Extracting water from a well

[ax222s]

Hi all.

I have a well in the garden that Id like to use the water for the garden. The water surface is about 3m under ground level. (Sometimes Ive seen it 5m below ground level).

I need to get a submersible pump, but not sure what one to get that will give me a decent pressure for the hose. I have a Hozelock hose, so Ive been looking at their pumps:
https://www.hozelock.com/product/hozelock-flowmax-7500/
https://www.hozelock.com/product/hozelock-jet-3000-k7/

Would you say these would give me decent pressure? Or perhaps theres cheaper alternatives?

Thanks

 

[lostinthelight]

Do you know if there Is there enough water in the well to sustain a high pressure flow in sufficiant volume, if not and depending on size of plot you could pump into something like an IBC 1000ltre container and either pump or gravity drip water from that.

 

[conny]

Neither of them are submersibles. You would need to drop a hose down the well to suck the water up.
The maximum height on the Flowmax 7500 is 4.5 metres which means by the time it gets to that height there will be very little pressure to feed through a hosepipe. It probably would flow in a standard hose but not through one of the new elasticated, kink-free type.
Do you know where the water in the well comes from?
Can you legally remove it or do you need someones permission. (e.g. local council/water authority etc).
Is it fresh water or land drainage?
Is it possible to have come from someone cesspit soakaway?

You need to be able to answer these questions before you start to draw it up as it may be polluted with either human/animal waste products or chemical process wastes.
Don't assume it is clean safe water, even for 'just watering your garden'.

EDIT: My wife has just told me a friend of hers used to have a well in her garden so she used it to water her plants. When they all started wilting she contacted a reputable gardener who said 'well water' contains too much iron and kills plants/flowers/grass etc because it runs so deep underground.

 

[lostinthelight]

Flowmax 7500 is submersible according to the bumf

 

[conny]

Flowmax 7500 is submersible according to the bumf

You're quite right. Sorry, my mistake.

 

[charliegolf]

One of these?

https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb583pmp-400w-dirty-water-pump/65041

I have an older type from Screwfix as a backup for my poo pump- I'm not on mains sewer. This one has a 6m head. Might lend itself better to filling a storage tank, as mentioned above.

 

[ax222s]

ARGH! Sorry guys, I completely forgot I posted this!

To answer your questions:

Do you know if there Is there enough water in the well to sustain a high pressure flow in sufficiant volume
I plumbed it and the water goes down about 11 metres. Is that enough do you think?

Do you know where the water in the well comes from?
From the water table. It was originally used for water for the couple of cottages.

Can you legally remove it or do you need someones permission. (e.g. local council/water authority etc).
Yes

Is it fresh water or land drainage?
Im assuming a mixture of the two. Ive no idea really.

Is it possible to have come from someone cesspit soakaway?
No.

I see in the bumf for the Jet 3000 K7 I linked to above that it has a suction height of 7 metres.

 

[conny]

ARGH! Sorry guys, I completely forgot I posted this!

To answer your questions:

Do you know if there Is there enough water in the well to sustain a high pressure flow in sufficiant volume
I plumbed it and the water goes down about 11 metres. Is that enough do you think?

Do you know where the water in the well comes from?
From the water table. It was originally used for water for the couple of cottages.

Can you legally remove it or do you need someones permission. (e.g. local council/water authority etc).
Yes.

Is it fresh water or land drainage?
Im assuming a mixture of the two. Ive no idea really.

Is it possible to have come from someone cesspit soakaway?
No.

I see in the bumf for the Jet 3000 K7 I linked to above that it has a suction height of 7 metres.

Yes to which part?

But bear in mind, the higher you draw it the less the pressure will be. Think about it. If it will draw up to a height of 7 metres then trying to raise it more means there is not enough pressure to do so.

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Just as an aside,
Our neighbour do not have a water supply to their property, although it is only a holiday home.
Their water is drawn from a well, although their drinking water is from bottled water.
The pump is housed in a little shed, like a dog kennel, at the head of the well, so no noise in the house.
Turning on their tap, the pump detects the loss of pressure and fires up to deliver a decent pressure of water, instantaneously.

 

[JohnD]

1 bar of pressure (normal atmosphere at sea level) is about 10.3 metres of water. So no pump will suck more than that. In practice, less is likely. It will just cause a vacuum. your pipe might collapse at less than that.

you will need a pump down the well, on a long cable, with the ability to haul it out when it goes wrong.

 

[JohnD]

This is the old Aldgate Well pump.

It used to be noted for its flavour and high content of minerals, especially calcium. Can you guess why?

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Aldgate-Pump/

 

[ax222s]

Yes to which part?

"Yes" to legally move it.

 

[ax222s]

1 bar of pressure (normal atmosphere at sea level) is about 10.3 metres of water. So no pump will suck more than that. In practice, less is likely. It will just cause a vacuum. your pipe might collapse at less than that.

you will need a pump down the well, on a long cable, with the ability to haul it out when it goes wrong.

Yes, I think youre right. So a submersible pump.

 

[ax222s]

This is the old Aldgate Well pump.

View attachment 194585

It used to be noted for its flavour and high content of minerals, especially calcium. Can you guess why?

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Aldgate-Pump/

Fascinating. Thankyou. Im sure I would have walked or skated past that many times in my youth, and not even given it a second glance.

 

[bernardgreen]

Pick the bones out of that...........( the Aldgate Well)