Farmall Cub

We have a 6" steel pipe (rusted) in the backyard of our little farmette that we believe was used by the previous owner to water their horses. This would have been done from about 1940 until the late 90's. The pipe nearly always has water visible in it except in the height of summer when the water drops so deep I cannot see water down the hole with my naked eye.

The water does change over time but always seems to be about 12-15' deep.

I have a couple of questions:

I was thinking about using a syphon to check to see how deep the water is, pull up a sample and have the water tested. A simple hand pup may suffice?

If you discovered something like this on your property would you get a pitcher pump and pvc pipe and try using it?

I guess Im looking for some direction, advice, etc. It must have been used for something and judging by the age and shape of it it must have been put int the ground a really long time ago.

That may be what we refer to around here as a bored well as opposed to a dug well. These were shallow wells. The dug well was the 'standard' well with it being 36" or so around, and used a regular well bucket. The bored well used a bucket that looked like a piece of drain pipe from a gutter, and had a trap door in the bottom with a trigger that came up to the top of the bucket to dump the water. When the bucket was lowered into the well, the trap door raised and filled with water. When the bucket was raised up, the trap door shut, holding the water. The well bucket held just enough water to fill a water bucket. If the water tests good, I would put a pitcher pump in it and use it or put a submersable pump in and use it to water your garden, etc.

Use a weight and string to check the depth. Have the water tested. Most county health departments can handle that.

I have a well like that on my property. We have been thinking for a number of years on if we should put it back in use. I know my well is about 180' deep. When I originally bought the property, my shop started off in the old house and I used the water for about 5 years or so. Some good. Now I have to shock it and have it tested 3 times by the province before I can use it, even to plumb water to the barn. I think it is worth it and we will probably have it back on stream in the next year, 2 at the longest.

Lehman's has hand pumps and supplys for wells.

Check with your local health department or agency dealing with wells. Find out the law on private wells, what your will need to do to put the well back into operation, or the well plugged and the bore filled.

Test it, see how deep it is, if it's just for the horses drop a submersible on a good hand line if your not to deep until you figure on how you want it permanent, careful on your connections, water tight. Cheap hose