Scoot,

Try contacting the local ag extension service or the local water companies. They would have a very good picture of the make up of your various aquifers. What is the well diameter? and did the WM perform any draw down tests? What flow rate was experienced with the two types of pumps? Was there a coring done before the well was dug to map the different material the well would be drilled through? You could be right about the casing but local knowledge of the your area's substrate is key. Even talking to neighbors with wells would help a great deal. Aloha

Thank you for getting back to me Lehua. I will try to respond in steps...
Try contacting the local ag extension service or the local water companies. They would have a very good picture of the make up of your various aquifers.
The county shows an aquifer that runs from 10 feet to just below 2o feet. I know that the next one is at between 20-25 feet to 30 feet... so on. The water at the first level is very clear, without any odor and very low iron, perfect for irrigation. We have an old drinking water well on another part of the property that has water at 8 feet and goes down to 18 feet. this water is also cristal clear and very low in iron. The tests have come back from the county as excellent-no issues.

What is the well diameter?
Its a 2 inch well
and did the WM perform any draw down tests?
No
What flow rate was experienced with the two types of pumps?
Insufficient water to keep a 3 inch gas pump fed at idle... insufficient flow to keep a 2 HP electric fed

Was there a coring done before the well was dug to map the different material the well would be drilled through?
No
You could be right about the casing but local knowledge of the your area's substrate is key. Even talking to neighbors with wells would help a great deal.
Talked to neighbors and the ones that have an idea seem to be in concert with me... 10-20 feet max... I will try to pull up the casing and retest water levels. I guess if I see the levels rise as the casing goes up, I will have my answer.
Thank you for your help

Scoot: get a copy of the well log from the driller, it should detail what was encountered during the drilling process and at what levels. What is the well casing material? At what depth was the screen placed and how long is it, this should be detailed in the well log.

It isn't uncommon to have a several section foot length of pipe extending below the bottom of the screen. Lately, the casing lengths below the screen have been getting shorter due to the fact that they become a dead zone aerobically and accumulate the normal, resident, dead micro flora in wells. I get the impression from you 18 - 24' depth description and the term, "chamber" that you are referring to water tables? If so, it is possible the driller could have gone through the top table into a deeper one, again, the log will detail this if it happened. By water depth do you mean depth to water from ground level or the depth of water from the water surface to the bottom of the well?

I wish you luck with contacting the driller. If you can't contact the driller, your state may require all drillers to submit a copy of the well log to their Division of Water Resources (as in the state of KS) or something similar. Was a permit issued to drill the well?

Scoot: get a copy of the well log from the driller, it should detail what was encountered during the drilling process and at what levels. What is the well casing material? At what depth was the screen placed and how long is it, this should be detailed in the well log.
It isn't uncommon to have a several section foot length of pipe extending below the bottom of the screen. Lately, the casing lengths below the screen have been getting shorter due to the fact that they become a dead zone aerobically and accumulate the normal, resident, dead micro flora in wells. I get the impression from you 18 - 24' depth description and the term, "chamber" that you are referring to water tables? If so, it is possible the driller could have gone through the top table into a deeper one, again, the log will detail this if it happened. By water depth do you mean depth to water from ground level or the depth of water from the water surface to the bottom of the well?

I wish you luck with contacting the driller. If you can't contact the driller, your state may require all drillers to submit a copy of the well log to their Division of Water Resources (as in the state of KS) or something similar. Was a permit issued to drill the well?
Thank you again for replying. No permit was pulled because it was originally supposed to be a "repair" job and according to the driller, none was needed. I now know better, but driller is AWOL and his number is disconnected... Thus anything requiring his assistance or cooperation is unavailable as an option. The answers to the other questions you asked are ...

2" cast iron well.

Screen is placed at the cast iron "T" at the top of the well.

You are correct in your assumption. What I was describing as well depths are in fact the chambers. sorry about the confusing terminology... sort of new at this... The depths I found at a neighboring well was... from flat ground to first sign of water... 7 feet... the bottom of that well was at about 17 feet. This well provides cristal clear water with little or no iron or smells. The bottom is sandy and "pebbly" ... is that a word?

My concern is that by him having put in 2 10 foot sections he bypassed the "chamber" and now is into the sandy, pebbly bottom... I inquired and there is supposed to be a second chamber that starts at around 18-20 feet and goes down to 24 feet... I believe that this may be tha chamber providing me water...

I will pull the casing up about 6 feet and see what transpires. It is no good now anyway

Thanks again

Sorry for the delay Scoot: I'm trying to understand your well design in order to be of help but we may not be speaking quite the same language, soo...

All of the wells I am familiar with have the hole bored down in the ground and a well casing inserted inside the bore hole. Casings are commonly made of PVC but certainly can be made of other materials. I assume your casing is 2" cast iron.

The well screen is a section of the well casing that has a screen in place of solid casing, it is the screen that allows the water to enter the casing from which the water can then be pumped leaving behind anything too big to get through the screen. When wells are bored, they can encounter more than one level at which water is found, I.E. a driller may go down to 20 ft and find water going from 20 - 30 ft and then stops, as the driller continues he finds another formation where water begins at 40 ft and coutinues to 50 ft and stops. There can be very good reasons for a driller to continue drilling on through what appears to be a good formation, one is the water quality is poor, another is the production (gpm flow) is inadequate. To be sure, the geology and hydrology of water bearing formations in the same bore hole can be quite different and a good driller knows the region and already has a very good idea what to expect but there can be surprises. You mention "sandy" and "pebbly", yes those could be accurate descriptions for the formations in your area, around here, "gravely" formations are the most productive.

Now for the rest. The 2 formations (you call chambers) in your first post can and should be physically separated from one another, this is done by the driller with what is called grout during the well installation process. Grout forms a seal between the outside of the casing and the bore hole kinda like if you poured cement down the bore outside of the casing. For example, if a driller is going to case a well with only one formation, the bore is made and the casing (with screen at the water bearing formation level only) is inserted in the bore. Gravel is poured down the outside of the casing until it comes up to the level of the top of the screen and a bit more, then the grout is added which form a seal above the gravel that among other things, helps prevent surface water from ever coming down the well and possibly contaminating the well.

From your description, it appears your well has a formation that is currently at the 7 - 17 ft level and there is another formation at the 18 - 24 ft level. No, your top and bottom formations aren't separated on the inside of the well casing, it should be one continuous tube on the inside and may well have the 2 formations separated by a grout seal on the outside, of that part I am uncertain. If you are dying to find out if they are truly separate and the top formation is providing little to no water to the well, pump the well down until the water surface in it is sucked down to the 2nd formation and look inside if possible, you will see at least seepage coming in from the screened section from the top formation running down to the lower formation. It is possible that the water in the top formation is of a quality that the screen and/or the geological formation the water passes through getting to the screen has plugged to a large degree. This is a very common ailment in wells and can be the result of both dissolved minerals in the water and various microorganisms, including algae, which cause, "bio-fouling". Your bottom formation and screen could be in much better shape, I really can't say but a professional should be able to diagnose your well and often return the well to much better performance and prolong it's life or at least significantly improve it, there are a number of methods to accomplish well remediation. An accurate diagnosis is paramount and must come first unless time and money don't matter :)

I am mystified by the screen and cast iron T at the top of the well. You aren't using a submersible pump I take it.

OBTW, the depth to water will not be a static number over time, our municipal wells here vary as much as 8' or more depending on the time of year and how dry a year it has been.

Let's continue,

Michael