Sealing a well

[slakjaw]

I know squat about wells but I thought that when a well is sealed they actually pull the pipe out of the ground and fill the hole with cement. Can anyone tell me what a sealed well should look like? Do they just fill the pipe with cement?

[E Sully]

You would have to check with your local building department, or plumbing company that works on them. Requirements probably vary from town to town. Considering what water costs in my area, I would never get rid of mine. Neighbor has his capped off for past 20 years, but is considering setting it up again. Mine is supposedly around 75ft or more, that would be a lot to fill.

[PetrolBlueSC]

It would depend on what is outside the pipe. If there is already concrete outside the pipe, filling it in with cement should be fine. +1 to checking with local code. If there is concrete outside the pipe, it will be very difficult to pull much of the pipe out. If there is soil/sand/bentonite outside the pipe, you may get some but not all of the pipe. It will seperate at a joint or rip the screen apart. I would expect local code to expect you to try to get some pipe out. The point in the end is to prevent the well from being a conduit, allowing contaminants at the surface to get to the aquifer.

[rusnak]

Water wells up to 6" are usually capped with a concrete cap. Septic wells are usually dug out down to native soil and compacted.

[fastfredracing]

They had me fill my septic tank with gravel when public sewer came through

[wdfifteen]

^^
Same here. Dig it out and backfill or crush it and backfill. Crushing the top in was a LOT cheaper. I don't know why they even mention the other.

[Baz]

One of the industry terms used is "abandoning" the well. You may find this term handy when researching the topic.

Different techniques are employed for different types of wells. But the objective is the same. Remove the possibility of a conductor from surface to ground water. (or get rid of the straw!)

I would check with your local government which oversees irrigation/wells - it could be the city, or the county, and in some cases the state has it's own codes and procedures. A local well driller would know and be able to help you.

In our area well management (permitting.etc.) is governed by the county environmental health department and we are also part of a water management district (St. Johns) which sets policy for this part of the state.

Lastly - I have found You Tube a valuable asset when researching a particular procedure whether something to do with electrical, plumbing, auto, etc. You may want to do a search there once you've determined what type of well you have.

[CA_WhaleTail]

If you have a water well that needs to be abandoned, you will typically need a drilling company to help do the job correctly. Many regulations require the well to be pressure injected with a bentonite-cement grout so that the borehole is sealed, then remove the upper pipe. Sometimes the well needs to be overdrilled. Often done under the same permitting process/regulation used to install a well.

If you simply crush in the job or dig and pour concrete in the hole, the deeper portion of the well can remain open. Leaves a direct pathway for crap to get into your drinking water supply.

No, its not cheap or easy. Neither is cleaning up a contaminated water supply.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

They had me fill my septic tank with gravel when public sewer came through

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

^^
Same here. Dig it out and backfill or crush it and backfill. Crushing the top in was a LOT cheaper. I don't know why they even mention the other.

You can do that if you aren't going to ever build over the septing tank. If you're on a smaller lot, it's much better to compact to 99%. If you're on a farm, it does not matter.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by CA_WhaleTail

If you have a water well that needs to be abandoned, you will typically need a drilling company to help do the job correctly. Many regulations require the well to be pressure injected with a bentonite-cement grout so that the borehole is sealed, then remove the upper pipe. Sometimes the well needs to be overdrilled. Often done under the same permitting process/regulation used to install a well.

If you simply crush in the job or dig and pour concrete in the hole, the deeper portion of the well can remain open. Leaves a direct pathway for crap to get into your drinking water supply.

No, its not cheap or easy. Neither is cleaning up a contaminated water supply.

Yes, but where water is scarce, the aquifers are as valuable as all of the wells combined. You don't want to pollute the aquifer, but you don't exactly want to fill it in with a few hundred tons of cement either. Our municipal water district has us cap them fairly far down, then fill the casing with cement. The top casing is dug out and the hole is compacted and then compaction tested.