And how to estimate the cost to drill a well
You need water on your property. Hiring a company to drill a well is pretty straightforward, but there are some things to consider before you make that call. These are five things that my husband and I discussed before we drilled our well.
1. Location, location, location
The location of your well will play a key part in your property. You need to decide what your water needs are before you have a site visit with the well driller.
Where will the well line enter the house? Where will the line from the well to the house run? You will need to stay clear of any utilities or structures already in place, but also plan for these things in the future. We used our site plan as we discussed where to drill a well.
Will you have animals? Will you have a garden? When they come to drill a well, they will install any yard hydrants you need as well. We chose to have one hydrant near the well itself. We located our well in an area that will be near the house, the garden, and any animals we decide to raise.
What are the state and/or local laws about distance from buildings or septics for wells. In Minnesota, the Department of Health oversees all well drilling and there are distance requirements in place to keep everyone safe.
You must be prepared with your site plan before you drill a well.
2. Type of Well
There are a few different types of wells. Which one is best for your property and your needs?
Dug wells are wells that are just that, dug. They might be dug by hand or by a backhoe. According to the EPA, they are wide and shallow, around 10-30 feet.
Shallow wells are a pipe driven into the ground similar to a deep well, but they are usually around 30 to 50 feet deep, thus the reason for their name. The water from these wells is close to the surface, so can become contaminated more easily. These wells also have the potential to dry up more easily in a drought. We have seen the pump for these wells above ground. Most we have seen have been inside the house near where the water enters the home, but also outside in an insulated well house along with the pressure tank.
Deep wells are drilled down to aquifers that are deeper than 50 feet. They can be thousands of feet deep. They usually are not contaminated easily due to their depth.
We knew we wanted a deep well, so we wouldn’t need to worry about contamination or the well drying up quickly.
3. Cost to Drill a Well
The cost to drill a well is dependent on a number of things. Here is what it cost us:
- Well depth, $23 per foot
- 10′ Well screen for filtering water, $850
- Well seal, $140
- State required water samples, $240
- Well grouting, $400
- State required permit, $275
Our total cost to drill a well: $3,331
Minnesota has a well index online through the state’s department of health. This helped us in estimating the cost to drill a well. This index shows that the neighbors have wells in the 40-50 feet range, but there is one that is over 100 feet deep. I was hoping ours would not be 100 feet just because of the cost. We do not have a lot of chemical runoff to worry about, so a well shallower than 100 feet will be fine for us.
Another variable in the cost to drill a well is the soil type. Our soil is sand with a few feet of clay about 5 feet down. This is not a problem for well drilling. However, drilling through more difficult soil or rock can take longer and require more equipment, thus increasing the cost to drill a well. It is a good idea to speak with a couple of well drillers in your area. They have resources to look up the geological makeup of the soil and can easily estimate the cost to drill a well based on this information.
4. Timing
We needed a driveway before the well diggers would come to drill a well. They needed a way to get the rig out to the location we had chosen, which was around 700 feet from the road. We also needed to consider the weather. Too much rain, and the rig could get stuck in the muck and mire. Thankfully, when it was time to drill a well, the ground was still pretty dry for us.
Unfortunately, shortly after the well line was installed, it rained a lot. Our well line needs to be 8 feet deep in Minnesota. Digging this line brought up a lot of clay and turned our yard in front of the house into a sloppy mess when it rains. Fun. Not really, but someday we will be able to put some topsoil down and plant grass. Until then, we use a boot scrubber!
Insert pic of well line
You will also want to consider the timing of the installation of the well pump and the pressure tank inside the house. We had a temporary pump installed allowing us to use the well during construction, which was very helpful. After we had framed, insulated, and wired some, we were able to have a permanent pump and our pressure tank installed.
Here is what the final well installation cost us:
5. Water Testing
Lastly, you will need to plan for water testing. Thankfully, this is required by our state and taken care of by our well drillers. Be sure to ask or plan accordingly before you drill a well.
With these five things considered, it is time to make the call to drill a well.
