E-Mail 'Thirsty Are Those Who Do Not Prep- Part 2, by The Grumpy Gunfighter' To A Friend

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1. I am suprized at no mention of rainwater harvesting which is very popular in southern Arizona .?

2. I have witched water and sewer lines for years with great success. I was never more than a foot off. I don’t understand how or why it works but i know it does.

3. Grumpy. Great article! There is so much I didn’t realize you must know and consider when it comes to wells. Keep it coming…I’m hooked. John, thanks for your observation. Rainwater here is prevalent and seems like it should certainly be a collect and store option. Plus it is much cheaper than having a well dug. Thanks again.

4. We are in the mountains of the Redoubt. Yes indeed, costs of professionally drilled wells can definitely run into “Tens of Thousands, of Dollars”. It is so common here that I recommend finding out the depths of nearby wells BEFORE purchasing any property. I believe the data is public information. Well drillers can provide it to us.

   The depths of the nearest wells to our property where 500 ft. (at a higher elevation) and 140 ft. at the our elevation. We hired a dowser who said, ‘Drill here. You’ll hit a good supply of water at 140 ft.” We hit 35 gal. per min.+ at 160 ft. We were happy.

   Side Note: In Montana, Big Brother requires well drillers to give them the GPS coordinates of all wells. Big Brother also requires well drillers to cap all artesian wells.

5. Living on a lake, I have an inexhaustible supply of non-potable water, as well as an inexhaustible supply of water for purification. I also have a well, but power for the pump could become a challenge. Does anybody have experience with solar powered well pumps?

   1. Check out the YouTube videos by Engineer775. He has done many offgrid wells and various roof water collection systems.

      He has some inspirational designs. Typically, he prefers having at least three ways to power well pumping: solar, generator, and manual, and on-grid being a 4th way. He has hydraulic ram videos and well drilling I think.

      He also does wood-fired power videos for tractors, cooking, etc. God Bless.

   2. OldParatrooper; My well pump is 240 volt and runs on solar. Drillers fault cause I wanted a simple 120 volt system. But it is what it is. Got a solar setup stand alone for the well consisting of 3 -160 watt panels and the inverter was configured for 240 volt ac running off of 3-24 volt batt banks by Solarc, which I can’t recommend highly enough.
      The pump refused to recognize the ground system used by Solarc at first and always gave a ground fault error code. Solarc’s chief eng. worked with me until the problem was solved (many phone calls & e-mails).Solved by running an additional 240 v ac input to 240 v ac output transformer. Bit of a hassle at first but it worked out fine. Cabin runs off Solarc 48 volt driven 120 v ac system and no issues. A fine company and they offer EMP hardened inverters.

6. If the info is available, do some research on line, and find the well permits of the surrounding properties (depth, location, gpm)… plot those points on a map and draw straight lines between the wells. Assume that at the middle point of the line, the depth and gpm will be the average between the two end points. Your map will look like a web of intersecting lines. That should give you a pretty close approximation of the water available on your land. It worked for me.

7. I have observed water witching used to find pipes, and it really works for that. My husband (a faithful believer in Christ by the way) who works in water and wastewater is able to douse looking for pipes. I figure that there is something to do with the water or pipes that makes the sticks react.

8. Grumpy Gunfighter
   We in the field of dowsing prefer the term “Dowser” or “Diviner”, the term of water witch is no longer used, as you stated it makes one believe we are witches.

   An credited dowser actually attends classes which are taught by the members of The Society of American Dowsers all over the United States. We are professional trained not only in area of water location, it can go far a field into the oil business, gold, precious gems. Depends on what the individual wishes to persue in this field of endeavor.

9. Excellent information thus far, thank you. I look forward to parts 3-5.

   Has anyone ever done a comprehensive piece on how to ensure that your well is completely hidden from view? All of that time and money could be wasted if The Golden Horde sucks it dry.

10. Good solid science reaffirms what the bible says and how things work but I have never ever ever heard or seen basic science test or even prove the reason or basic understanding of how dowsing works or why it works. Couldn’t it be scientifically proven to work if it’s as legit as everyone claims it is? If it’s based on waves or magnetism then couldn’t a tool or device be made for anyone to use since our technology today is so incredibly advanced? Basic scientific observation should be able to reduce how this works and that anyone can use this method to find water. Also seems less about a method or tool and more about this particular person with a gift for “dowsing”.
    I’ve spoke to a few dowsers over the years and their basic explanation of how they do what they do just does not pass the smell test so that’s why I’m waiting for someone to build a HANDHELD UNDERGROUND WATER FINDER (I’m working on the copyright ) and entrepreneur this thing immediately! Until this device comes out I’m remaining very skeptical.
    Could it be a supernatural gift that some people have in order to find water, which is the most essential necessity to stay alive? That’s plausible but I’m still very skeptical based on the origin and history of Dowsing
    My 2 cents

11. I remember when our well was drilled back when I was in my early teens. The dowser went out to the property at about 6 a.m. when everything was quiet. We had selected several potential home sites and after his survey, he recommend a specific one. He said, “Drill here, and you will hit water at 155 feet and have 7 gallons per minute at 210 feet.” The well drillers told us he was within five feet for both.

    I have never understood people who put in a well AFTER they build their house. Drill it first, just to be safe.

    A couple tips on the equipment after your well is drilled: Talk to your plumber or supplier about your intended water use. If you are going to use a sprinkler system, plan to water your garden or provide water for livestock, or have a bunch of kids, you may need a larger system than they would normally install for a standard house with, say, 2 baths.

    You should size your pump to its intended use, not the well’s capacity. Just because your well can potentially produce 20 GPM does not mean your pump should pump that fast. Not only is an over-sized pump a waste of money, if you keep the pump’s capacity is lower than the well’s capacity, you should never run out of water.

    Size your pressure tank to your pump capacity, but err on going bigger. You want your pump to run for at least one minute to fill your tank because this keeps the pump from overheating. (Yes, this sounds backwards, but the water going through it is used to cool the pump.) Also, the less your pump cycles on and off, the longer it will last.

    You generally want the pump to take at least one minute to fill your tank. It is much better for your pump to run once for 1.5 minutes than three times for 30 seconds. That kind of short cycling is bad for your pump. So if your pump produces 8 GPM, you want your tank to take at least 8 gallons when the pump starts to run. Depending on the type of pressure tank, you probably need at least a 25 gallon tank. It would not hurt to have the next size up.

    Our pump cycles on at around 35 PSI and cycles off a 68. (I check this at least once a year.) It runs for 1 minute 20 seconds if no one is using the water. If someone is showering or the washing machine is filling when the pump kicks in, it will run longer, which is just fine. You can set yours at 30 to 50 or whatever, but this will affect tank capacity and you may notice the different pressure when you shower.

12. If you dig a well and the water supply is not sufficient to provide enough of gallons per minute to run a household you can still use the well. You will have to have a water storage tank of approx. 600 gallons or more and then just put your submersible well pump on a timer so that it comes on for short durations. That will keep the pump from running your well dry. Mine comes on every hour (24 times a day) and runs for two minutes. The pump pumps the water into the 600 gallon storage tank. I have an above ground pump in my well house that pumps the water from my storage tank into my pressure tank. So when we need water in the house and turn on a faucet the water comes from the pressure tank and we always have a consistent pressure of sixty pounds. Because my submersible pump is coming on every hour while we’re sleeping or gone to work we always have an abundance of water waiting there in our storage tank. We’ve been running this system for about ten years and never run out of water. Our well only produces about a gallon per minute and we have a shallow well with a thirty foot column of water to our disposal but it gives us all the water needed for our house.

13. Good story. Come from a family of well drillers who think water witching is a good way to separate the gullible from their money.

    It’s common for a customer to inquire about dropping dynamite down the hole to open it up. What can happen is the strata the water is perched on is fractured and pthe well goes dry.

    Last thing. When it’s cold outside and you pat a well driller on the bottom and say “ yes it is colder then a well drillers a**” , he may laugh but he’s heard it hundreds of times.

14. The geologist said it didn’t really matter where on my property we drilled, all the same. One neighbor to the north was at 350 feet another to the south was at 500 feet. So the estimate was for about 300-350 feet and about $17,000. We hit water after drilling thru 720 feet of solid rock. Once the pipe was put in the water came up to the 330 foot mark. Was end of fall so waited till spring to put in the pump. The water was up to the 300 foot mark and the pump is set at 500 feet down. It runs off solar, takes about 35 amps to pump and the water is very cold and tastes great.

    Total cost was around $35,000, sold my comic book/memorabilia collection to pay for it. Banks here wont fiance wells as they are risky. Also figuring availability and cost changes bought a second back up pump for the future (another $3500) . As the author says you have got to have water for survival.

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