foot driver point with screen (2")
2 - 4 4' pipe sections w/ couplers
strike collar (special sacrificial coupler)
pipe from well head to jet pump (usually in/or near garage

Rent a well driver. This at it's most basic is a truck axle with a crossbar for lifting, and a heavy weight thru the tee. I made one with a 2 gallon bucket filled with cement and it passed throughout the neighborhood.

I also made a screen of plastic hung on some PVC pipe. I would simply lean it against the brick where the water hit the house. Move it when I moved the sprinkler and roll it up when done the leave it under one of the cars in the garage.
Joe

 

[sediener]

You could also look into getting a separate water line from the city installed which is designated for irrigation. You won't get billed for sewage for the water from that one which will cut the water bill in half. My parents have this setup for their pool and irrigation system.

- Steve

 

[DaveO]

In addition to Steve's suggestion which is great. You might want to look into growing a lawn more suited to your climate. I am guessing you have a cool season Fescue lawn. Fescue goes dormant in temperatures above 85° and will brown out. It will require irrigation to help keep the root zone cool enough to continue growth. A warm season turf like Zoysia, Bermuda or Centipede will love the heat that we seem to have for over half of the year and will require much less water during the growing season. Of course spending a bunch of money on installing a new lawn would warrant an irrigation system to protect that investment. But in the long run you would save money with lower irrigation needs and a more permanent turf variety.
MTCW,
Dave

 

[welldigger]

Don't know much about drilling in your part of the state.We charge 10.00 per foot plus the well casing for a 6" hole. If you plan on digging your own well, make sure you get a permit from your county health department.

 

[junquecol]

Don't know much about drilling in your part of the state.We charge 10.00 per foot plus the well casing for a 6" hole. If you plan on digging your own well, make sure you get a permit from your county health department.

Not just from the county, but probably from the state also. The mine on the south side of the river extracts SIXTY FOUR MILLION GALLONS a day from the ground. Back in the seventies, I build the Sunbeam Bread place out by the technical institute. It had two bathroom, and sixteen drivers. We had to get a permit from the state to drill a deep well. You could probably "jet" in a shallow well. You might need some benntonite clay to keep walls from caving in prior to inserting casing and well point. Surprisingly, here in Apex, HD carries the combination well point / screen in 1 1/4" PVC

 

[gordonmt]

Here is another suggestion that I am currently doing that works great.
I have diverted my rain downspouts into 55 gallon plastic barrels. One of my barrels drains nearly half my roof and even on light rainfall, the barrel will fill in a matter of minutes. From that barrel, I use a simple fountain pump to pump water into my dormant spa. The Spa will hold over 1000 gallons of water and be more than enough to water my entire yard once before it needs to be refilled.
Downside is a lack of rain fall and you don't have water but the same lack of rainfall will cause lower water tables and a well might not work either.
My cost for this whole setup (minus the existing spa) was less than $200 and that includes the barrels, fountain pump, and a big electric pump to pull water from the sap and water the lawn.
To date this year, I have watered my lawn over 10 times (above and beyond normal rainfall) and saved over 10,000 gallons of city water.
The system really works well.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

In addition to Steve's suggestion which is great. You might want to look into growing a lawn more suited to your climate. I am guessing you have a cool season Fescue lawn. Fescue goes dormant in temperatures above 85° and will brown out. It will require irrigation to help keep the root zone cool enough to continue growth. A warm season turf like Zoysia, Bermuda or Centipede will love the heat that we seem to have for over half of the year and will require much less water during the growing season. Of course spending a bunch of money on installing a new lawn would warrant an irrigation system to protect that investment. But in the long run you would save money with lower irrigation needs and a more permanent turf variety.
MTCW,
Dave

I have Centepede- but it is really starting to suffer. Some of my shrubs are starting to look bad also. Soil is sand fill over clay in most of my yard. My lawn is the last to green up and slow to self repair. I seem to be waisting money on TruGreen/Chemlawn also.

 

[Jon]

My dad down at emerald Isle had one done recent and he was tieing into an existing sprinkler system. The cost of the well dug and wired and ready to use was 900 dollars.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Here is another suggestion that I am currently doing that works great.
I have diverted my rain downspouts into 55 gallon plastic barrels. One of my barrels drains nearly half my roof and even on light rainfall, the barrel will fill in a matter of minutes. From that barrel, I use a simple fountain pump to pump water into my dormant spa. The Spa will hold over 1000 gallons of water and be more than enough to water my entire yard once before it needs to be refilled.
Downside is a lack of rain fall and you don't have water but the same lack of rainfall will cause lower water tables and a well might not work either.
My cost for this whole setup (minus the existing spa) was less than $200 and that includes the barrels, fountain pump, and a big electric pump to pull water from the sap and water the lawn.
To date this year, I have watered my lawn over 10 times (above and beyond normal rainfall) and saved over 10,000 gallons of city water.
The system really works well.

I was thinking of trying to do something like that. I have a large wraparound porch and underneath it would be a great place to put some plastic holding tanks. In addition to the rain issue, there are two other problems I see however- the cost of the tanks might be more than a well and my house does not have gutters or downspouts (conscious decision to avoid the hassle of cleaning them).

 

[TracyP]

In addition to Steve's suggestion which is great. You might want to look into growing a lawn more suited to your climate. I am guessing you have a cool season Fescue lawn. Fescue goes dormant in temperatures above 85° and will brown out. It will require irrigation to help keep the root zone cool enough to continue growth. A warm season turf like Zoysia, Bermuda or Centipede will love the heat that we seem to have for over half of the year and will require much less water during the growing season. Of course spending a bunch of money on installing a new lawn would warrant an irrigation system to protect that investment. But in the long run you would save money with lower irrigation needs and a more permanent turf variety.
MTCW,
Dave

Dave, is there a grass that will stay green all year in our climate and not invade flower beds like bermuda tends to do?

 

[DaveO]

Dave, is there a grass that will stay green all year in our climate and not invade flower beds like bermuda tends to do?

No not really. Fescue can if you want to spend a lot of time and money watering, fertilizing and overseeding. But you are trying to make it do something it doesn't want to do.

Dave

 

[cptully]

Given the slope on your roof, the newer "leaf guard" type gutters should work well. My parents have them on a flat roof (~1 in 12 slope!). We have yet to rain their gutter into a barrels but the ~30' x 44' roof in a medium rain nearly fills the 4" PVC drain pie to capacity!

I just got it it, so I don't know how long it will take to fill, but (GLOAT:eusa_danc) I've managed to scrounge a ~500 gal poly tank that I am in the process of converting to "rain barrel" status. Based on observed flow from the back half of the roof on my 1400 sqft Bungalow this spring I figure one or two good rain showers should fill it to over flowing.

Chris

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

My dad down at emerald Isle had one done recent and he was tieing into an existing sprinkler system. The cost of the well dug and wired and ready to use was 900 dollars.

Thanks! If I can get it done for that (a little less than my forthcoming stimulus check) I think I may go that route. I will run my own piping as time, money, and motivation allow.

 

[gordonmt]

Wow, pretty house and I'm drooling for that three car garage.

 

[Alan in Little Washington]

Wow, pretty house and I'm drooling for that three car garage.

Thanks. The three car garage is ok, but I built it that big so I would have a a nice space for a shop above it! :gar-Bi

 

[Bob Buchholz]

We paid around 1,500 about 4 years ago that included the well, housing, and an oversized pump in order to run multiple high-volume heads.

We did have some trouble with rust staining for 3 or 4 months, but it has pretty much cleared up.

I can get you the name of the outfit that we used if you are interested.