This is a basic introduction to the types of wells you may encounter on your land in Campbell County or Bedford County.

This could help you estimate the costs of sinking a well on land you intend to buy or also evaluate wells already on the land you intend to purchase.

The oldest type of well is the dug well.

Usually 3 to 4 feet in diameter, it is dug with a pick and shovel to a maximum depth of 50 feet.  These wells are dangerous and painstaking to dig, and they often go dry because they are so shallow.  Their main advantage is in the large storage area, but this permits contamination more easily than other wells because of seepage  through the well walls and from the large opening on top.

Bored wells are similar to dug wells, except that they are often deeper and smaller in diameter.

An auger bucket, either power or hand-operated, is used to dig these wells, which often run to 100 feet in depth and are cased all along the inside walls.  The bored well is practically obsolete today because of more efficient driven or drilled wells.

Jetted or Hydraulic Well can be done only in soft sandy soils such as those found in some coastal areas.

The well is drilled by applying a high pressure stream of water that cuts through the earth and washes it out of the hole.  As this is done, a  1 1/2 inch pointed jetting tool is shoved down into the loose sand as far as it will go and when it stops the well is complete.  If you take a garden hose and get the water into the ground, you would do the same thing.  This method is useless if rock or clay is reached.

To dig a Churn, Spud or Percussion-Tool Drilled Well a large, chisel-shaped bit is pounded into the ground over and over again by lifting it high into the air and dropping it.

With each fall, the bit digs deeper into the ground.  During this process, water is poured into the developing hole to transform the loosened dirt into mud, which is then drawn out of the hole.  It takes a long time to drill a well in this manner, but it is still effectively done by commercial drillers.

A drilled well is the most common type of well being used today.

The method was first used when oil drillers built special power equipment to drill oil wells.  The type of drill used is the rotary tool, which rotates into the earth like a drill rather than pounding the surface as the percussion tool does.  The drill has a sharp cutting bit on the end, and the shaft is hollow.  As the drill turns into the earth, water is forced down into the drill stem, and the pressure of the hole.  As the drill goes deeper into the ground, additional sections of stem are screwed on to increase the length of the drill.

A driven well is usually cheaper to construct than a drilled well.

Pipe sections several feet long as screwed together with a sharp well-point and screen on one end.  The pointed end is pounded into the ground until it reaches below the water-table level and sufficient amount of water can enter the well through the screen.  The ground must be soft enough to take a driven well, because hard rock and clay cannot be penetrated.  The depth is limited to a maximum of 50 feet and only a small flow of water will be attained.  Occasionally, several driven wells are joined together with a single pump to get a greatly increased flow.  As with all wells, a driven well may be cut into the earth horizontally or vertically.

Remember to ask questions before purchasing land about the type of well is already on the land before you purchase land in Bedford County or Campbell County Va.