How to revive shallow well with rusted 6" casing

I have a old well on my property that hasn't been used for many years, the casing is about non existent and looks like cast iron or steel , I took some measurements the other day, total depth from ground level to bottom is 27 feet, I hit water at 15 feet so approximately 12 feet of water, we don't get much rain here at all and since we received a lot rain this last season I am going to keep a track of measurements often to make sure the 12 foot of water is not a fluke,
To measure it I tied a crescent wrench to a rope and lowered it down and pulled it up and measured it and when it hit bottom I pulled it up and dropped it a few times to see if it was soft at the bottom of to see if it sounded like it hit a old pump or something hard- it sounded soft.
I have some questions..... this hole seems like a good start to having a operational well, (maybe even deeper)
I would like to line this hole so it doesn't cave in, but I am wondering if before I install casing with slits at the end and a end cap with a gravel pack is it possible for me to go deeper with some DIY methods,
I am very mechanical and have tools at my disposal,
I would only be using this water as yard water.
Thanks for any help.
Doug

Doug,

If the well is drilled in solid rock then it would be nice to remove the remnants of the old casing and replace it with a new one. It probably is not a solid rock, but rather some rock and soil that helped the casing to corrode so much.
You could put a smaller casing within existing one, but most well drillers recommend at least 6" so the pump has better flow of cooling water around its body.
Also remember that bottom part of the casing is screen - casing with slotted openings or welded wire cage or pipe with holes. The smaller opening - the better.

Old wells are intriguing. On the one hand, they are a source of raw water for trees etc. On the other hand, their degraded seal from surface water can potentially contaminate a good aquifer -- not cool.

There are active programs in my area to identify and permanently seal old wells, many hand-dug a century ago.

Personally, I think the advice of a professional well drilling outfit is worth your time. They know the area and its quirks. You will get three different opinions (ha!) because that's how the business works. But you will gain an education, and that is worth a lot.

Hi Doug,

Welcome to Permies.

I would dig another sandpoint/shallow well 7ft or so away ans once it works. I would destroy the old well. Most of these shallow wells dont have submersible pumps they have pumps are at the surface that suckup the water. They can only suck up water that is 1 to 20ft below. So drilling a deeper well probably wouldn't be of much use. You can connect this water to a Reverse Osomosis filter system and get safe drinking water. But if there is no filtering it's probably as safe as drinking water directly from the river aka not that great of an idea, sooner or later you will get sick.

Quality surface pumps can pump from much deeper than 20 ft. They can do 150 feet.
Having a deeper well is always a good idea. You mentioned you don't get much rain. In case of drought  your water level will drop and if the well is too shallow it can drop below the bottom of the casing. My water table is at 12-15 feet now. During drought it was 25 or even more.

Cristobal Cristo wrote:Quality surface pumps can pump from much deeper than 20 ft. They can do 150 feet.
Having a deeper well is always a good idea. You mentioned you don't get much rain. In case of drought  your water level will drop and if the well is too shallow it can drop below the bottom of the casing. My water table is at 12-15 feet now. During drought it was 25 or even more.

This is wonderful news can you send me a link to one of them.

The surface pump for deeper wells is called a convertible jet pump. It uses a two-line system in the well. The second line has an eductor/injector nozzle that feeds into the main line, halfway down or so, allowing the pump to pull up water from much greater depths. Normally all surface jet pumps have a foot valve (check valve) installed at the bottom of the line to maintain their prime.

S Bengi wrote:This is wonderful news can you send me a link to one of them.

Please check Grundfos deep well jet pumps.