Geology, or, . . . How to dig a well

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  • DBMJR1

    Madame Mayor's Fiefdom
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    Just wondering if any of y'all know the shallow geology specific to the Westbank, or how to find that information.

    Alternatively, If you have drilled your own well in the New Orleans area, I would like to know things like how deep, etc.


    Thinking of drilling a shallow well to water gardens with.
     

    KDerekT83

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    When I was installing commercial signs, we'd have to drill pretty deep to set 24/36" diameter poles. Like drummer said, about 6ft you start hitting water. I've drilled as far as 10' down and within minutes the bottom foot or so was nothing but water.
     

    DBMJR1

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    When I was installing commercial signs, we'd have to drill pretty deep to set 24/36" diameter poles. Like drummer said, about 6ft you start hitting water. I've drilled as far as 10' down and within minutes the bottom foot or so was nothing but water.

    At what depth did you typically hit sand? Or did you?
     

    KDerekT83

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    Didn't. About a foot and a half down id start hitting clay. About 2/3ft mark, wet clay and it stayed that way and just got more saturated the deeper I went. We would use a bobcat with a auger bit and extensions to get however deep, so it was a clean drill down. We were able to distinguish the separate levels of clay through the last however many years. Was pretty cool actually.
    ( I'm a geography/history nerd)
     
    Last edited:

    oppsImissed

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    somewhere south of I12
    There is a aquifer that runs from ascension parish up through new Orleans. Decent clean water in the sand base will be at 20 to 40 feet. Anything less than that and your getting river water and bacteria.
     

    DBMJR1

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    There is a aquifer that runs from ascension parish up through new Orleans. Decent clean water in the sand base will be at 20 to 40 feet. Anything less than that and your getting river water and bacteria.

    Thank You. This is exactly what I was looking for.

    I know the cities wells are between 400-800 ft. I'm just looking for something for JUSTIN CASE, and to water my garden. I know a shallow well is not potable, unless treated and filtered.
     

    oppsImissed

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    somewhere south of I12
    We dug that well for a 6inch casing a few blocks off canal Blvd. South side of canal. He uses a very small hand pump from harbor freight. Claims his garden does much better versus city water.

    Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
     

    DBMJR1

    Madame Mayor's Fiefdom
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    We dug that well for a 6inch casing a few blocks off canal Blvd. South side of canal. He uses a very small hand pump from harbor freight. Claims his garden does much better versus city water.

    Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

    Yes. A small hand pump is exactly what I had in mind.
     

    LACamper

    oldbie
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    Metairie, LA
    That doesn't go for the whole city, btw. We lived off Chef highway in the east when I was growing up. Chef and Gentilly blvd are built on the Metairie Ridge. When we built they were driving half a piling then flattening the tops. it was solid clay until you hit bedrock. Other parts of the city you could put three piliings on top of each other and not hit anything solid.

    You might also want to check to see if you need a permit before you start digging. It would suck to hit a gas or sewage line! Not to mention the city might fine you for digging without the permit...
     
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