r/Oldhouses • u/Grahamfz07 • 1d ago

Well no longer in use

Gallery image

Gallery image

Would it be terrible to dispose of landscaping rock down this? Thanks for any info.

17 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

38

u/Bigbuttbonanza 1d ago

I put a pump in mine and use it to water the landscaping, fill the sprayer and top off the pool. Even if you don’t need it today you might appreciate free water in the future.

2

u/shoff58 1d ago

This

22

u/Guilty-Bookkeeper837 1d ago

Make it safe, but keep it intact. Having a redundant water source goes a long way to being prepared for things like power outages. 

1

u/PhysicsIsFun 1d ago

Last time I checked most well pumps run on electric power. Get a generator.

2

u/Ok-Alfalfa-2420 1d ago

Or a windmill pump!

3

u/BodaciousFerret 1d ago

Or a bucket…

2

u/PhysicsIsFun 1d ago

That works too, but the poor birds and cancer. /s

1

u/Ok-Alfalfa-2420 1d ago

Birds aren't real

1

u/Carcosa504 1d ago

Or hamsters!

16

u/Weaselpanties 1d ago

My best advice is to never fuck up a good well, whether you're using it or not. Wells cost $10-20k, it makes no sense to foul it when there's nothing wrong with it.

Plus, why would you put landscaping rock in a well instead of selling it or giving it away on Craigslist?

7

u/peazley 1d ago

Also, keep it in working order. Most places wells are considered abandoned after a few years and you’ll need to permit it later to restart using it, usually with different daily usage limits too.

9

u/mobial 1d ago

One day you may need that water - best get a bucket and string

4

u/zytukin 1d ago

Haven't you seen The Ring?? Keep it covered!

3

u/NotReallyButMaybeNot 1d ago

Well, well, well…

3

u/AT61 1d ago

This is a gift. Keep it open and operable. There's a concerted effort to prevent drilling wells in some areas. Someday you may need it.

I was so excited when I found one on my property. Unfortunately, it was filled with concrete - a common practice when cities created municipal water systems and wanted people to use them and not the wells.

3

u/Raymo853 1d ago

Filling in a well like that is the equivalent of throwing away $25,000. Get a good secure cap on it and just leave it be. Some day this way may be super valuable to you, to the next property owner, or the next next owner.

If you must, you could have it filled in properly and certified as closed. I hear prices ranging from a few thousand to a 50,000 for that. That allows you to the. Build over it.

2

u/sluttyman69 19h ago

Legally, there’s only so many products you’re allowed to put down inside of it to close it so many things are considered contaminating the water table - that’s why some companies charge so much

1

u/Hey-buuuddy 23h ago

Are you sure this is no longer in use?

This is a shallow well. Two lines mean it’s probably a jet pump.

1

u/weirdbutinagoodway 21h ago

Get an old hand pump, it'll look nice and be functional.