Cloudy Water from Deep Drilled Well

[sunset on the dock]

Can anyone give me some info as to what is wrong? We live on the lake but have a drilled well for our water supply. If I remember correctly they had to go fairly deep. Last night the water started looking bubbly. I followed some advice from the internet which described filling a clear glass with water and if it clears from bottom to top it is indeed a bubble problem, possibly caused by a low water table. Well the water stayed cloudy...it did not clear at all. What do you all think might be the problem? Thank you.

[chocophile]

I would stop drinking the well water and get it tested immediately. The state lab in Concord has worked well for us.

[Descant]

What is "fairly deep"? My well is 105 feet deep and a neighbor 350 yards away is at 600 feet. How long since the job was completed and you started drawing water? If they did fracking, there may be some settling time. Who ever drilled the well should have tested for both flow rate and qauality. What did they say?

[sunset on the dock]

thanks...I believe about 700 feet, 15 years ago. I am going to try to track down who drilled the well.

[ishoot308]

My guess is because of the drought your well is running dry and you are drawing water off the very bottom which is usually rather silty. Definitely have it tested before drinking or using…

Again just my guess…

Dan

[TomC]

NH DES maintains an inventory of wells in the state. if yours is at all modern (like the last 50 years) it will be in the database...

https://www4.des.state.nh.us/DESOnes...sicSearch.aspx

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by TomC

NH DES maintains an inventory of wells in the state. if yours is at all modern (like the last 50 years) it will be in the database...

https://www4.des.state.nh.us/DESOnes...sicSearch.aspx

Good info, I didn't know the state listed those in Onestop. Unfortunately, mine must be too old to find. It's an older well and probably very deep based on the rockpile we live on. We have been curious how deep it is.

[Descant]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

My guess is because of the drought your well is running dry and you are drawing water off the very bottom which is usually rather silty. Definitely have it tested before drinking or using…

Again just my guess…

Dan

Good points.
Normally I'd expect something 700 ft deep to store plenty of water in the vertical column, but if you (and neighbors?) have been irrigating more than normal, that could have an impact. Remote, but possible, is that there is construction in the area that involved blasting and cracked the bedrock..Testing might reveal oddities. I've used Granite State Analytrical. The do mail and have drop off locations. https://www.granitestateanalytical.com/
For awhile DES had rates set by the legilsature and they were artificially cheap which meant an artificial backlog. I think that has been resolved, but wherever you go get a firm grasp on their timeline.
Let us know what you learn, please.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Descant

Good points.
Normally I'd expect something 700 ft deep to store plenty of water in the vertical column, but if you (and neighbors?) have been irrigating more than normal, that could have an impact. Remote, but possible, is that there is construction in the area that involved blasting and cracked the bedrock..Testing might reveal oddities. I've used Granite State Analytrical. The do mail and have drop off locations. https://www.granitestateanalytical.com/
For awhile DES had rates set by the legilsature and they were artificially cheap which meant an artificial backlog. I think that has been resolved, but wherever you go get a firm grasp on their timeline.
Let us know what you learn, please.

It all depends on what his static water level is and how quick his well replenishes. If he is only getting 3-6 gallons per minute and has a static water level of 40’ that won’t take long to use up especially if he pushing irrigation for landscaping and such… with the drought we are currently having and no rain in sight for the next 15 days, I think there will be a lot of dry well issues occurring…

Dan

[FlyingScot]

We love these guys, and have our water tested every couple of years. One other issue in NH is arsenic, leaching from granite. We have a whole house system for arsenic and reverse osmosis for drinking from kitchen sink. The RO water is as good as bottled, and much less expensive

https://www.secondwindwater.com/

[SAB1]

Originally Posted by FlyingScot

We love these guys, and have our water tested every couple of years. One other issue in NH is arsenic, leaching from granite. We have a whole house system for arsenic and reverse osmosis for drinking from kitchen sink. The RO water is as good as bottled, and much less expensive

https://www.secondwindwater.com/

The RO is much better since most of the bottled isn’t tested and proven to not be very good!