Garage over water well

[dfmastin]

Here's my thread with plans for my Arkansas garage http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=350845
It looks like I'm going to be building over my water well. After consulting with builders and the well driller, the plan is to place angle-irons around the well and then pour concrete and place a metal plate over the well. The opening should be close enough to the garage doors that the pipes could bend out the door for maintenance. Any thoughts? It probably won't look all that pretty. No big deal. I plan to only use the downstairs for parking our cars.

 

[Junkman]

I know it wouldn't fly in CT or MA. In both states, there is a set back for the well distance from the structure. Every well that I have seen drilled in the last 10+ years, the well casing is required to be at least 24" above the grade, to prevent any surface water getting into the well and contaminating the water supply. Personally, I don't see any reason to put the well inside the garage. If you ever had to dig up the line and replace it, it would require that you break up the floor around it. If you are not familiar with wells, there is what is known as a pitless adapter that attaches to the side of the steel well casing, and on the inside of the well, the pump hoses hangs off of that adapter. On the other side of the adapter, is the pipe that goes to the house. The top of the well has a cap, that keeps rodents, etc. from climbing up the pipe, and falling into the well. This is the way that it is done in New England, your location might be different.

 

[Shiftless]

How could you lift all the pipe up in order to service the pump?

 

[gungatim]

I assume it's a shallow well with a separate pump? otherwise I'm wondering the same.

also, if it were me, I wouldn't want cars chemicals or anything associated with what I do in my shop anywhere near my well. not worth risking contaminating it with runoff or leaks...

 

[nh_yota]

It's not uncommon in this area of the country for a dug well to be under a house or a barn.

With that said, if I were to put it under a garage I would be worried about runoff from the garage floor getting into the water supply.

 

[Junkman]

How could you lift all the pipe up in order to service the pump?

My well pump is over 400 feet below the surface of the ground, and the casing sits about 2' above the ground surface. I use a 7' long tee handle made of 1" black iron pipe to screw into the pitless adapter, and with a rocking motion, while lifting, I can lift the pitlless adapter from its tapered connection, and the pump and the 1" plastic pipe to the top of the well casing. I also have a 1/4" plastic coated stainless steel cable that goes to the top of the well casing, and is connected on the other end to the pump. It is snapped into a eye bolt at the top of the well casing, in case the plastic pipe were to ever break, to prevent the pump falling to the bottom of the well. Once I have the pitless adapter at the top of the casing, with the help of a few assistants, you just keep pulling the pipe out of the well, until you get to the pump. I won't say that it is easy, but I have had to do it on more than one occasion. Luckily, I haven't had any problems in the past 20 years. The last time that I had to pull the pump, was because the well was struck by lightning blowing out the pump motor.
I assume that some people are familiar with the days, when the pumps were connected to the pipe to the house with steel pipe. Those days are over, and today, they use black plastic pipe that is rated for potable water. It doesn't rust, and the days of having a broken pipe section left in the well, are in the days of the past.

 

[Shiftless]

Thanks for the update. A few years ago I watched a friend's well guy drive up with a big truck that had a winch and a tower that pulled successive sections of hard pipe out of the deep well. Had to change out the motor.

 

[southalabama]

Wouldn't fly here. Would need to be able to bring the drilling truck in to pull the pipe and pump out. A buddy build a pump house and he built it where he could lift the roof off.

Not applicable here.

I wouldn't do it.

 

[steveo1o9]

Please consult your local health department or whoever the governing agency is for water systems. They are the ones who will give the yay or nay for doing what you want to do, not the contractor or well driller. I personally would not do that.