Pre-Requisite Activities For Sinking A Rural Well
Posted on: 15 August 2016
Many Australians are falling for the allure of a more relaxed lifestyle away from the hustle and bustle associated with life in the city, prompting them to invest in rural properties.
The only potential problem with country life is that mains water supply is often erratic (or non-existent), and you'll probably be forced to sink a well soon after moving into the new home. Here are three activities you can't afford to skip before a rural well is sunk on your property.
Pre-Existing/Abandoned Wells
You need to identify the location of possibly abandoned wells within the property and to decommission such wells before you sink a new one.
Identifying the location of an abandoned well reduces the likelihood of unprecedented accidents. You're less likely to fall into such a well if you know its exact location within the property. Decommissioning the well is important if you intend to reduce the likelihood of water contamination once the new well is sunk.
Water wells within rural areas often share the same aquifer. If the abandoned well is not decommissioned, it could easily contaminate the aquifer by bringing in polluted water through surface drainage.
This applies to both buyers of pre-owned rural homes and those moving into newly constructed homes. Rural lots are often sub-divided before they're sold. You could still end up with an abandoned well on your property as a result of sub-division, even with a newly constructed home.
Grave Sites
Graveyards within private property are more common in the rural setting. Thus, you need to scout your property for the mentioned fixtures before you embark on sinking your well. The presence of a graveyard within the property has a direct impact on where your new well can or cannot be sunk. In the ideal situation, a well should be sunk as far as possible from a gravesite in order to prevent possible contamination of its water.
Possible impacts of the location of graveyards must be captured in the geotechnical report required for you to get approval to sink the new well.
Neighbouring Wells
It's important to undertake a preliminary assessment of the depth to which neighbouring wells have been sunk. This will give you an idea of the average drilling depth for the new well before the aquifer is encountered.
You can use this information to challenge your drilling contractor if they intend to drill a well that's far deeper than the average depth of neighbouring wells, which will be more expensive.
Share