How To Clean Out An Old Hand Dug Well

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OP Joined: Jul 2014 Posts: 143	I have a 50ft hand dug well on my property that was dug back in 1912. It has not been used in many years, but I would like to rehab it and bring it back to life. It has mud washed into it so now it is only about 25ft deep and there is water at 15ft. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can clean this out? It is about 3ft across and lined as far as I could see down with stacked rocks. I want to climb down there and clean it by bucket but I'm a little concerned about the safety of being 30ft down in a one hundred year old hole. Someone out there has got to have some good ideas! "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill

Joined: Oct 2014 Posts: 6,075
Joined: Oct 2014 Posts: 6,075	I have a 50ft hand dug well on my property that was dug back in 1912. It has not been used in many years, but I would like to rehab it and bring it back to life. It has mud washed into it so now it is only about 25ft deep and there is water at 15ft. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can clean this out? It is about 3ft across and lined as far as I could see down with stacked rocks. I want to climb down there and clean it by bucket but I'm a little concerned about the safety of being 30ft down in a one hundred year old hole. Someone out there has got to have some good ideas! I would use a dredge and stay out of the hole! Be Brave Enough to Suck at Something New!

Joined: Jan 2006 Posts: 15,018 Likes: 48 Moderator Lunker
Moderator Lunker Joined: Jan 2006 Posts: 15,018 Likes: 48	Thought about it for a while. My errant thoughts: Make sure that whoever is at the top stays sober. Make sure that you owe him $$$$$$$$$. Other than that I will say to peck on the sides a little bit as you go down. Aw heck, I wouldn't have the guts to go down there. 3 ft is a pretty narrow hole to go down and work in. It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color. Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done. Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP

Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 1,105 Member
Member Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 1,105	When I was a boy my friends father dug a well lined with rocks. So I have always wondered do you dig a well all the way down to water and then line it with rocks? That really seems dangerous from a collapse of the earth happening but I don't see any other way of doing it. I always wondered about this but didn't know who to ask.

Joined: Jul 2014 Posts: 143
OP Joined: Jul 2014 Posts: 143	I have a 3" trash pump. Any rednecks out there have any idea how I could jet with it and raise the mud to the top and expel it? "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill

Joined: Sep 2011 Posts: 2,315
Joined: Sep 2011 Posts: 2,315	I sure wouldn't crawl down there. There was a posts by DiverCody not to long ago about making a dredge/pump type setup. Go to his post history and see if you can find it. If you can't, let me know and I will see if I can locate it. Sorry, need to get going....

Joined: Oct 2014 Posts: 6,075
Joined: Oct 2014 Posts: 6,075	I have a 3" trash pump. Any rednecks out there have any idea how I could jet with it and raise the mud to the top and expel it? IIRC a problem might be the inlet hose length with a trash pump. IIRC the inlet hose length is limited to about 20 feet so I doubt you can reach the depth you're looking to get. Be Brave Enough to Suck at Something New!

Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 939 Hall of Fame Lunker
Hall of Fame Lunker Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 939	FWIW -Here is my experience. 16 years ago I built a modern day version of what you have with the HUGE exception of my "wishing well" only being 18' down. We needed a water source. I brought in a trackhoe and my contractor dug an 18' deep hole. Then he took a 20' double walled, 4' diameter, polymer culvert and stood up into the hole. The culvert stands two feet out of the ground. It is grated with aluminum, covered, and boxed. There is virtually no way somebody could fall in and almost zero chance of a wall collapse....to your project 1912 construction, WOW very cool, and WOW very old. My first move would be Safety first. I would get a good solid "casing" down that hole. And make sure it protrudes above the ground and is covered. This will help protect against somebody inadvertently falling in and wall collapse. When you start removing material there is no way to know what the rest of the structure will do. With a casing in pace, if the sides do collapse you will still have your well. Look up the story of baby Jessica (1987?)and it will send shivers down your spine.

Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 7,049 Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 7,049	When digging a trench and hole to install sewer drain and a septic tank, I hit something really solid and heavy with the backhoe. It turned out to be a concrete cap, 6' under dirt that was bolcking a hand dug, rock lined well, also 50' deep. It was impressive just how tightly the stones where stacked. Since there was another hand dug well that was built on an old homesite (built in 1904), there is no telling how old the well was that I uncovered. It was right where I'd intended to put the septic tank, and time was running on the backhoe rental, so I filled in the well to a depth of 15' and put in my tank. To this day, I wished I had explored the bottom. It was roughly a 4' diameter, and with each rock being triangular shaped and interwoven, outer pressure only made the casing seal better.

Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 25,906 Likes: 171 Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker Joined: Jan 2009 Posts: 25,906 Likes: 171

Joined: Jul 2014 Posts: 143
OP Joined: Jul 2014 Posts: 143	Don, That vacuum idea is at the top of my list so far. I'm sure my local rental yard has some kind of vacuum that could work, and I don't have to climb in the hole. Thanks "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill

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How To Clean Out An Old Hand Dug Well

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