Bolster your domestic water supply with one or more shallow home jet drilled water wells.
Water conservation and dwindling water supplies in many areas have forced homeowners and gardeners to find alternative means to irrigate lawns and to water gardens. Tap into your local groundwater aquifer to meet your water supply needs, especially if you live on soft sand and clay layered soils. Learn the basics of your local groundwater hydrology and jet drill one or more shallow do-it-yourself water wells to augment your domestic water supply and to keep your lawns and gardens lush and green. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
Shallow-Well Drilling
1. Locate the well in a place that is convenient for future use. Dig a 2-foot diameter hole with a shovel as deep as you possibly can. Use an 8-inch diameter power soil auger (or hand post hole digger) to auger further down as deeply as possible. Cut an 8-inch circle in the center of the half sheet of plywood by drilling through with a 1/2-inch auger bit and completing the circle with the reciprocal saw. Place this plywood work platform directly over the center of the augured hole.
2. Set the outer well casing. Place the 10-foot by 6-inch diameter pipe loosely into the hole. Your ultimate goal is to leave about 1 foot of "stickup" above the ground surface. Drill 1/2-inch holes located 2 inches and 9 inches from one end of each of the two 2-foot 2-inch by 4-inch pieces of lumber. Create a handle for twisting the 6-inch steel outer casing by bolting the two 2-inch by 4-inch pieces of lumber together with 10-inch bolts nuts and washers, leaving the undrilled sides sticking out on either side of the 6-inch pipe.
3. Prepare the well screen by using the reciprocal saw to cut numerous 1-inch to 1.5-inch long slots about 1/2-inch apart and parallel with the diameter of the 3-inch inner well casing. Cut as many slots as possible in a regular pattern over the bottom 2-feet to 3-feet of casing but not so many or so close together as to weaken the pipe. After slotting, install this screened inner casing down inside the outer 6-inch casing.
4. Begin jetting the well by connecting a garden hose with good water pressure to the 3/4-inch threaded steel pipe using the hose-to-3/4-inch pipe adapter. Place this 3/4-inch pipe inside the inner 3-inch casing and turn on the water supply with as much water pressure as possible. Use this water jet to deepen and widen the borehole of the well and to set the casings to their proper depths. Use the wooden handles and pipe wrenches to twist and turn pipes downward while jetting the well. Lift and thrust the 3/4-inch jetting drill pipe up and down repeatedly to dislodge soil and to clear the borehole.
5. Use the step ladder and and any available short sections of pipe for convenience while jetting. Use pipe wrenches to exchange short sections of pipe for longer pipe sections as the end of the pipes near the top of the 1-foot high outer casing. Continue jetting and adding sections of pipe until you reach a depth of 20 feet or more or until you reach bedrock "refusal," beyond which you cannot drill or jet any further.
6. Set the outer 6-inch and inner 3-inch well casings to their final height of about 1 foot above the ground surface. Continue jetting the well until the return water is fairly clear and free of sand and sediment. Remove the 1/2-inch jetting drill stem. Use the coffee can to pour about 5 pounds of gravel into the inner casing while you make sure it stays tight at the bottom of the well. Carefully pour the remainder of the gravel into the annular space between the inner 3-inch and outer 6-inch casings. Twist and lift the inner 3-inch casing just a few inches to allow gravel to get under and around the entire well screen.
7. Complete your well by filling the remainder of the annular space between the inner and outer casings with a slurry of Portland cement to protect the well from contamination. Pour the remainder of the cement mix around the outer casing to keep it securely in place. Back fill the excavation with soil. Install the electric well pump or hand pump according to manufacturer's instructions.
8. Develop your completed well by pumping continuously until water is clean and clear.
Tags: inner 3-inch, water supply, jetting well, outer 6-inch, outer casing