I plan to fill in this well. Any particulars known? It has concrete box around it with a little roof. I intend to bust up the concrete, dump it down the well, bust up the rock base with a hole in the middle and dump it down the hole and have any number of loads of gravel dumped on the well so most if it falls down the hole and use my tractor to push in the rest with the bucket loader. Then top it off with loam and grass seed.
It's right next the septic drainage field. I don't think it can ever be used again. It's just an irritating lawn obstacle for mowing.
WHY??
Fix it up, secure so no one can fall in, nice lawn ornament, and could be a lifesaver if water failed for any reason.
you could put a submersible pump down the hole and use for irrigation car washing etc etc
Some areas have proceedures that you must follow for sealing up an old well and only allow certain materials to be used. It is designed to prevent contamination of the water table, particularly a 75 foot deep well.
It seems like filling it with gravel is an expensive overkill. Dirt came out of it and dirt could refill it. Yeah, you'll have some settling over a period of time, but you can just add more dirt.
Whatever you use, be sure they don't drive that much weight over your septic field.
KC
I'd start with the sand/gravel. [creek run would be my choice- it is cheap & flows nicely.]
You could dump a few big chunks of concrete down there that get lodged
1/2 way & you'd either not know about it, or you'd have a bitch of a time clearing it.Fill it to where you can see what you're doing- then put its own chunks in. [that will also make it easier to reach the mouth of the well while filling.]
Jim
Save the gravel. I can think of a whole lot of politicians that I'd want to throw down there instead...
But then you have to worry about poisoning the water table.
Plus they'd decompose and the ground would sink. Maybe encase them in concrete first?
Totally agree there. I've been to a lot of old underground military sites; standard practice post-WWII was to smash the above-ground entrances and throw the bits into the hole, then fill over with dirt. After 30 or more years the dirt's migrated through and they've all opened up again...
The only way to sort anything like this out is to completely fill it with smaller particles (dirt, gravel, whatever) and expect it to keep settling for a few years and needing more packing.
Locally the rule is, fill with sand to within a few feet of the top, then cover with clay fill.well mounded up. We had such a fill job done free a couple of years ago because the old cistern/well was within a few hundred feet of the high school. I sort of miss the old cast iron pump in the patio. Looked rather neat painted Rustoleum light gray.
Joe
Probably ship them off the Yucca Mountain would be the best.
I hope you have a good reason for back filling an otherwise good well. As unstable as the world is, you may need it later. You could regret that decision very severely.
use sand,wash in each load or two with water that helps to fill the voids and compacts at the same time.Do this and it will settle very little.
Locally the rule is, fill with sand to within a few feet of the top, then cover with clay fill.well mounded up. We had such a fill job done free a couple of years ago because the old cistern/well was within a few hundred feet of the high school. I sort of miss the old cast iron pump in the patio. Looked rather neat painted Rustoleum light gray.
Joe
I'd really suggest leaving it there. You may have to dig up the leach field some later time, and it may be to advantage to put the leach field some where else. Have the water tested. It may be just fine, if it's drawing well below the leach field.
Don't need it, I have a drilled well on other side of lot.
My cousin used the one on the family farm for geothermal HVAC but if you are bent on filling it I suggest you consult your local authority on this one. Filling one can be as complicated as drilling one.. When I livedin Ga it was not uncommon for people to cap them. This meant digging down for about 2 ft and a foot out from the edged of the well and pouring a concrete cap. Im not sure how think they were but I think I remember 12 inches was not too unreasonable.
Jimmie
Agreed. I have been on town water for over 30 years but I still have my original bored well. It is 36" in diameter x 40 feet deep minus some silting in. At the present time it is under a large deck, however I can get to it by lifting a "trap door" panel from the deck. If something happens to destroy, polute or otherwise make town water unuseable, I can always lift the door, remove the concrete lid and drop a pail down the well and lift up some water, if it is summer I have a pump that I can sit on the deck to pressurize my house system.
I don't know what area you live in, but my brother in law abandoned a well and since he lived on a farm, he filled it with field stone....worst infestation of snakes I have ever heard of after that... Jim
law abandoned a
my home plan was built in 1950, they filled a hand dug well in my back yard. it settled for over 50 years. was a real maintence headache. lived here since 1972.
i would fix up the lawn ornament the next home buyer might like it
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