Water wells provide a great alternative to the houses and buildings that are not connected to the city’s main water supply. Water wells work a little differently than home water systems. This makes it pertinent for the homeowners using water wells to know how to tackle certain issues associated with it. Sometimes, when you are using the water well too much or when it is very warm out there, there are chances that your private water well becomes dry. Most wells perform well in the summer season but in areas where the groundwater level is low, the performance of water wells becomes compromised. Another sign of a low water level is when you start to notice a lot of air in the water system.
So, How to fix a dry water well? Let’s talk about possible techniques developed to fix a dry water well to reach water still lingering deeper down.
How to Fix a Dry Water Well? Some Techniques
1. Assess Your Situation
Before jumping to possible solutions, make sure your well is completely dry and not having problems due to the buildup of mineral scale or pressure tank. You can call for professional help as he can tell you what exactly is going on. If the problem is just the buildup of mineral scale, it is solved using the sediment filter for well water. When the well starts to dry up, you may notice reduced water pressure, sputtering faucets, and water sediment. Rarely does it happen that a well is dried out permanently? If that happens or you are hit by a severe drought, the best solution is to look for an alternative water supply. You can go for a water delivery service but don’t pour this water in your well.
2. Well Hydro-fracture
If your well draws water from an aquifer, your best option is to go for well hydro-fracture in case of a problem. This method is also known as hydrofracking, it uses high-pressure water to clean away all the sediment and silt that’s blocking the fractures in your aquifer. When you successfully do hydro-fracturing, it can increase the water yield by 1 – 3 gallons per minute. Its success rate is 97%, in rare cases, it doesn’t work when the geological conditions don’t allow for increased water flow. This procedure costs between $2000 – $5000 which is still less than digging a new well. In this process, the technicians inflate a packer into the well and fill it with clean water to clear the blockage.
3. Lowering the Water Pump
Sometimes, it happens that there is some water in your well sitting below the pump’s current level. You can easily draw that water out by lowering the submersible pump of your well down to the water level. You can do this job yourself if you are well-versed with its development but it is better to hire a drilling technician if your well has more than 150-feet depth. It is the cheapest way to fix the dry water well but you have to pay the charges of the drilling technician. Sometimes, lowering the pump can interfere with motor cooling and isn’t available. In such cases, the technician will determine the depth of both the well and the pump intake.
4. Deepening the Well
If your well is shallow, i.e. have less than 50 feet depth, the best option is to deepen the well. You can drill deeper to tap into another aquifer having some water. This method proves to be more drought-resistant and provides better water quality. If your well is already 50-feet, drilling for another 10-feet is more often enough to reach more water. You can take the opinion of the drilling assistant that will tell you if it’s worth drilling deeper down here. Drilling work to fix a dry water well problem is expensive especially when you have to drill through a rock hard surface. Deepening the well isn’t always cheaper than drilling a new well as it depends on the nature of the work.
5. Replacing the Well
The average life span of a well is 25 to 30 years but many wells supply water reliably up to 50 years. You need to replace some parts during the lifespan of the well but as a whole, it will work fine. If your well is old and dried out, it is time to replace the well. Hire a drilling consultant to find the ideal place for well drilling. Drilling a new well has some advantages over the old one as you can replace some things you didn’t like in your old well like storage capacity, yield, and construction issues. If the issue is simply mineral scale accumulation, It can be solved using the sediment filter for well water. Drilling a new well is comparatively cheaper than deepening the old one, the average cost lies around $5000. You need to seal the old well according to local guidelines to prevent any mishaps.
Wrapping Up
Water wells are a good alternative if you are having water shortage problems where you live. It comes in especially handy to provide relief in drought struck areas. Sometimes due to certain reasons, the well water becomes dry that needs to be fixed. So, how to fix a dry water well? There are some important methods mentioned above to fix the dry water well. Choose any of those methods suitable to your problem and have full pressure water again.
