water works 101 spring 2011 course

7/22/2019 Water Works 101 Spring 2011 Course

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March 2011

WATER WORKS 101

A skills workshop for the amateur prepper

By Steven Miller, with online resources referenced.

Welcome.

Im glad you are taking the time and effort to increase your skills and knowledge in this vitalarea. Without ample clean water, there is no civilization.

Water Facts.

In 2005, the average American citizen used 97 GALLONS of water every day.This does NOTinclude business, industrial or commercial uses. We turn the spigot andexpect an unlimited flow of clean, useable water for our families. Have you considered howyou would obtain essential sources of clean water if municipal water supplies were notavailable or if your well pump did not have electricity to run the pump? How much dailytime and effort would be required just to procure the bare minimum amount of waterfor you and your family and pets / livestock / garden ?Even for those few people living adjacent to a spring-fed stream or lake have the worry ofhow to get that water to where its needed on the property and during all weather conditions.How much ISthe bare minimum ?.

A good estimate is to take your body weight in pounds and divide that number inhalf. That gives you the number of ounces of water per day that you need to drink. Forexample, if you weigh 160 pounds, you should drink at least 80 ounces of water per day. Ifyou exercise, you should drink another eight ounce glass of water for every 20 minutes youare active. If you drink alcohol, you should drink at least an equal amount of water. Thisdoesnt include bathing or personal hygiene.

Do the math: Parent 1 : 1Gallon ; Parent 2: .75 Gallon ; 2 children: .75 Gallon;Pets: .5 Gallon to ?? .

So youre at 3 Gallons a day of potable water,

not including ANY other water needs, such as:

Cooking Waste Processing (toilet) Pers. Hygiene Livestock Garden

You see the issues?

Acquiring, storage and distribution of clean water is basic to our modern way of life.


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Why Worry ?

In our fast-paced, do-it-now, get-it-now, disposable society, we arent very burdened by thecares of previous generations of Americans. You know: food, water, shelter, clothing.For most, the Water and the Shelter are rarely seriously considered. As for clothing,

having the latest designer look or label on our clothing is normally the thing we stressover the most, not the lack of clothing. And as for food, well, have you ever gone into thegrocery store to find empty shelves? Nope. Me neither. Our biggest dilemma usually isto super-size or not to super-size!!Americans, collectively, are the most over-fed group of people that has EVER inhabited theplanet.Change happens. Most times slowly. But sometimes it comes rapidly, with long periods ofprecursor warning signs most ignore. Since you are reading this material, you are mostlikely highly aware of the changes coming to America ( and I dont mean just politically.).

Changes that are happening right now that most have not noticed are:

Political Strife ( affects availability / distribution of natural resources)Water ScarcityIncreased droughtsDepletion of traditional aquifersPollution of surface waters and underground waters

( FRACKING( HYDROLOGICAL FRACTURE DRILLING ))Lack of Investment / Maintenance for water infrastructureRegulations/Restrictions by civil authoritiesIncreasing costs ( while wages stagnate/shrink )

Where to Find Water.

In a grid-down situation, meaning theres a wholesale disruption of the electricity grid foran extended period of time, count on having issues in the other major systems, likecommunications, transportation, governmental, etc..So, when ( not if ) this occurs, you will have two essential choices: Stay where you are orrelocate to somewhere else ( as a refugee or to your backup location.).Theyre commonly referred to as Hunkering Down and Buggin Out.

Lets deal with Buggin out first BUGGIN OUT

Youve left your home with only the bare essentials you can carry on foot, or whatever fitsin the family truckster. If you have no pre-arranged backup location, youre a refugee, andchances are youll be headed for less populated areas of the state or country. Lets dealwith water needs while you are on the run.


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Excerpted from the ARMY Survival Handbook:

WATER PROCUREMENTWater is one of your most urgent needs in a survival situation. You can' t live long without it,

especially in hot areas where you lose water rapidly through perspiration. Even in cold areas,you need a minimum of 2 liters of water each day to maintain efficiency.

More than three-fourths of your body is composed of fluids. Your body loses fluid as a result

of heat, cold, stress, and exertion. To function effectively, you must replace the fluid your

body loses. So, one of your first goals is to obtain an adequate supply of water.

WATER SOURCESAlmost any environment has water present to some degree.Figure 6-1lists possible sources ofwater in various environments. It also provides information on how to make the water potable


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Note: If you do not have a canteen, a cup, a can, or other type of container, improvise one

from plastic or water-resistant cloth. Shape the plastic or cloth into a bowl by pleating it.

Use pins or other suitable items--even your hands--to hold the pleats.( FM 21-76 Chapter 6 Water Procurement )


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While on the run, try to remember substituting other liquids for your daily H2O intake canhave negative effects on your survival:

Stay alert for ways in which your environment can help you obtain water. There is water inall environments.

Heavy dew can provide water. Tie rags or tufts of fine grass around your ankles and walk

through dew-covered grass before sunrise. As the rags or grass tufts absorb the dew, wring

the water into a container. Repeat the process until you have a supply of water or until the

dew is gone. Australian natives sometimes mop up as much as a liter an hour this way.

Bees or ants going into a hole in a tree may point to a water-filled hole. Siphon the water

with plastic tubing or scoop it up with an improvised dipper. You can also stuff cloth in the

hole to absorb the water and then wring it from the cloth.Water sometimes gathers in tree crotches or rock crevices. In arid areas, bird droppingsaround a crack in the rocks may indicate water in or near the crack. Green bamboothickets are an excellent source of fresh water. Water from green bamboo is clear andodorless. To get the water, bend a green bamboo stalk, tie it down, and cut off the top.

WATER PURIFICATION on the run.Rainwater collected in clean containers or in plants is usually safe for drinking. However,

purify water from lakes, ponds, swamps, springs, or streams, especially the water near

human settlements or in the tropics.

When possible, purify all water you got from vegetation or from the ground by using iodineor chlorine, or by boiling.Purify water by:Using water purification tablets. (Follow the directions provided.)Or byPlacing 5 drops of 2 percent tincture of iodine in a canteen full of clear water. If the canteenis full of cloudy or cold water, use 10 drops. (Let the canteen of water stand for 30 minutesbefore drinking)


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Boiling water for 1 minute at sea level, adding 1 minute for each additional 300 metersabove sea level, or boil for 10 minutes no matter where you are.By drinking non-potable water you may contract diseases or swallow organisms that canharm you.

Examples of such diseases or organisms are--Dysentery. Severe, prolonged diarrhea with bloody stools, fever, and weakness.

Cholera and Typhoid. You may be susceptible to these diseases regardless ofinoculations.

Flukes. Stagnant, polluted water--especially in tropical areas--often contains blood flukes.If you swallow flukes, they will bore into the bloodstream, live as parasites, and causedisease.

Leeches. If you swallow a leech, it can hook onto the throat passage or inside the nose. It

will suck blood, create a wound, and move to another area. Each bleeding wound maybecome infected.

WATER FILTRATION DEVICESIf the water you find is also muddy, stagnant, and foul smelling, you can clear the water--

By placing it in a container and letting it stand for 12 hours.

By pouring it through a filtering system. ( hence the portable gravity filters we are makingin todays workshop)

Note: These procedures only clear the water and make it more palatable. You will

have to purify it.To make a filtering system, place several centimeters or layers of filtering material such assand, crushed rock, charcoal, or cloth in bamboo, a hollow log, or an article of clothing(Figure 6-9).

Remove the odor from water by adding charcoal from your fire. Let the water stand for 45


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minutes before drinking it.

Portable Filtering / Purifying Devices:

Youll want to have one or several of these items ready to go with your bugout bag soyou wont forget it when it counts.

Hand-held Filter Device such as:

The LifeStraw personal filter. They are about $ 6.00 each, depending on quantity.

http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw/lifestraw-family

The LifeSaver Bottle personal filter. Their entry level filter is about $ 160.00.

http://www.lifesaverusa.com/

Also from LifeSaver USA, the Jerry Can portable filter, which is rated for up to 10,000liters of water filtering. $ 300.00 for the 10K and the 20,000 liter model goes for $ 400.00.

http://www.lifesaverusa.com/


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Katadyn brand offers several camping/hiking type portable filters such as:

HikerPro Micro Filter starts about $ 75.00

MyBottle Purification bottle. Starts about $ 50.00

And marketed under the brand names of Katadyn, American Berkefeld, Berkey, RoyalBerkefeld, AquaCera, Black Berkey, etc., are collapsible sets such as the one we will beemulating with our in workshop project filter, namely the LP-5 by CeraGrav. These retail

starting at about $ 140.00.


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http://www.h2ofilters.com/gravwatfil.html World renowned Doulton ceramic filter technology with over 150 years of quality

manufacturing For use on municipal or natural water sources. Ideal for camping, emergency

relief, everyday use. Saves money over expensive bottled water. Total capacity 7 US Gallons

Filters out: -Pathogenic bacteria (cholera, typhoid, salmonella, E coli, etc.) -Giardia,

Cryptosporidium, and other parasites -All types of particle contamination down to 0.5 Micron

Portable, lightweight, durable and high capacity filter Easy to use, simple to maintain. Filters

can be cleaned up to 100 times. Pour untreated water in the top and get clean, filtered water

from the tap. No power required.

Gravity Water Filter :

The most important part of the gravity water filter we are building in the workshop today isthe candle , or filtering media. The filtering candles that have the highest effectivenessand stellar performance at a reasonable price are made by the Doulton company in theU.K. ( Great Britain ). There are several grades of candles, the premium candles havingsilver impregnation, to enhance pathogenic toxin residue kill. Here are some facts about

the candles:

As long as 170 years ago, the legendary craftsmen of fine Royal Doulton ceramics werealready making water filters effective enough to rid river water of cholera bacteria,rendering it fit to drink.

Water borne diseases are, even today, a widespread danger to life and health, affectingpeople all over the globe. In 1815, John Doulton was taken into partnership by the widowMartha Jones who had inherited from her late husband a pottery shop in Vauxhall Walk,Lambeth, by the side of the Thames River. Her foreman John Watts was also taken intopartnership and the firm became Jones, Watts and Doulton.The original company produced the Doulton brand of English china and other fineceramics. Employing students from the Lambeth School of Arts, the company inaugurated along tradition of artist-designed fine ceramics that bore comparison with any in Europe.


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"Offensive to the sight, disgusting to the imagination and destructive to the health."This washow London drinking water, which was drawn from the Thames, was described in apamphlet published in 1827. The Thames was heavily contaminated with raw sewage;cholera and typhoid epidemics were rampant.Coincidentally, this was also the year in which the company started expanding their ceramic

technology to industrial and other specialized applications such as insulators for electricaltelegraph.In response to public awareness of the danger of the polluted water, they began makingwater filter cases packed with powdered carbon.By the time Queen Victoria came to the throne, the Doulton brand-name was established asan innovative manufacturer of domestic and industrial products.In 1835, Queen Victoria, realizing the dangers of her drinking water, commissioned thecompany to produce water purifiers for the Royal household. They created a gravity fedstoneware units with the artistry of hand crafted pottery, fitted with a clay filter element forbacteria removal. The Queen, pleased with their achievements, conferred the honor ofRoyal Crest to Doulton's water purifiers.In 1853 John Watts retired and new partnership Doulton & Co was formed.In 1862, Doulton filters shown at the Kensington International Exhibition proudly wore theRoyal arms of Queen Victoria. Early 1880's Doulton's Research and Developmentdepartment headed by Henry Doulton introduced newly patented manganous carbon filter.By the middle of 1880's Henry Doulton was knighted by Queen Victoria, first potter sohonored.In 1901 King Edward VII conferred on the company the double honor of the royal warrantand the specific - as opposed to the assumed - right to use the title "Royal," for theircontribution to the British empire. Along the way honors were won at the great internationalexhibitions at Chicago and Paris and the range of Doulton products proliferated.

In 1904, after three years research, porous porcelain filter candles ("germ-free poroustubes") of the Pasteur type were added to the range. At about same newer insulators weredeveloped and used by power stations, electrified railways, London's underground(subway/metro) etc.In 1935 Doulton acquired the old-established works of George Skey & Co. at Tamworth,Staffs which produced drain pipes, chimney pots, general and chemical stoneware andterracotta. The reason for was to transfer the industrial and technical products fromLambeth works and transform the factory, but the war intervened and plans were delayeduntil the 1950's. The Tamworth factory became the Doulton centre for technical ceramics;porcelain insulators, chemical porcelain, grinding media, porous ceramics and specialpurpose ceramics for the chemical, textile, aircraft, engineering, atomic and other

industries. In 1956* (after 100+ years) the Lambeth works were finally closed and theTamworth Company was named Doulton Industrial Porcelains Ltd. In 1963 Aerox Ltd. fromStroud, Gloucester an industrial filtration company, was acquired and subsequentlyintegrated with the filter division of Doulton Industrial Porcelains.In 1966 Doulton & Co. purchased the Caulden works of Richards Caulden Tile Ltd. fromStone, Staffs. A year later the Tamworth site was rationalized. The manufacture ofporcelain insulators was retained and the remaining technical ceramics businesstransferred to the Stone site. The factory at Tamworth was renamed Doulton Insulators Ltd.


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and that at Stone became Doulton Industrial Products (DIP) which it become an agent forDoulton & Co. in relation to the porous ceramics and plastics, special technical ceramics,fluidization and filtration plant and powder handling departments.

Examples of various shapes and sizes of filter candles.

Gravity filters using world class Super-Sterasyl Doulton 7 inch ceramic filters to purifysource water:

Removes parasites, cryptosporidium and giardia - >99.99Absolute filtration efficiency at 0.9 microns - 99.999%For particles sized 0.5 - 0.8 microns the reduction is >99.9%Silver baked into ceramic inhibits the growth of bacteriaReduces turbidity greater than 99.69%Reduces chlorine, bad taste & odor.

The ceramic filter element has been tested in accordance with and meets NSF Standards42 & 53. Meets ISO 9002 Quality Standards. Independently tested by: Water ResearchCouncil (WRC) & University of Arizona for Parasite Reduction, Spectrum Labs, ClaireMicrobiological.

Independently tested to reduce the following parasites and pathogenic bacteria.Escherichia Coli >99.99%Klebsiella >99.99%Cholera >99.99%Salmonella >99.99%Giardia Lamblia >99.99%

Cryptosporidium >99.99%

The more candles per filter, the greater the volume of water that will be filtered per hour.Generally, these 5 to 7 gallon portable gravity filters utilize from 2 to 5 candles.The candles do build up a scale/slime coating on the outside surface of the candle, whichCan be gently scrubbed off with a scotch-brite type of pad, thereby renewing the flow rateOf that candle. The ability of these candles to be field cleaned is important.


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Doulton and British Berkefeld Super Sterasyl elementsThe latest designs of Doulton British Berkefeld "Super Sterasyl" ceramic water filterelements incorporate pure silver impregnated into a porous ceramic outer shell[80,000,000 pores] that can trap waterborne bacteria down to as low as .22 of a micronin particle size [1/100,000 of an inch]. Laboratories consider a filtering medium with aneffective pore size of .01 micron to .45 micron to be bacteriologically sterile and .45micron to 1.0 micron to be bacteriologically safe. Regrowth of bacteria that becomestrapped either on the outside of the Doulton element or in the ceramic's pores arecontrolled by the silver which, on contact with water, releases small quantities ofpositively charged metals ions. These ions are taken into the enzyme system of thebacteria's cell and thereby neutralize it. The flow rate of the ceramic filter can be easilyrenewed by simply brushing its outer surface under running water. As the top layer ofceramic and the contaminants are brushed off and flushed away, a new layer becomesavailable. This process can be repeated dozens of times before the Doulton ceramicshell is exhausted.

Cross-Section of Doulton Super-Sterasyl Ceramic Filter Candle

..A Closer Look Inside..


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KIESELGUHR CERAMIC - STAGE ONEDoulton ceramic is made from Kieselguhr Diatomaceous Earth and fired at incredibly

high temperatures. Over 80,000 overlapping pores make up each Doulton element. Thisfeature provides absolute mechanical filtration to .9 of a micron (.5 ANSI). 99.99%rejection of bacteria and cysts. Bacteria and any other foreign particles that my be

present in your water are trapped on the outside of the element while the water passesthrough the ceramic wall to the inside of the element.

WHY BACTERIOSTATIC ?This simply means self sterilizing. The entire ceramic wall is impregnated with pure

silver. Silver has been long proven as a disinfectant which insures that bacteria trappedin the ceramic's pores are killed thereby eliminating any threat of bacteria colonization.

THE CORE - STAGE TWOInside the Doulton Ceramic shell is a post filter which is manufactured by using atreated granular carbon to form a tightly packed matrix. This post filter provides

Chemical Reduction of chlorine, pesticides, solvents, etc.

Key Features REDUCES PATHOGENIC (disease causing) BACTERIA - Cholera, Typhoid,

Salmonella, Serratia, E. Coli, Fecal Coliform, Etc. Removes Cryptosporidium Parvum and Giardia Lamblia Cysts (Beaver Fever) Sub-Micron Particulate Filtration Quickly and Easily Cleaned for Prolonged Life and Outstanding Economics Self Sterilization Cannot "Plug Up" Internally No Tools Required to Service

Doulton water filters have been available in the United States since World

War II and certified by the National Sanitation Foundation NSF under

Standards 53 and 42 for specified products and claims: Health Effects, Turbidity Reduction, Cyst Removal, Self Sterilizing Particulate Reduction, Taste and Odor Reduction Doulton water filters are the only ceramic filters available today to be certified

under both of these standards.

Doulton water filter are manufactured to the following international

standards and have been tested and approved by the following independent

bodies or agencies: British Standard 5750 ISO - 9002


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The World Health Organization Department of Health (Toronto, Ontario) Water Research Council (London, England) University of Arizona (USA) Spectrum Labs (Minneapolis, USA) WRC (Buckingham Shire, England) National Sanitation Foundation (Standards 42 & 53) Hyder Labs, Cheshire England Loughborough University, England Thresh, Beale & Suckling Laboratories, England. Clare Microbiological Laboratories, England Severn Trent Laboratories, England Over Many Independent Laboratories Worldwide

British Berkefeld Doulton filters have stood the test of time. Used by Royalty,Missionaries and Relief Organizations for over 140 years in over 150 countriesthroughout the world.

Where to find Water When youre Hunkered Down

Now that weve touched on a lot of information concerning getting water if youve BuggedOut , we will now look at finding water if you are staying put.Consider how daily life will change concerning water procurement in a grid down situation.You have decided to stay where you are, whether its a city, a large town, a suburban area,or perhaps a more remote, agricultural or forested area ( lucky you.).

Some types of areas have advantages over others for obvious reasons. Heavily populatedurban areas WILL experience social upheaval and societal breakdowns in a grid downsituation. Everyones daily living is heavily dependant upon electricity. It is the glue thatholds modern civilized society together. Take away the glue. and things fall apart fast.( there arent enough portable generators in the country to power up one medium sizedAmerican city to anything resembling normalcy ).With no electricity, the pumps dont run.The wells are useless. The sewers back up, precluding basic sanitation. Offices, schools,businesses, governments shutter.

Hunkering down implies you are staying at home or maybe a relatives house or mutual aid

location, decided on ahead of time with your friends and associates. Whatever the case,providing you are not over-run by the golden hordes ( for more info on that, please refer toHow to Survive the End of the World as We Know It, by James Wesley Rawles.)Being hunkered down gives you distinct advantages over the refugees and those bugginout to nowhere.You can pre-position water supplies. You can disguise those assets to any degree youdeem necessary. You can pre-position and stockpile materials and tools that are crucial to


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water procurement, processing, storage and usage. You can be an asset to your familyand community due to the charity you can provide, because you prepared ahead of time.You can acquire chemicals, materials, tools and hardware NOW, while items are widelyavailable, and at a reasonable cost. The internet will do you no good in a grid downscenario. The internet will not be.

Think of sources of water now that are near your location, that you will have access to:( a lot of the sources listed in the Army manual sections previously covered apply here too)Lakes Streams Reservoirs Rivers Springs Swamps Wetlands

Swimming pools Canals Cisterns Drainage Ditches Shallow WellsArtesian Wells Rooftop rain collection Waterbeds Water Heaters/Boilers

Now that you have considered all the potential sources, consider how much you would liketo pre-position in place as your bare minimum emergency grid down supply for immediateuse.I considered this question about 2 years ago and with my family of 4 residing in a medium

sized town directly next to an interstate, my preference was NOT hunkering down, but alas,without a workable retreat location, I was forced to plan to stay put.

I decided to set my baseline storage at 110 gallons of emergency water storage. I store mybaseline water supply in my basement, to protect from wide temperature swings andfreezing. This is important. When storing water for future emergency use, obviously thewater will go stale after several weeks and bacterial growth could start. That motivatedme to investigate and invest in an effective filtering technology that was not dependentupon electricity and was as effective as possible in filtering out all the bad stuff!The Doulton candle method was an obvious solution. Affordable. Available. Effective.I invested $ 150.00 in an LP-5 Cera-Grav gravity filter system, and I am secure in my

ability to filter enough drinking / hygiene water for my family in a grid down situation.

Here are pictures of the emergency water storage barrels I assembled for my basement:

Food-grade 55 gal. barrel with detachable lid.


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Boiler drain I inserted near bottom of barrelenabling me to access as much or as little water when I choose to. Very simple.

NOTE: If pre-positioning water barrels, place them on upright cinder blocks or similar,to keep the barrel high enough above floor level to allow water to flow into a small bucket

or container without having to move the barrel ( weighs approx. 500 pounds full !! ).

Hopefully the water you are pre-positioning as your emergency store is from a municipal orcentral water system. Even if it isnt, as long as you know the quality of your water fromyour tap, you neednt worry. But to be on the safe sideTo treat water for storage, use liquid household chlorine bleach that contains 5.25 percentsodium hypochlorite. Do not use bleach with soaps or scents added. Add the bleachaccording to the table below, using a clean, uncontaminated medicine dropper.

When treating larger quantities of water, use the following table to convert drops tostandard measuring units.

Stir the water and allow it to stand for 30 minutes. Chlorine should be detectable by odorafter the 30 minute waiting period. If the water does not smell like chlorine at that point,

4 drops bleach per quart or liter container of water

8 drops bleach per 2-quart, 2-liter, or gallon container of

16 drops bleach, or 1/4 teaspoon, per gallon or 4-liter

8 drops = 1/8 teaspoon

16 drops = 1/4 teaspoon

32 drops = teaspoon

64 drops = 1 teaspoon192 drops = 1 Tablespoon

384 drops = 1/8 cup which is equal to 2


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repeat the dose and let it stand another 15 minutes.Place caps on containers and attach labels describing the contents and when each wasprepared.

It is not necessary to boil the water before you store it.

Keep water storage containers out of direct sunlight.

NOTE: Water stored in metal containers should not be treated, prior to storage, withchlorine since the chlorine compound is corrosive to most metals. Therefore, only very purewater should be stored in metal containers.

Keep in mind, the water you draw from your emergency storage containers ( barrels in mycase) will need to be run through a purification and/or filter before being used forcooking, drinking or personal hygiene or for pets or livestock.

Setting up a rain collection system at your location NOW will pay big dividends later. Youhave to have a way of replenishing your supply during an extended grid down situation.The rain water that sheds off of your house roof, garage roof, barn roof, etc. provides youwith an amazing quantity of water.Consider:Measure the square footage covered by the roof. Do not figure the total square footage ofthe roof just the square footage of the area under the roof. The formula is 1 Sq. Ft. = .623gallons for each inch of rain.That is an amazing resource of water for your family!All that rainwater coming off your roof wont do you any good if you dont have the tools inplace to catch it and to store it. Consider:

Rain gutter specifically installed to collect rain waterand divert to water storage barrel for livestock and garden water supply.


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Note: this photo was taken immediatelyafter installing the rain water collection barrel. I have since built a 36 tall platform which thebarrel now sits upon, now giving me the water pressure I needed to use the garden hose andpistol grip sprayer to water plants in the garden and for livestock watering needs.


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Note: Rainwater barrel ( home-made ) system has a 4 or 5 inch intake hole on top ( coverwith window screen material to prevent mosquito larva infestation !! ) and over-flow tapNear the top of barrel ( brass fitting on right side ). Also shown is while pvc plastic portTo be connected to another barrel , enabling you to store large quantities of water byhaving 2,3,4 or 5 barrels in series, taking advantage of all that water coming off the roof.Any water that enters the barrel system that exceeds its capacity simply runs out of theover-flow tap and into the ground. You could also consider purchasing a larger , industrialsized water storage tank / cistern, such as :

Widely available on the web and in classifieds online.


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Close-up of the hose clamp holding thescreen material on the entry hole on top of barrel. The rain gutter and downspout materials arestandard items off the shelf at home improvement stores.

Notice brass outlet fitting at the bottom of the barrel, attached to a piece of plastic tubing

with small hose clamps and a male hose cock on the other end. That end is where I attached


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a standard garden hose and voila. A low pressure off grid water supply for my garden.Just to reiterate the advantage of using the buildings in your location, consider the following:

Average Family Home : 1,500 sq. feet under roof

Average Garage: 360 sq. feet under roof

Average Shed : 120 sq. feet under roof

Totals 1,980 sq. feet multiply by .623 gallons of water per inch of rain.

That equals 1,233 gallons of roof collected rainwater PER inch of rain.

Average monthly Rainfall per month in Pennsylvania is 3.41

So using the above example, that family collects 4,204 GALLONS of rain water per month, onaverage ( assuming all roofs are guttered and routed into suitable storage containment systems ).

Some Examples of Rainwater Collection systems :

Note Simple setup yields 165 gallons

Pics of Downspout Diverters


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More examples of rain barrel setups:


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Shallow Hand-Dug Wells :

( from Ehow.com )

www.ehow.com/how_5128945_drill-own-shallow-irrigation-well.html

How to Drill Your Own Shallow Irrigation WellThis article was created by a professional writer and edited by experienced copy editors, both qualified

members of the Demand Media Studios community. All articles go through an editorial process thatincludes subject matter guidelines, plagiarism review, fact-checking, and other steps in an effort toprovide reliable information.

By doodlemom, eHow User

It is summer and your local water authority is telling you it is time to conserve water. In fact, you'll be

penalized for using it. What's a homeownerto do who happens to live in a low area of town that alsohappens to sit on top of a water reservoir? Dig an irrigation well!

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructionsthings you'll need:

Any necessary permits Knowledge that your home sits on top of a water source

A strong, helpful friend

A surface well pump A turn style post hole digger

Metal extensions and couplings to attach to the post hole digger

As many pipe wrenches as people who will be helping Plastic pre fabricated well casing

Plastic pipe matching the inlet size of your shallow well pump (for example 1.5 inch pvc 40

gauge pipe)

A foot valve

Various couplings

Pvc pipe primer and glue

Gravel or pea rock

Determination


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1 Completed Well

Everyone wants free water. We all want to be environmentally friendly. However, ifyour propertyis not in an area where a shallow well can be dug, trying to follow thesteps in this article will simply give you a literal pain in the back with no results. So,

first things first, ask a neighbor who you know has a shallow irrigation well how he orshe put it in and to explain what layers of dirt were hit, etc. If it sounds like it went

smoothly, then proceed to your local public agency's permitting office and get therequired permits and pay the required fees.

2Seymour Iwan Auger (AU-S6)After choosing the site for your well, you'll break ground. A Seymour Iwan Auger(AU-S6)style post hole digger bought from Ace will do the trick. This auger can be

turned, which is why it works even 20 feet underground. A regular post hole diggersimply does not work once the head is below grade. Think about, or trust me. Eitherway. This particular digger has the bucket attached to its handle via a simple threaded

coupling, which means you can add extensions as you dig, as a 6 foot auger is notgoing to be long enough for this project.

3All your labor results in ... a hole!

Set your auger width to about two inches bigger than what you plan to use for a well

casing. This will allow you to add pea gravel around the casing once it is installed. Youand your strong friend will now turn the auger until it is full of dirt and pull the full

auger out of the ground where the contents will be dumped at least 5 feet from the areain which you are working. Make sure the dirt is far enough away that you will not stepin it while trying to turn the auger. At times, turning the auger is tough, and the last

thing you want to do is step in the wet dirt.

4


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As you get deeper, insert an extension so that the bucket of the auger is further awayfrom the top of the handle. Buy three extensions: 2 foot, 5 foot, and 10 foot. This will

allow you to add 2, 5, 7, and 10 feet to the auger at various intervals. Because you areprobably about 6 foot tall, you don't want to ever add an extension that makes youreach above your head to dig. The handle that comes with the auger itself is about 3

foot tall. Thus, the following heights can be obtained with the extensions: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9,

10, 12, 13, etc. (isn't math fun!).

5As the length of your digging pole gets longer and as you hit water, you will notice theextensions are wet and hard to hold on to. Both of the individuals turning the auger

should have pipe wrenches at this point. The pipe wrench is used at an angle to grip thepipe and pull it out of the hole with its very heavy bucket of wet dirt at the other end.Person A grips with her pipe wrench and pulls up, then person B does the same thing.

Hand over hand until the pipe and bucket come out of the ground. The bucket will beheavy, especially with several feet of steel pipe attached to the auger. Be careful and

move slowly. If it is too heavy, ask a third person to help with their own pipe wrench.Safety should always come first.

6Dig, dig, sweat, hydrate, dig, repeat, etc. Check the information on the above groundwell you have purchased. It will have a maximum pull on it (i.e., 26 feet). Make sure

you are looking at how far it can draw water, and not how far it can push it out. If yourpump can only draw water 26 feet and you dig your hole 34 feet, you will have wasteda lot of energy. Also, you will need to subtract from the depth the distance between the

inlet valve of your pump and the ground, as the pump needs to draw water all the way

to the inlet valve, even if it is above ground (which it should be). So, if your pump candraw 26 feet and the inlet valve is 2 feet above ground, your final hole should be 26-2 =

24 plus 1 foot (for a gravel bed below the well), or 25 total feet.

7Dig one foot deeper than your pump can draw. Take a break and give the dogs somelove. They've been very patient during this whole process. And, you deserve a break.

Believe me, you deserve a break.

8Casing with special grooves cut into it, making a well casing.Buy enough plastic well casing to make it a reasonable depth down your well hole. Ifpossible, buy enough to encase the entire depth of the hole. If more than one piece of

the specially fabricated casing is needed, simply join them using a slip coupling and pvcglue. Many of the casings have bell housings so they can simply slip into each other.Even if they slip into each other, glue them together too. Certainteed makes this

particular casing.


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9The end cap. It is the same size as your casing. Probably 4 inches.After you have prepared your well casing and cut it to length (the length your well candraw water, not including the extra foot you dug), cap one end of it, using pvc glue.

10Foot valve and coupler

Now take the pipe that is going to run from your pump to the bottom of the well.Attach a foot valve! Attach a foot valve! If you do not attach a foot valve, the pump

will not prime the first time it is used and it will never be used. After doing all thatdigging, do you really want to do it again? I didn't think so. A high quality foot valve is

usually made of metal. Don't worry, it can be attached to a plastic pipe by using acoupler that is slip on one side (to attach to the pvc) and threaded on the other. Usepipe tape to attach the threaded side to the valve.

11

Attach the foot valve to the first piece of your internal pvc pipe.

12Casing on the left, interior pvc and foot valve on the right.Now, figure out how long the schedule 40 interior pvc pipe needs to be. Noooo, it doesnot need to be the exact same length as your casing. You might think this, but you'd be

wrong. It should be no longer than the distance your pump can draw water. Whenmaking this calculation, include the length of the foot valve. If your pump can draw 26feet, the interior pvc pipe should be 26 total feet, including the foot valve. If you have

doubts, just make it 25.5 feet and be safe. Whatever the length, simply connect yourinterior pieces using pvc primer and glue.

13Various couplers used to get the right reduction


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If you stop your casing a few feet before the top of the well hole (cause that stuff isexpensive, and you really don't want to drop another $125 on another piece if it is just

a few feet short of the top), you simply need to create a special bushing that allows theinterior pvc to nest in the casing, while at the same time preventing dirt from fallinginto the casing. Go to the pvc coupling portion of your local hardware store and have

some fun figuring out how to reduce that 4 inch casing to your 1 and a quarter interior

pvc (or whatever measurements you have).

14When calculating where to cut your interior pvc pipe for the coupling location, measurefrom the top of the casing to the end cap you installed. Subtract about 6 inches to be

safe.

15

Glue your couplers together, but not to the casing. You want to be able to pull theinterior pipe out if ever needed. Again, digging that well was no fun, so don't do ittwice.

16Now slide the interior pvc pipe to one side of your coupling mess, glue it together, andthen slip it into the casing.

17Slide the other end of your interior pvc into the top of the coupling mess. This should

be glued into the coupling mess. You now have an interior pipe that runs from about 6inches above the bottom of the casing all the way to the inlet valve on your pump.

Because you did your math correctly, this internal piece does not exceed the drawingcapability of your pump.

18Drop about a foot's worth of pea gravel into your well hole. Remember, you dug anextra foot, so you aren't reducing the available water for your pump. This extra foot of

gravel will help keep dirt out of your well casing and your well.

19Drop your casing and pipe in the hole and fill in the sides between the casing and thedirt wall with pea gravel to allow water to drain through it and clean itself of dirt beforeit makes it to your casing and your foot vale and eventually your pump. Don't drop the

gravel down your casing because you are then effectively filling your well with gravel. 20

Plumb your pump to the top of the pvc sticking out of the ground. YOU HAVE ANIRRIGATION WELL!!


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21Hire a qualified electrician to install the power source from your well and draw thenecessary permits for this work. Remember, your well will not work to put out a fire ifit is the cause of it!

========================================================================Another process: JETTING A SHALLOW WELL.Sourced from :

www.drillyourownwell.com/index.htm

{ Obviously this type of shallow well drilling works in sandy, loamy soil, and will not work inrocky areas. Also this is much more easily accomplished pre-teotwawki , as electric needsto run a pump to pressurize the water being used to drill the well. }

You can drill your own shallow water well using PVC and water hoses. It is a cheap and

effective way to dig your own shallow water well. Well drilling or well boring isn't just for thepros. Digging a water well yourself is both interesting and fun. Having your own water wellcan save you a lot of money.The well drilling methods described here work well in digging/drilling through dirt, and clay,including really hard clay. They will not work if you need to drill through rock. If the area youlive in is flat or relatively flat, it is definitely worth a try. It is very likely that you can drill yourown well. Many successful wells have been drilled using this well drilling method. It ischeap. It works very well in sand and clay.

In these pages the "do it yourself well drilling" technique is referred to as well drilling, butmany call this technique "washing" or "jetting" a well. It is very similar to the rotary bit

method which most real water well drillers use. Water is pumped down the center of a PVCschedule 40 pipe used as both a drill stem and a drill bit. At the bottom end of the PVC a bitis fashioned by cutting teeth into the end of the PVC. The pipe is rotated back and forth asthe PVC pipe is slowly worked into the ground while the cuttings are brought to the surfaceby the upward flow of water in the space around the pipe. If you want to dig your own well,try this technique. The links below describe the steps in detail.

BackgroundIf you are going to try to drill a well using PVC, please read this page carefully andhopefully you can avoid some of the stupid problems I experienced when I first started. My

mistakes were the result of not thinking and/or not using common sense so you might avoidthem anyway, but humor me and read this page anyway. OK? I became interested in well drilling and drilling my own well when I happened upon a BradyT Pack or Well Point Installation Kit in Home Depot. It is a fitting with connections for twohoses and a piece of two inch PVC. Here is their photograph of the


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Well Point Installation Kit.

Brady's instructions included this diagram of how the drilling or washing processworks. As you can see, water from two hoses is pumped down through a pieceof two inch pipe (PVC) where it washes cuttings from the bottom of the wholeup to the top. The cuttings come up to the surface on theoutside of the pipe.


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The full text of Brady's instructions are athttp://www.campbellmfg.com/brady/documents/wellinstallation.pdfUsing their kitis a good place to start. Many Lowes and Home Depot stores carry it and it is alsoavailable from Amazon athttp://www.amazon.com/Well-Point-Installation-Kit-BTA-200/dp/B000H5W9SY/ref=pd_cp_hi_1

I prefer a "drillhead" made from PVC parts that is very similar to the BradyInstallation kit. It has a small weep hole in it so air can escape from the top.Otherwise the air builds up pressure and the head blows off. Here is a picture ofwhat I'm talking about:


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WELL HEAD


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CLOSE UP SHOWING WEEP HOLE

The PVC is rotated back and forth using Channel Locks and is slowly workedinto the ground while the water washes the cuttings back up to the top.The object is to drill down to water bearing sand where a wellpoint is installed byputting it down through the two inch PVC and then raising the two inch PVC

sufficiently to expose or leave the wellpoint in the water bearing sand at thebottom of the hole.I bought the Brady Wellpoint Installation kit and it worked quite well down toabout 15 to 20 feet. My problem was the water table where I lived at the timewas at 17 feet. I needed to go deeper.The Channel Locks were not sufficient for holding the PVC. They kept slippingand did not provide a secure handle or enough leverage. I made a handle thatclamped on to the PVC. Here it is. It works well, although the pipe clamps mustbe replaced periodically.


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HOMEMADE HANDLE FOR PVC PIPE

The handle helped a lot. It was mucheasier to control the PVC and I was ableto put more force into the drilling motion. I got down to 25 feet! Then I got stuck.My problem, it turned out was simply a lack of patience. Interestingly, the weaklink in drilling a well using PVC for both a drill stem and a drill bit is not therelatively weak drill stem or the plastic "drill bit." It is the lack of sufficient waterflow. I had two household hoses connected to the Brady kit but I could haveeasily used the water from ten more. Because I was drilling faster than the

water was washing the cuttings to the surface, I got stuck. This techniquerequires more patience than I initially realized.By now I had a 17 foot hole and a 25 foot hole in my back yard. I diligently filledin both holes and packed them as best I could.By, the way, this whole story takes place over the course of a couple of months.Then I started the third hole, close to the second hole. I was doing fine, and foronce, being patient and going slow. I didn't advance the PVC down into the hole


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until I had worked the pipe up and down leaning it from side to side thoroughly.After I made sure the pipe was good and loose I advanced it a few inches andworked it some more.Everything was going quite well to about 20 feet down and then suddenly, I lostwater flow. The water was no longer coming up around my PVC. Then the pipe

started becoming harder to move and by four or five minutes later the pipe frozeup in the ground and I couldn't move it. I couldn't budge it no matter how hard Itried. Then I noticed water next to me. I had drilled into the second hole and thewater I was putting into the third hole was coming back up through the secondhole!! And I had packed, or at least I thought I had packed the second holequite well when I filled it in. Well, crap. Well drilling was more complicated than Ithought.I filled in the third hole and filled in the second hole, again.Fourth hole: By now, I had spent quite a bit of time reading about wells on the

Net. I had read up on gravel packs. Gravel packs are frequently installed at thebottom of wells to improve their efficiency. Pea gravel is put at the bottom of thewell with the well screen essentially to enlarge the effective circumference of thewell screen. If a four inch hole has been drilled and a two inch well screen is putin it, there is a gap between the side of the hole and the well screen. It will fill inwith sand if left alone but if you fill it in with pea gravel then the well will producemore water. I didn't understand how to install one (obviously as you'll see in aminute) but I liked the idea of an increase in efficiency so I wanted it. So, backto drilling the fourth hole. By now I had screwed up enough holes to be able todrill one properly and I got down 33 feet. I then raised the PVC pipe a couple offeet and poured a couple feet of gravel down in the bottom of the hole. Next Itried to put a two inch well screen in the gravel. I didn't understand it at the timebut if I had used a 1 1/4 inch well screen it would have worked. A two inchscreen was too big to push through the gravel in a hole made by a three inchpipe...This story had a happy ending though. The two feet of pea gravel down at thebottom of the 33 foot hole actually made a decent well screen and the wellproduced about three gallons a minute. Not as much as if I had installed thewell screen properly but it worked and I watered my yard for a couple of years

with it. I even put in a sprinkler system that ran off the well. But, I didn'tunderstand all that at the time...

I thought my problem with the poor production was I wasn't deep enough. Ibought a mud pump from www.drillingfab.com(an excellent company by theway) and built a re-circulating water system. I'll put it up on the site as soon as Ican but for now, suffice it to say it worked extremely well. On the next well I got


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down to 60 feet on the next well and the pipe got stuck. I figured that was plentydeep enough. The water table at that location was at about 15 feet so I figuredat 60 feet I couldn't go wrong. I hooked a pump up to it and it worked great, forabout 20 seconds. If I let the well rest about five minutes it would pump greatagain, for about 20 seconds. I failed to appreciate the importance of the well

screen. What was happening was I pumped out all the water in the pipe andthen I had to wait on water to flow back in through the two inch hole in thebottom. If I had put a well screen down there, I could have pumped water fordays.Thanks for reading all this. Maybe you already understood these things. Maybeyou are smart enough to figure them out as you go. On the other hand, if youuneducated about wells like I was, then you just saved quite a bit of trial anderror and grief.

Remember these things when using this method:1. The technique described in these web pages is limited to drilling a two inch orthree inch hole about 35 feet. I think with sufficient patience you mightbe ableto get a two inch hole to 40 feet but that would be pushing it. The limitationresults from the lack of limited water flow. Add a good mud pump to theequation and it is possible to go deeper.2. If you are using water from hoses to wash the cuttings to the surface it willwork just fine BUT, you have to go very, very slow - especially when you getpast about 20 feet deep. If you fail to do this, you will get the pipe stuck everytime.3. There are no breaks allowed in the process once you start drilling - at leastnone where the water stops flowing. If nightfall forces you to stop for the dayand you can't leave the water running all night, pull the drill pipe out of theground and start anew the next day. When you start back, it will not go in as faras you had it the night before but you will progress quickly back to where youleft off.4. When drilling and it comes time to add a section of PVC, make sure youhave worked the pipe good and loose before you proceed. Only after the pipe isextremely loose in the hole should you add another length of PVC pipe. You will

need a few minutes for the PVC glue to set up and you can't afford for the holeto close in on your pipe while the glue cures.5. Always, always, ALWAYS use PVC primer before gluing.6. Unless you are putting in an injection well for a geothermal system alwaysuse a well screen. Drill several feet deeper than the water table and when youhave worked the drill pipe until it is good and loose, take the water fitting off thetop, quickly put well screen connected to a smaller pipe down through the drill


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pipe. When you feel the well screen hit bottom, raise the drill pipe enough thatthe well screen is exposed at the bottom.Seems simple looking back on it...

The Drill BitHow to Make a Drill Bit from PVC Pipe

The drill bit is a piece of PVC with teeth or serrations cut into the end. Theseteeth dig into the dirt (or clay or sand) and grind it up into small cuttings that canbe washed to the surface. The bit can be cut with a hacksaw or a file. I like to doit with a bench grinder as it is quick and easy. Below is a picture of one cut froma two inch piece of PVC with a bench grinder.

PVC DRILL BIT CUT WITH BENCH GRINDER


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CUTTING A PVC DRILL BIT WITH A BENCH GRINDER

Here is an example of a bit cut with a hacksaw. Don't worry about the burrs. Youcan clean them up easily or they will come off very quickly as soon as you startdrilling.

Several people have written me to say they have utilized a two inch galvanizednipple as a drill bit. I have done this as well. It is great for working drillingthrough hard pack clay. David Jones of Florence, South Carolina used a two

inch metal coupler. Check out his photographs below.


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Raw Materials

PVC male adapter screwed into metal coupler

Teeth cut into coupler. Note the set screw


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Making the DrillheadI received several requests for information on how to build a drillhead. There aremany configurations of PVC parts that will suffice. One principle that should befollowed is to avoid anything that will slow down the flow of water. In a previous

drillhead I had two 3/4' pipes flowing into one 3/4" pipe. That no doubt cost mesome "drilling" power. Water flow is absolutely critical. In the updated drillhead Ihave the two 3/4" pipes flowing directly into a 2" pipe to avoid any loss ofpressure.If anybody has any suggestions on any other ways to enhance water flow, please let me know and I

will post them.

The video below demonstrates the best combination I have come up with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7N80ReSPA4

MAKING THE DRILLHEAD

Here is the old drillhead. As you can see, it has two 3/4 inch pipes leading into one 3/4 inch piperestricting the water flow.


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Pieces for the New Drillhead

2 inch by 2 inch flexible 2 piece of PVC cut to 3.5 lengthcoupling - Lowes - $4.33


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2 inch PVC T - Lowes Part 23908 - $2.49

3/4 inch by 2 inch bushing - Lowes Part 23003 - $1.19


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Four pieces of 3/4 inch PVC, each cut 1 1/2 to 2 inches long

Two 45 degree 3/4 inch elbows - Lowes Part 23891 - 75 each

Two 3/4 inch slip to 3/4 inch hose connectors - Lowes Part 194629 - $1.47 each


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Everything dry fitted together

Mounted on a piece of 2 inch PVC ready to connect hoses and use


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Drilling Part 1How to Drill Your Own Well - Part 1

READY TO START


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The video below shows the first part of a well being drilled using PVC for a drill stem andtwo water hoses for water supply.

Heres the link for the video. Cant insert it here in a documentsorry !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGq0ETzZP0E

==================================

Drilling Part 2How to Drill Your Own Well - Part 2

Heres the link for the 2ndpart of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7RZv73maYI

The video below is a continuation of the instructional video begun in Part 1. It shows thewell being drilled from 13 to 29 feet.

============================================

Flushing the WellHow to Bring Heavy Sediment to the Surface

Water flow is critical in drilling a well. That goes for the pros as well as us folksthat are trying to use PVC to drill a well. This technique is particularly useful ifyou are using water from household spigots run through hoses to flush thecuttings up to the surface. It gives the water flow a temporary boost that can

prove useful.

Heres the link for the video of them flushing the well :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHk_8tYwLlA


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Adding a Piece of PVC Pipe with PVC Glue

After you work one piece of PVC into the ground, it is time to add another.Please make sure that you have worked your drill pipe until it is very loose in

the well before you start. It will take about five or six minutes and you don't wantthe sides of the well to collapse on your pipe while you are adding pipe. Plan thesteps as to how you are going to add the next piece of pipe to minimize thedown time involved.

Always use PVC primer before gluing PVC pieces together. Its ugly, it makesyour fingers purple, its hard to wash out of your clothes, and it smells bad, but itresults in a PVC joint that neither man nor beast can pull apart.

Here a video demonstrating the basic steps in gluing PVC pipe.

This is the link for video on gluing pvc pipe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hf1-VQbSu0

Heres the link for adding pieces of pvc pipe to the Drill Stem ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6FWTmMEGEA

===================================

About Well Screens and Gravel Packs

You can't just put a pipe down in the ground and expect to have a functioning well. It willwork but the water production will be extremely poor because the water has only one wayto get into the pipe.The end of a piece of two inch PVC pipe simply does not have enough surface area forwater to flow from water bearing sand into the pipe at a rate sufficient for any practical use.

A bigger surface area is necessary for water to seep from the water bearingsand into the well stem. A gravel pack is one way to accomplish this. A wellscreen, also known as a sand point, is another. A combination is even better.During the drilling process you have temporarily evacuated the sand from asmall area at the bottom of the well. If you don't take up this space withsomething, the sand will slowly move back in the space so it is tight around thebottom of the well pipe. By pouring pea gravel into this space, you can


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permanently hold the sand away and water can seep into the gravel pack fromall sides and the bottom of the gravel pack.The result is a much more productive well, i.e. a pump will be able to pumpmore water from it.Take a look at the diagram below.

On the left in the diagram above is a simple pipe running from above the groundto the water bearing sand. Water will get in this pipe and can be pumped out butthe flow will be excruciatingly slow! On the right above is a better way to do it.


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Again we have a pipe running from above the ground to the water bearing sandbut there is also a gravel pack at the bottom of the pipe. This gravel packprovides a much bigger sand surface area for the water to enter. Water travelsmuch easier and faster through gravel than it does through sand.

Now take a look at the two wells below. They are both improvements over thetwo wells shown above.

Before I go any further I want you to pay particular attention to the above


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arrangement on the left. This is how at least 90% of wells are set up and they workjust fine. This is how you should first set up yours. If this fails, try some of themethods using both a gravel pack and a well screen.The well on the left in the diagram above shows a well screen at the bottom of thewell. A well screen is a piece of PVC pipe with hundreds of very small slits cut in it to

allow water to enter. You would probably be surprised as how efficient they are.Another advantage of the well screen is its length. If any portion of the well screen isin water bearing sand, water will be able to get into the well casing to be pumped out.On the right is a setup that improves on the well screen. A gravel pack around thewell screen provides the advantages of both a well pack and a well screen and willtypically result in a very productive well. It provides more surface area for the waterto enter from the surrounding sand.

And finally, the best of all is shown below. This includes a well screen and a longgravel pack that extends up way past the screen. Using this protocol provides a bit of

insurance against setting the well screen at the wrong level.

This is arguably overkill in many applications but if you go through several small


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areas of water bearing sand when you are drilling and you don't have a lot ofconfidence in what level you should put your well screen at, this is the key. Thissetup places the well screen at the bottom of the hole but includes a gravelpack so long that it covers multiple layers of water bearing sand. If the wellscreen is not lined up with water bearing sand the well will still work fine. If other

words, if you inadvertently place the well screen in a thick layer of clay, you willstill have a functioning well! The water will go down from the water bearing sandthrough the gravel pack to the bottom of the well casing and then back up.

=============================

Installation of Well Screens and Gravel Packs

The quickest and easiest way to finish a well is to simply put a gravel pack at thebottom. The gravel pack will hold the bottom of the hole open so water can enter.

Here are the steps to installing one.

First, drill the hole to the depth you are going to, typically 25 to 35 feet. Then work thepipe up and down and side to side for quite a while so you have created a wide spotin the hole at the bottom of the well.

Next pour pea gravel down the two inch pipe.


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Then, work the pipe up and down as you continue to pour gravel in slowly untilthe pipe comes up about three feet. The pipe will not go down through the


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gravel so you can tell how much gravel you have at the bottom of the hole byhow much higher the pipe is than when you started.

The video below shows the installation of a gravel pack similar to the onedescribed above.

Heres the link for the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPAFK7CuyG4


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You may want to install a well screen in the gravel pack. To do this, push a 1 1/4inch well screen attached to enough 1 1/4 inch pipe down through the two inchpipe to reach the bottom of the well. The well screen will look something likethis:

I have exaggerated the size of the well screen point in the diagrams below. It isreally the same diameter as the pipe as shown in the above photograph. Whenyou reach the gravel pack with the well screen, simply apply constant downwardpressure as you twist the well screen back and forth. At first it will advancequickly into the pea gravel. It will slow up as more of the well screen goes intothe gravel. When you get three feet of the well screen into the pea gravel, stop.Pull up or cut off the two inch pipe (be careful not to cut the 1 1/4 inch pipeinside!) and you are done. In the diagram below, the well screen is shadedyellow, except for the point which is blue.


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I've saved the easiest and the most common for last. What most folks do issimply put a 1 1/4 inch well screen, three feet in length, down through the twoinch drill pipe and then pull the the two inch pipe up three feet. This exposes thewell screen at the bottom of the well. The sand at the bottom of the hole willcollapse around the well screen but this usually is not a problem. It will usually

work just fine.

========================================


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Connecting a Shallow Well PumpIt is important to connect or plumb your shallow well pump so that it can be

primed. Occasionally, if you have a strong pump and a very high water table youcan get by without proper priming but why risk it? It is easy and for most wells,

crucial. It is important to be able to prime your well both above and below thecheck valve if your check valve is above the water table.

It is simple but it is a little different than those connected to commercially drilledwells. Consider the following well setup design with the check valve at thebottom:


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This is a typical installation when a well driller puts in a six inch well. The checkvalve is at the bottom of the well. As a result, the priming plug in the pump itselfwill be sufficient for priming the pump in this arrangement. This is because thecheck valve (called a foot valve when it is at the foot) is below the static waterlevel. If you put the check valve above ground at the pump level, an additional

fitting is necessary so you can prime the pump. The problem, for our purposes,is it is hard to get a foot valve down our two inch pipe and even if we can weprobably don't want to. Once the foot valve is installed and buried, it isessentially impossible to get out. By putting our check valve up by the pump, wecan get to it if we need to service it.

I was trying to make another one of my crude drawings to show the proper wayto install a shallow well pump with the check valve above ground when

Tyler Cook in Waycross Georgia emailed me this one. Thanks Tyler!

Putting a PVC cut off valve above the downpipe permits both the downpipe andthe portion of the pipe "down" from the check valve to be primed. It is still


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necessary to prime the portion of the pipe "up" from the check valve or on theleft in this drawing as well as the pump itself. Most pumps have a removableplug that permits this easily.

When you first start trying to pump water with a newly installed pump, turn the

spigot off. Power up the pump. Then gradually open the spigot as the pumpcontinues to run and pump up pressure.

==============================

Miscellaneous TipsTime Savers and Problem Solvers

1. A couple of these in-line hose valves are very helpful when it comes time toadd a length of pipe. They save you from having to go so far to turn the wateron and off.

IN-LINE HOSE VALVES


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2. When you are working the pipe into the ground, sometimes you will start tofeel very hard obstructions. As you rotate the pipe, you will feel the teeth at thebottom catching on something. It might feel like rock but if the area you live in is

flat it probably isn't. It is more likely wood that has been buried for a long time.Don't give up until you are sure it is rock. Keep trying for an hour or two. I havehad this happen several times and have gotten past it every time.

3. Forgive me for repeating myself on this one but I stuck a few pipes in sandbefore I understood it. It doesn't make sense at first but when you are usinghoses for your water supply the weakest part of your "drilling" setup is not theplastic drill bit. It isn't the human powered drill motor. It is the water flow. Youhave to give the water plenty of time to do its thing. The water will bring thecuttings to the surface but it takes longer than you expect. As you get deeper ittakes even longer. Go slowly, even if it seems like you are able to go faster.Work the pipe up and down and side to side until it is loose before proceedingdown further.

4. When it is time to add another length of pipe and you are using PVC glue,you have to be especially sure you have worked the existing pipe very loose. Itis going to take about five or six minutes to add the pipe and give the glue achance to set and the looser the pipe is in the ground is when you start, the lesslikely it is that sand will collapse sufficiently to stick your pipe while you are

adding the new piece. Also, always use PVC primer and give it a minute to setup before applying PVC glue.

5. When you are drilling it hard clay and you don't seem to be getting anywhere,check to see if you need to re-sharpen your bit. Pull the pipe completely out ofthe ground and look at the bottom end. It is easy to underestimate how hardclay can be.Sometimes, it feels essentially like rock. When you are drilling inclay this hard, it will dull the teeth on the end of your PVC pipe. On one project Igot down to 25 feet, hit clay, and the next three feet took me six hours. Like a

dummy I never checked my bit. Finally, at 28 feet, I had to quit for the day so Ipulled the pipe out of the ground. I found the end of the pipe was worncompletely smooth. You could not tell there was ever a tooth there. The nextday (after I cut new teeth on the end!) I finished the well quickly. An alternativesolution to this problem is to use a metal bit. Buy a two inch galvanized nippleand cut the teeth in it. You'll need to include a set screw through the PVC andthe bit to keep it from working loose.


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6. When you are drilling an injection well for a geothermal heat pump system, itis important to fill in around the annular space with cement (another one Ilearned the hard way!). This will keep the water that is being injected back intothe ground from coming up around the well pipe.

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I'd appreciate any comments you may have. I'll be happy to try to answer any questions Ican. Send comments and/or questions to [email protected]

How deep can I drill using this method?Most wells drilled using this method are two or three inch wells from 25 to 35 feet deep.With enough patience you could go a little deeper but not much. It isn't that your pipe won't

drill deeper - it is that the sides of the hole collapse on your drill pipe. Real drillers eliminatethis problem by mixing bentonite clay with their water. They re-circulate their drilling fluidwith a pump. The bentonite solidifies the sandy walls of the the hole and keeps the holefrom collapsing on the drill pipe. We can't very well use bentonite because we don't re-circulate our drilling fluid.I need to use a submersible pump. Can I drill a four inch well with this method?The simple straight answer is "no" - or at least I don't think so. I have never tried it. It wouldbe awfully hard. The surface area of a four inch hole is four times as much as a two inchhole. It would be tough. [update - 8/2010 take a look at Ed's idea on page 2 of this section]Thanks for putting up this site.You're welcome! I made a bunch of mistakes learning how to do this myself. I thought a site

that was basically a tutorial on the method might be useful. I hope folks like it.What type of pump do you recommend?I am no pump expert. I have just used the shallow well pumps that Lowes and Home Depotsell. They are not premium pumps but they are readily available.My water table is at 90 feet. What pump should I use?First of all, you are not going to be able to drill to 90 feet using this method. If you did,theoretically speaking, you'd need a packer well jet. Water is easy to push and hard to pull.Suction can only pull water up 25 feet at best. From 90 feet you'd need to either have asubmersible pump or a jet at the bottom of the well. The only jet that will fit in a two inchpipe is the packer jet. I have used one before with a convertible jet pump and it workedwell.

I drove one wellpoint down to 40 feet and washed another down to 27 feet and got nothing.I am trying to use a shallow well pump.Find out from neighbors/drillers/County Agent where your water table is. In many areas thewells you describe are plenty deep enough. Be sure and read the section on well packsand well screens. I thought I had failed on a couple of wells until I realized I just needed awell screen at the bottom. They are hard or impossible to add later so plan ahead.Another thing: when you use a shallow well pump, you have to fill up the pump and the wellcasing with water before you start trying to pump. The pump must be primed.


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I really appreciated your videos showing how you flush a well. It looks like you are using 3"PVC to drill with. Have you tried this with 4" PVC?Thanks! You are absolutely right. That was three inch PVC I was using on that particularone. Usually I use two inch because it is easier. I have never tried four inch.

Does the well screen need to be open ended or closed off?

It should be closed off at the bottom end unless the well is an injection well. Most wellscreens come with points on the bottom end that are perfect for the job.Do you make your own well screens or do you buy from Campbells? Is it worth it to makeyou own well screen?I buy them from Lowes or Home Depot. They are pretty cheap. Not as cheap as making onethough! If you are going to make your own get a very skinny saw... I am in south central Arkansas and we don't have flat land... but it isn't hilly either..... Doyou know of any sources for seeing what the expected water table might be in a given areaas well as rock problems? My main question though is this: I saw some illustrations wherethere was more than one water bearing sand pocket. Once you hit water bearing sand howfar should you continue to dig into that sand? When do you know to continue through thatpocket down to another?The only way I know of (other than drilling) to find out how far down it is to the water table isto ask around - drillers, County Agent, neighbors. There are usually multiple layers of waterbearing sand around here (Coastal Alabama) with clay and darker sand in-between. I haveno idea what you will encounter. Generally, it is best to go as deep as you can. Myexperience is limited to this area and we have a high water table. You can be guidedsomewhat by how far you are elevated above any nearby lakes. Also, be aware that waterrunoff occurs underground just like it does at ground level. If you are between a highelevation and a river, it is likely that there is runoff occurring underground that you can tapinto. This method of drilling will only take you down about forty feet at best. Thirty to thirty-

five is more typical. Youd be surprised at how often that is deep enough for an irrigationwell. The beauty of it is that it is really cheap to try compared to hiring a driller.On your site you say a 35 foot well, about how long did it take you to drill it and what soilswere you drilling through? That looks like a lot of twisting.It typically takes about 10 to 12 hours. Here, in South Alabama, I typically encounter acouple of kinds of sand and multiple layers of clay. This will vary by your geographiclocation. It is a lot of twisting!I live in NC near the big water where there is plenty of water about 12-15 ft down, I amhowever going through the four hole thing like you did and this is not my first rodeo neither.my question is how do you get the screen down in the sleave and then put stone in aroundit I am trying the fourth hole on sat. but would like to do it the better way instead of just a

foot valve. HELP ME PLEEEEASE.A couple of others have emailed me about this. I have not made it sufficiently clearon the website and I apologize.Pea gravel will not fit down a 2 inch pipe that has a 1 inch pipe in it but it will fitdown a 3 inch pipe with a 1 inch pipe in it. SoFor a two inch drill pipe:

1. drill the 2 inch hole down to whatever depth you are going to. Lets say, forpurposes of this example, 30 feet.


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2. When you get to 30 feet work the pipe a lot up and down to every side.What we are trying to do here is wallow out the bottom of the hole so it issignificantly bigger than the two inch pipe. The larger the diameter of thewallowed out area at the bottom of the well is, the better.3. Have a 1 three foot well point attached to 30 feet of 1 inch pipealready glued up or glue it up while you are still washing out the bottom of the

hole. The well point must have a pointed end. Practically all do but make sureyou have one with a point. This will give you a 33 foot long piece that you canput down the well at one time.4. Stop the water and remove the well head, or the piece with the hoseattached, from the top of the drill pipe. Pour pea gravel down the pipe untilyou can feel about three feet of pea gravel. As you are pouring the gravel intothe pipe work the pipe up and down so you can tell how much you are fillingthe bottom of the hole with pea gravel. When you get three feet of fill, stopworking the 2 inch pipe. Youll know when you have three feet because the 2inch pipe will be three feet higher than it was. You wont be able to push the 2inch pipe down through the pea gravel so as the bottom of the well fills upwith pea gravel you can tell how much is down there5. Put the entire length of the 1 1/4 inch pipe down through the 2 inch drillpipe. The 1 inch pipe will stop when it hits the gravel. At this point thebottom of the two inch pipe and the bottom of the 1 1/4 inch well point are atthe same depth.6. Slowly work the well point into the gravel at the bottom of the hole bytwisting and applying downward pressure. Dont get in a hurry. It will take awhile and will slow up as you get deeper but getting three feet in should notbe a problem. If for some reason you cant work it down three feet you'llprobably be OK. Just raise the 2 inch piece some more so the entire length of

the three foot well point is exposed at the bottom of the well.For a three inch drill pipe:1. Drill down to 30 feet. Have the 30 foot of 1 inch PVC already attached toa three foot long well point.2. When you get to 30 feet work the pipe up and down and side to side until itis good and loose in the hole.3. Take the well head off the top of the drill pipe. Insert the 1 piece in the 3inch pipe all at once. Put the well point all the way down to the bottom of thehole.4. Pour pea gravel in the three inch pipe slowly. Work the three inch pipe upand down while someone holds the 1 pipe so it does not raise up as well.

Keep pouring in pea gravel and working the three inch pipe up until the threeinch pipe is up three feet. This way you will have, at the bottom of the well, allthree feet of the well point surrounded by pea gravel. At this point you cancontinue to remove the 3 inch piece or not.

Hi Mike I live in Panama ,Panama, near the ocean , reading your instruction a fewquestions pop up. Once I have drilled the well using two inch pipe do I insert the wellscreen pipe into the two inch pipe or withdraw the two inch , all your diagrams only showone pipe, a little confusing. Also do I then insert the pump pipe with foot valve into that


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Pipe. Thank you in advance .First, have the 1 1/4 inch well screen with enough 1 1/4 inch pipe already attached toreach the bottom of your well. When you get to the depth you are going to stop at,work the two inch pipe up and down and side to side until it is very loose. Then,disconnect the water connection piece on top, or what I call the well head, from thetwo inch piece. Then put the entire length of the 1 1/4 inch pipe down through it until

the 1 1/4 inch piece hits bottom. Then raise the 2 inch piece up > enough to fullyexpose the well screen at the bottom making sure you don't raise the 1 1/4 inchpiece.Regarding the foot valve - I prefer to put the valve near the pump so if it sticks I canchange it.

_______________________________________________________________I'm not clear on setting the well screen. Should I pull the two inch pipe out altogether? Also,should I put in a long gravel pack?You dont have to pull the two inch pipe all the way up. You just have to pull it up six orseven feet so the wellscreen is exposed at the bottom. It is no problem if you pull it all theway out.You cant put in a really long gravel pack when you are drilling with a two inch pipe. With athree inch pipe you can. With a two inch pipe if you are going to use a gravel pack just putin three feet of gravel. To do this, when you get to 35 feet pour three feet of gravel downthe two inch pipe. Raise the two inch pipe and work it up and down so you can tell howmuch pea gravel you have added to the bottom of the hole. When your two inch pipe is upthree feet, then you know you have three feet of pea gravel at the bottom of the hole. Thenput the well screen with the blue point on down through the two inch pipe. Then work thewellscreen down three feet into the gravel. The first few inches will be easy and it will getharder after that.If you are not going to use a gravel pack it is critical to hold the 1 inch pipe down while

you lift the two inch pipe.

I live in West Mobile, yes that's in Alabama, you're in Foley right? I have looked at yourwebsite several times now and I'm ready to start this project of digging my own well. I wentto Home Depot today and I found some well points and the 2" inside couplings along withsome pumps, but that's all I could find. Do you have a particular place that you find yoursupplies? I'd hate to have to order on-line when they may be here locally. Also, I'm not sureof my water table depth here, but I do live out past the airport and there are enough farmsand fields out here and I would think that some would have wells. After watching yourvideos and reviewing the 'how to' instructions from Campbel.coml, I feel really confident, mywife though can't say the same. Thanks for your help.

I have had no problem finding the stuff at Lowes and Home Depot. I have had to goto multiple stores a couple of times. Sometimes the Brady kits are not stocked butthey are easy to make from PVC parts.

Thanks for your reply. How deep would you say that your gravel pack is? I have read thatthe deeper your pack is the better. Was it hard trying to advance the 1 1/4 pipe down

through the gravel? Also, do you cut the blue tip off of your well point or just leave in on andbout how many well points do you usually use together? When you finally are able to placethe 1 1/4" pipe down through the 2" pipe, how did you manage not to pull both pipes out at


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the same time? Isn't it a bit difficult to pull a 35' pipe out of the ground? Have you evermade the T pack assembly by hand or have you just gotten buy with the store bought one?One more thing, on your pump, do you have yours hard wired to your house or do you justhook it up to an extension cord? What horsepower are you using? 1/4 hp per linear ft? Ohyeah, I would say that I don't live on a hill, though my house is elevated a bit from street

level, but my whole neighborhood is kind of in a valley from the main road, bascially sloping

down from the main road.That area around West Mobile likely has a water table about 15 to 20 feet. Ipreviously lived in Spanish Fort Estates, one of the only hills around and my watertable was at 17 feet.As you start down you will notice you are going through layers of both sand and clay.Pay close attention to the color of what is coming up. After you get down about 10feet, go slow. GO REAL SLOW. Go a lot slower than you actually can go. Do notadvance the pipe downward until you have it very loose in the hole. It will be verytempting to go fast when you get in soft sand. If you have to stop for the night, pullup the whole pipe. If you need to pull up the pipe to sharpen the teeth on the end ofyour pipe, do it.After you (1) get to 35 feet, and (2) you are in light colored sand and (3) you haveworked the pipe really loose, put the entire length of the 1 inch pipe with screendown through the two inch pipe (have it already made up) and then pull up the twoinch pipe at least six or seven feet so the three feet of 1 inch screen is bothexposed at the bottom and covered over with fill for a few feet above the screen.. The two inch inside couplings are not needed but certainly wont hurt as long as youlater use inside couplings for your 1 inch well screen pipe. When you are raisingthe 2 inch pipe, you have to hold the 1 1/4 inch pipe down to make sure it doesn'traise up as well.When you are inserting the the 1 1/4" well screen into the gravel at the bottom of the

hole, it starts in easily and gets harder as you go down. You should be able to getthree feet into the gravel.If your wife is a little wary, get a commercial well drilling quote. Heck, if it takes youfive tries, it is still 1/5 the price of a commercially drilled well.

_________________________________________________________________I want to do a sand point well or what ever you are calling this. Either you have left out a lotof important information or I can not find it. What are you attaching to the top? is one houseattached to a water pressure source and perhaps the other is excreting the waste???please explain or guide me to the video with the missing information.

I have a connection that attaches to the top that has fittings for two hoses. Aphotograph is at http://www.drillyourownwell.com/background.htm Both hoses are

supply hoses. Get as much water pressure as possible to those two hoses. Usually,that will be by connecting them to two different faucets.

Hi Mike. How will I know that I have reach water or do i go as deep as possible? Joe, SouthAfrica

As you drill you will notice your are going through layers of sand and dirt and clay.You can tell what your are drilling in by the material that is coming up. What you arewatching for is the light colored sand. When you get to the lighter colored sand orany coarse sand that is well below the water table, that will be a good place to stop.

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