Capping a well ????

[Conase]

I recently saw the House Detective inspecting a house and finding an UNCAPPED well UNDER a house. It consisted of what looked like a 3 or 4 inch cast iron pipe that had been cut off and sticking about 12 inches out of the ground.

Recently houses in an area near me developed contaminated wells and residents were asked to defray some of the cost of getting city water and capping their wells. ( $3,000 per household )

I can speculate on reasons for capping a well, but............

1) WHAT is involved in capping a well ? Permits ? Judging by what I saw on HGTV it looked to me like a trip to Depot or plumbing store to buy one of those rubber neoprene caps for plastic pipe with a SS worn gear clamp and it's capped.

I know you will tell me it ain't so.

2) What kind of costs are involved - I know that is a regional thing ? However what have been some costs ?

I doubt my Louisiana relatives ever capped any old wells 60 years ago - not sure.

TIA

[SQLit]

Grandmother had a old well that ended up in the driveway. (gravel) One night we were pulling in and there was a sink hole 5 feet deep and 3 feet in diameter. It was an old brick well. On our farm in Iowa we had several old wells that were marked out on the property map. All were brick and some were 50 feet deep. We filled them up with gravel, and then put an concrete marker indicating that there was a well there.

I would get an air bladder, push it down several feet and fill the top 3-4' with concrete. I would not want the liability of some child getting into it. Your well you cap it your way. But you had better check with the local authorities there may be an law already on the books.

[PrecisionMachinisT]

Not sure whether the state, county and / or city controls this, but where we used to live I recall a neighbor being required to cap his well and make 2 connections to city water as a requirement of permitting a second residence on his lot.

The old drilled well was filled with sand to the static level and then bentonite was used to completely fill the casing up to the surface.

[Greg]

They just pumped mine foll of bentonite and dumped a bag of concrere over the end of the well casing below grade and back filled it. The inspector watched

[Robert Allison]

Under the state and local laws of Texas, only a licensed well service can cap a well. It cost me about $1,200 for the last one and that one had no complications. The one I did before that cost $5,000 because the pump had fallen to the bottom along with many rocks and a lot of debris which made removal of the pump quite time consuming.

When a well is capped, it must be reported to (here in Texas) the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, which then generates a report for the landowner to keep with its deed. This document is important for future land use and for resale.

The actual capping process consists of determining the depth of the well, pulling the sleeves at the top and filling with slurry. The depth and size of the hole are determined, then the correct amount of slurry to fill the hole is mixed and dropped into the well. If it all goes in, all is well. If it doesn't, there may be a problem. Call a well service in your area and they will know exactly what is required for your well.

Good luck.

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle.

I'm from Louisiana and do know about water well capping here. We don't have any regulation on it but one regulation known by me. If you abandond a water well this happens. If it is big enough for a kid to fall into it you have to fill it with dirty. if a kid can't fall in it. You can do as you please.

TURTLE

[TURTLE]

This is Turtle Again.

I left something out that you might be interested in when you have to pay for water , Electric wire & Poles, or natural gas lines being run to your area for service. If the person pays for the service lines being run to your house from say 2 miles away. If anybody ties on to that line between your house and the service you started with. you can charge useage fee to the water company and customers when they tie on to it. This is a Louisiana regulation and some people do collect on the money they invest in water , natural gas , or Electric service. Here in Louisiana if you tell the utility company that you will be contracting the job of running service to your area and will hold the Roylity right to the service lines. They will not let you pay for the lines to be run and keep you out of the picture of service lines being run.

This is NOT a BLANKET STATEMENT. This is regulation in the state of Louisiana only.

TURTLE

[Conase]

What is the big fear and amount of work involved with bentonite ( which I had to do a search on ) and cement if the pipe is like a 3 or 4 inch one in the ground ?

No kid will ball into it - like those old wells about 3 feet across with the bucket hanging on a roller on a rope in those old movies .

1) Are the authorities afraid of some kind of contamination ? 2) Any other worries ? 3) Bossie, the cow, tripping on it and/or breaking a leg stepping in the 3 - 4 inch hole ? 4) One poster in this thread even said he had to pay to have the pump removed which had gotten buried from above in rocks, etc. Who cares if it is being abandoned ? See quote >>>> Under the state and local laws of Texas, only a licensed well service can cap a well. It cost me about $1,200 for the last one and that one had no complications. The one I did before that cost $5,000 because the pump had fallen to the bottom along with many rocks and a lot of debris which made removal of the pump quite time consuming.

[maradcliff]

I once lived in Wisconsin and a relative had to cap their well, after they got city water, OR they could keep the well as long as it was safe and in working order, but if they kept it, they had to pay something like $30 a month to keep it. (a real gimmick if you ask me). Anyhow, it was required that the well be filled with concrete.

It could have cost them thousands if they used the company recommended by the city. Instead, some guy started a business and for something like $300 he went around and poured concrete in wells. He also got to keep all the pumps (I suppose he resold them).

I noticed in the thread someome asked why a pump had to be removed. It's because submercible pumps contain oil. Eventually it will rust and corrode and the oil will get into the water (not a good thing). Remove the pump! You dont really want to pollute peoples water, and definately dont want a lawsuit years down the road. If the well is filled with concrete and the pump is left, down several hundred feet, imagine the bill you would have to pay to (somehow), remove the pump. (I have no clue how that would be done).

Mark

[Greg]

You cap a well to keep ground water (lawn chemicals, septic fields etc) from contaminating the deeper aquifers where the drinking water is.