How to return an old well to service:

This article describes how to cure bad water test results or or non-potable water in an old, previously abandoned drilled steel casing water well.

Our page top photograph show an abandoned well casing at a property in Red Hook, New York. There was no well casing cap, the casing top was close to ground level, and the condition of the well was unknown.

Drilled Wells - how to I fix an old, non-potable drilled well?

Most modern drilled wells for residential properties use a 6" steel casing which is inserted into the drilled hole prepared by the well driller and then sealed at top and bottom against contamination by surface water or surface runoff.

The Question and Answer below address the question of how to evaluate, test, and repair an old drilled well if an initial water test indicates that the well water is "bad" or not potable.

Question: What Do I Do About an Old Abandoned Well When the Water Test Comes Back Bad?

I just bought a 2.3 Acres of deep wood-lands in Pennsylvania. (In Hempfield Twp.) Westmoreland County. The previous owners had a 6-inch steel casing water well installed, when they lived there at one time. No one has lived at this property for years & years.

The Re-Max Realty agent that we bought this land from,told us that there was a water well at the property & that they used to use this well for their drinking water etc...

Well,we finally located the water well 6" casing & it was uncovered & the pump & electrical connections where all missing. The well casing is sticking about 6" out of the ground.

You can actually see the water with a flash light running & moving at top of the water's level, 28'-6" down the pipe casing.

So! with this being said,the water well was there & sitting with an open top - that is there was no well cap on top of the casing. Not a good thing. We don't know how long it's been this way nor what else may have fallen into this water well casing, right?

First of all, we don't know very much about water wells at all. I've always lived where there's been public water at my residence.

Here is How We Figured the Depth of Our Well

So! me and my wife got around to finding out about this water well by doing a check of things. We dropped an iron~chisel attached onto a piece of twine string 200 feet long... (We took the liberties of sterilizing) the iron-chisel in boiling water before we sent it down the casing... We found the Water Well to be 68'- 6" deep.

Here is How We Tested Our Well Water

Then,we had a (sterilized) glass Mason canning jar that we attached too an different piece of new twine string & sent it down the 6" steel casing pipe. The jar stopped at 28'- 6" & into the top of the well water it was...

We drew up a glass jar full of the Well Water & tightly sealed the water jar & took it too a water testing facility near where we live. The Water testing facility said, that they'd had to wait for at least 24 hour period & add certain powders to it too find out the results of the waters quality.

So! we paid them the $20.00 for the testing & called them back the next day to find out that the Well Water tested positive & not good to drink because of certain quality standards & bacteria.

The Water testing Co. told us to dump about three cups of Chlorine!Bleach into the well casing. & then wait for three days & have it tested once more. Does this sound right with procedures ? We have no idea what's~what ? We are going to go back over to this Water Well today ( 2/3/ 2011) & spill that Chlorine into the well casing & wait for three days.

So! I figured I'd write to you folks & get more opinions. We plan on building our dream home at this 2.3 acres of beautiful wood lands, but there's the Water problem as of present.

Can you offer us more good advice as to what you'd do [to find out if and how we can return this well to service]?

I'd hate to drill for another water well, when there's already one there, that seems to have about 40 feet deep of water already at hand. The local well drillers want around $4,500.00 to do another water well drilling if that's what it will take? Yikes !

Any help would be appreciated, M. & R. L., Scottsdale, PA.

Reply: Before Considering Drilling a New Well, Properly Sterilize, Inspect, and Re-Test The Old One

Certainly it's not a good idea to start by thinking of drilling a new well before we understand the present one a bit better.

First Take A Look at the Failed Water Test Details

In fact, depending on the particular water test that was done, there might be more derailed information that would help us guess at the chances that the well will be fine after it is sterilized.

Water tests that just give a "pass/fail" result are quick and inexpensive, but not as helpful as diagnostics as water tests that give an actual bacteria count.

Advice about failed water tests is in the following articles.

• DETECTING WATER TEST CHEATING
• FAILED WATER TESTS - WHAT TO DO
• INTERPRETING THE LEVEL OF BACTERIA
• WATER TEST INTERPRETATION
• WATER TEST PROCEDURE ERRORS
• WELL CHLORINATION & SHOCKING

But it's no surprise that a well that was abandoned, not sealed against surface runoff, and not used for a long time might be contaminated.

In Carson Dunlop's sketch at left we show the typical construction of a drilled water well in cross section.

You can see that the typical well casing diameter is 6" (4" in some areas), that the well depth can be considerable (50 50 ft. to 900 ft. or more), and that the steel well casing does not extend down into the bedrock.

Proper Well Shocking (Sterilization) Procedure

We suggest regardless of the existing water test details you will want to have the well itself sterilized - shocked - properly, using an amount of bleach determined by the amount of water actually in the well, not just an arbitrary formula.

There are some other details (in our procedure articles below) such as hooking up a garden hose and using the chlorinated water to thoroughly wash-down the sides of the well, that can make a big difference in whether or not the well passes its next potability test.

In addition, if this "abandoned well" still has well piping entering the well casing below ground (at a pitless adapter that enters the side of the well casing), unsanitary ground water could be entering the well from that route.

Pitless adapters are special fittings that allow well piping to exit out the side of a round steel well casing below ground - they are explained

at DRILLED WELLS, STEEL CASINGS

So to wash down the well casing as part of your shocking procedure you may want to hook up a temporary (submersible) well pump and garden hose to do the wash down procedure right at the well.

Here is the key article on how to shock or sterilize a well.

WELL CHLORINATION SHOCKING PROCEDURE

Usually well-shocking is done after a pump and piping are installed so that all of the components are sanitized at the same time.

Re-Test The Well

Then re-test the well water for potability as well as for flow rate or total water capacity. It's possible that you'll discover that well water is potable. Or maybe not.

Most Common Causes of Bad Well Water

Here are examples of common reasons the well might not, however, be giving potable water:

• Leaks into the well: The pitless adapter is leaking, the well cap was at or below ground and leaking, or the well casing has become split or broken or damaged below ground in a location admitting surface water into the well. These are parts that can often be repaired or replaced.
• Bad well location: the well is located too close to a septic drainfield or other source of contamination
• Bad water aquifer: The well taps an aquifer that is itself contaminated.

In making decisions about new well vs. use and treat an existing well, we need to have an idea if a new well would deliver potable water itself.

Start by talking with local well drillers and the health department about their experience with water potability in your area, as well as inspecting the specific well for damage that could be letting unsanitary water in from the surface, or from a bad location (such as too close to a septic drainfield).

Will A New Well Give Better Water Quality?

If a well has good flow but is not potable, unless we find a specific local cause (cracked casing for example) there is a risk that even a newly drilled well in the same area will strike the same aquifer and also won't be potable - in which case you'll have paid for a second well to no avail.

SO an option is to sanitize the well, inspect for damage (by direct inspection, perhaps with a camera), and if necessary install water treatment equipment.

Will the Old Well [Or a New One] Give Enough Water Quantity?

Watch out:  There Could be a WelL Water Quantity Problem Too.

Even if the well water is potable, we won't know if the quantity of water will be acceptable - and if it's not, that could be a reason to drill the existing well deeper or to drill a new one.

Reasons to Install a Well Pump Before Testing The Well Water

So there are some important reasons to go ahead and hook up a temporary well pump at your well (or ask a well driller to set this up for you).

Flush out old water from the well casing:

First, it makes sense to pump the old water out of the well casing, allowing new water to enter the well casing before you perform a new water test. After all, what's important is the potability of the water in the ground that flows into your well, not just the old water that has been sitting inside the casing for who knows how long. The water sitting inside the casing could be unsanitary but the water that enters the well from the aquifer tapped by the well could be fine.

Wash down the well casing to sterilize it:

Second, having the pump allows you to wash down the well casing sides with chlorinated water, as we discussed earlier.

Test the well flow rate or recovery rate:

having a pump installed on the well, especially if it's using equipment typically used by a well driller to evaluate the well's flow rate or ability to deliver water, will let you also find out how much water the well can actually provide - the well yield.

The water that is just sitting inside the well casing is what we call the Static Head -

seeWELL DYNAMIC HEAD & STATIC HEAD DEFINITION

But the ability of the well to actually deliver a quantity of water (including water that flows into the well while you are taking water out of it, is what we call the flow rate or well yield -

see WELL YIELD DEFINITION. It's the flow rate or yield that you most care about.

Details of how we address the well water quantity question are discussed

at WELL FLOW RATE

Other Questions to Investigate When Returning Water Service to a Building that Has Been Shut Down for Some Time

Make an inventory of the entire building and its mechanical systems to find out what is installed and what is the condition of items such as:

• Well location, depth, static head, piping, piping material, condition, routing, check valves, foot valve
• Well pump type, location, condition
• Well pump controls, switches and valves
• Water supply controls, valves, piping, material, condition, routing, evidence of leaks, frost damage, even building damage that came from prior leaks
• Water drain piping, material, condition, routing, leaks, freeze damage, blocked vents, clogged drains
• If a septic system is installed, where are components located, what is their history, construction, material, maintenance. InspectApedia offers in depth information about septic system location, testing, and repair.
• Plumbing fixture condition, including control valves, traps, toilet fill and flush valves

Watch out: often on return of water service we find traps that were left off, pipes that had not drained and were burst in both supply and drain system, corroded jammed faucets, toilet fill and flush valves that don't perform either task, and even hidden damage to the building from prior leaks or simple lack of attention for such a long time.

That means that when we turn water back on, we have to inspect the entire building quickly for leaks in order to catch them before there is flooding or water damage.

Or if working control valves permit, try turning water supply on through the building one area at a time.

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2021-11-19 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator (mod) - possible abandoned flowing artesian well

@nate,

No but IF your well was a "flowing artesian well" and water flowed out of the well top or out of a drain opening then the installer might have installed a nearby drain to carry off that excess water .

From the appearance of the casing and the fact that it seems to have a welded top seal with a fitting for a pipe, one might guess that this was previously a flowing artesian well whose water flow stopped or "went dry".

See details at

ARTESIAN WELLS, WELL SPOOLS

where we'll copy most of this conversation

On 2021-11-19 by nate - explain presence of a drain next to a well casing

@Inspectapedia Com Moderator, thanks for your response. Does every deep water well have a drain next to it?

On 2021-11-19 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator (mod)

@nate,

Looks like an abandoned well.

That top hole could have been a water pipe connection to a flowing artesian well, OR if there was actually a pump in the well it may have been a flowing artesian well whose flow was intermittent and ultimately needed a pump, later was abandoned completely if the well's flow and recovery rate fell below a useful level.

On 2021-11-19 by nate

And a hole towards the bottom. Sorry for all the posts

It also has a hole on top. it possibly has an electric wire running inside

Hi. I have this in the backyard its sticking out about 3 feet from the ground with a diameter of about 1 foot or so. There is also a drain right next to it. Can you help out?

On 2021-10-11 by inspectapedia.com.moderator (mod)

@Joe Scaparra, @Joe Scaparra,

100 foot well with water at 20ft sounds promising. Of course until we put a pump on it we don't know what the wells actual flow rate or capacity is. I think it would be a good idea to have the water tested for potability so that you know whether you could use it for drinking if you needed to. The basic test is inexpensive.

About having no well casing, I don't understand how the well is constructed.

One couldn't drill a well that would last if just drilling a six inch hole in dirt, because you've actually got dirt sides that would cave in and block the well.

So list of well is drilled through rock or some very hard pack, there should be some kind of well liner or casing. If it has been removed or is deteriorated you might want a new liner inserted.

And yes you can try a pump, or shallow well pump can lift water from 27 ft or less so you may need a two-line jet pump to be able to pump from greater depth and thus get more water from your well.

Keep in mind that windmill driven pumps generally lift from just a shallow depth of less than 27 feet and pump at a slower rate. So if you put an electric motor-driven pump on the same well there is some risk that you pump faster than the well's own flow rate. That remains to be discovered.

Do let us know what you find.

On 2021-10-11 by Joe Scaparra

Recently bought 57 acres ranch land near Lampasas TX. It had an abandoned water well that appears to be about 100 feet deep with no visible metal casing. It has four cut metal legs that is assumed to have connected to a windmill at one time. Wind mill gone and the 6-8 inch hole is covered by some loose rocks.

We dropped a 100 ft rope down the well and hit water at about 20 feet down. Is it practical to put a PVC pipe connected to a pump to pull water out or would we have to have someone put casing in the well. We are undecided if we need the water for human comsumption or just want to pull the water for feeding animals or water vegetation. Is this something worth proceeding assuming we don't want to put a lot of money into this well. MYy email joe@scaparra.com

On 2021-09-27 by inspectapedia.com.moderator (mod) - I put a gallon of Clorox bleach in mywell water once every year, but don't drink it for a few days.

@Johnny willkie,

Watch out: In my OPINION there's nothing in the procedure you described which sounds healthy, safe, nor correct. To properly shock a well one would at the very least have to know the volume of water in the well casing, the proper amount of bleach touse, and one would need to use sufficient time for the bleach to be effective, then to flush it out.

Putting an arbitrary amount of Clorox bleach into a well doesn't reassure that is being properly shocked and to do so without testing doesn't tell us if it was necessary and failing to flush it out could cause someone to be harmed.

The specifics of HOW to shock your well and HOW LONG the wait period afterwards is are found on the following page:

WELL CHLORINATION PROCEDURE

On 2021-09-25 by Johnny willkie

I put a gallon of Clorox bleach in mywell water once every year, but don't drink it for a few days.

On 2021-04-18 by (mod) - is this old clay-tile lined water well worth saving?

@Matt,

take a look at CALCULATE WATER VOLUME per FOOT of WELL CASING

for an accurate calculation of how much water forms the static head in your well (the amount of water when the well is fully recovered and at rest)

But that doesn't measure how much water the well can deliver.

For that you need to know the flow rate of water into the well - not a constant but rather a gpm that varies over time and season.

See details at WELL FLOW RATE for a true answer to "how much water is in the well"

Do keep us posted.

On 2021-04-18 by Matt

Thank you. :)

On 2021-04-18 - by (mod) -

@Matt,

I agree that does not sound functional.

A 12-inch diameter well casing gives us 5.87 gallons per foot of water.

Watch out: a four foot deep x 12" diameter of well water column then will be just 23 gallons of water, not the 60 to 90 gallons you estimated.

You could before completely giving up try using pump to see how much water you can pump out of that hole at what rate, which in turn would tell you the recovery rate.

Will a tiny well like that, only if it had a fantastic recovery or flow rate would it be usable.

Watch out: for other readers: keep in mind that a shallow well accessed through segmented clay tiles as a liner can not be safe from surface or ground water contaminants.

On 2021-04-18 by Matt

I lowered my phone on a string and timed a picture. It's about 12" wide at the bottom and is another clay pipe.

Here's the other photo of our well.

On 2021-04-18 by Matt

I checked the depth of the water with a string and a rock. It submerses about four feet and hits mud.

At most about 90 gallons. It likely sufficed in 1910 when the house was built, but it's not nearly enough to water our lawn. It's so shallow I doubt it would refill very fast either.

Am I correct? I'm not sure there's enough benefit to having it restored as a functioning well.
I'm gonna make another post so I can share my other picture.

On 2021-04-17 - by (mod) -

@Matt

Sounds reasonable;

a clay pipe would not be used for well water delivery but might be used as a conduit for piping or wiring, though in my opinon that's an antiquated and unsafe material.

You might see if you can find a plumber who can provide a well inspection camera - saving a lot of digging and getting some idea of the well's construction quickly.

On 2021-04-17 by Matt

It's most likely drilled since it's only a foot wide about three or four feet down. It's 'neck' from ground level is a four inch clay pipe.

The water either needs to be pumped out, or I need a really long straw.
I'm going out there tomorrow to check it's depth with a tape, string, and a rock. I'll post some pictures.
Thank you for your time.

On 2021-04-16 - by (mod) -

@Matt,

We need to understand what kind of well you were talking about here. If it's a dug well it seems to me

That is not likely to be worth preserving underneath the garage floor you're worth the cost of trouble of moving the garage.

If it's a drilled well that can be served by a pump then it seems to me that you could make an access port and cover that would allow garage to be built over it. Perhaps you can clarify the situation.

On 2021-04-16 by Matt

We bought our house five years ago. Our gravel driveway had a cover that contained a water valve underneath. We figured it was the city waterline, so we never investigated.

Last September our house burned down and while digging our new foundation last month, the construction crew dug in this spot and discovered they broke into a four-inch clay pipe leading to a well.

We’d like to keep it for watering our lawn and garden if possible, but where it stands now, it will directly inside our planned garage about 4 feet from the wall. We already have paid for our permits, plus there isn’t any other place to put our garage because the lot is so narrow.

The clay pipe is about 3 or 4 feet long, and then the diameter of the well grows to about a foot wide. Water is visible about five feet from the surface We haven’t tested its depth or quality yet.

Can we replace the broken clay pipe with metal or another suitable material and then pour the concrete around the pipe to save our well?

Is the clay pipe a sign that it’s old?

Is this well likely worth saving?

Thank you for your time.

On 2021-03-27 - by (mod) -

@Dee parsons,

Seems you want to

1. have the well water tested for common contaminaints

2. have the entire casing inspected using a well camera; that same inspection can look in the well bottom to see if there is junk to be removed.

If so, search InspectApedia.com using our on-page search box for WELL RETRIEVAL TOOLS to see how that's done

On 2021-03-27 by Dee parsons

I have a 6 in drilled well that is approximately 50 ft deep. The well was on our property when we bought it. It it went uncovered for many of the year. My question should I be concerned about what has been put down that well if anything. Is there a way of cleaning out the bottom of that well in case there has been cans or metal or anything put in?

On 2020-10-15 - by (mod) -

Suzie

If your submersible pump is just 30 ft. down into a 116 ft. static head or column of water, you're missing taking advantage of the volume of water in the well and you may find that the flow rate is more limited than need be.

But it can work.

Wells, below the frost line, don't normally freeze.

The piping between well and building is usually buried deep enough so as not to freeze.

On 2020-10-15 by Suzie mclean

I have an old drilled well. I measured 116' water. I installed hand pump with 30' drop. Can I run this water into my home??? How to prevent it freezing?

On 2018-06-30 - by (mod) -

John

If you use the search box just above to find our article on WELL YIELD IMPROVEMENT you'll see techniques for increasing the water flow rate or yield that are worth considering.

On 2018-06-29 by John G.

I have a well that was good for 100 gallons per minute. I watched as the drillers pump shot water 8 feet before it hit the ground with a 3 or 4 inch line. That was 11 years ago. I put in a submersible 230V 25 gallon per minute pump running open discharge down 165 ft. Static water level WAS 6 ft. Now it cannot be seen. The pump runs dry after about 4 minutes. well is 200 ft deep as checked with a lead weight and fishing line. Whats the remedy?

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Continue reading at WATER TEST CHOICES & WATER TEST FEES - home, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see OLD WELL - RETURN TO SERVICE FAQs - questions & answers posted originally on this page

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• DRIVEN POINT WELL RESTORATION
• DUG WELL POTABILITY TEST
• WATER TEST CHOICES & WATER TEST FEES
• WATER TESTING ADVICE for home buyers and building owners: water contaminants, water test procedures, well shock procedures, preventing drinking water contamination
• WELL FLOW RATE
• WELL LIFE EXPECTANCY
• WELL SAFETY WALL & COVER

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OLD WELL - RETURN TO SERVICE at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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