Re: At what stage do we need to be looking at digging the well, windows ready togo in
One valuable lesson to learn according to a friend of mine who was badly advised and ripped off, is that some guys put in a pump that is not suitable for the requirements of the house. As a result, a pressure in one part of the house may be poor, when lets say, the shower is in use. I think there is a maths equation - lets say 2 points for shower etc....
The showers are more than likely run from the water tank in the attic, which has nothing to do with the pump in the well. The reason for the pressure being low in one part of the house, is probably to do with the fact the shower is plumed from the same line!
In regards to fitting a pump, it is important that it is sufficiently large to meet to demands, but the household demands aren't that huge. It is often nearly more import to get the proper size pressure vessel, as this affects how often the pump is turning on and off.
Another thing, as most drilling companies charge per foot of drilling, some tend to go further than they need to. This happened in the case of my bro-in law. He had a fair idea that there was water at around 100ft, but couldn't make it to the site when they were there. These bucko's drilled several feet lower (I think another 100ft). Naturally, bro-in law disputed this, and in the end, they had to cover 50% of the cost each of the extra 100ft they went. In addition, the water is not great now. So the lesson in this is to be present when they are drilling. They may not like you standing over them, but it's your water and your money!
In the past few years, drilling companies drill a lot deeper than they need to and then line the well most of the way down. This means that the water, then comes in from the bottom of the well rather than half way up. This should result in higher quality water. Other than that, the depth of the well has no impact on the quality of the water.
Also it's important to continue drilling after you hit water. There are several reasons for this
1) The well isn't actual tested to see how much water it can produce. So in the case of a hot summer, where water levels drop. You need to ensure that the well is deep enough to cope with this.
2) you don't want the pump sitting on the bottom of the well.
3) As I said before, I think that it's a good idea to line the well, so it needs to be a bit deeper.
just my two cents worth.