Twinkle Canelli

Hi

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience of having a well dug? Are there specialist firms that do it? How much is it likely to cost? And if I look for a company on the internet, what should I google? My Italian isn't too good, and so far my web searches haven't come up with any information.

Any advice or stories about past experience will be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Lorna at Vicenza

Get out your yellow pages and look for "pozzi artesiani" or "trivellazioni" and see if you can find any companies that will come out and give you a quote.

Twinkle Canelli

Aaah thanks.... I don't have a telephone book here so am confined to googling, but I can use those magic words to ask around among the local people here as well.

Lorna at Vicenza

pozzo is the word for a well.... pronounce the double z so it should sound like potzo rather than pozo.

trivellazioni is what they do with the drill called a trivella ... I think.

37100

I'd ask your neighbours first. Have you all ready got a permit?

chris120

i have a well to supply the lawn sprinklers but i didn't get it dug, it was already there when i bought the house. the only thing i would say is that after the downpour here in Rome last october my garden was waterlogged to a depth of a few inches and, as you would expect the water level in the well matched that in the garden temporarily. the pressure sensor (pressostato) was lower down in the well (but well above the normal water level) and so stopped working as it is an electrical device, consequently.i needed to change it. so i would recommend that this device is mounted at least 30 cm above the surrounding ground level.

Twinkle Canelli

I'll check with the architect about the permit. We're having a new house built and I've been asking him to ask the builder to sort out the well for ages, and the builder is willing and able to do it, but would have to hire the equipment and also stop working on the house to do it. As we're now into the third year of building (!) it seems to me that it would be better all round to get a specialist company in, and I want to save everyone time by doing some research myself. And it must make more economical sense to use a specialist company who dig wells day in/day out?

Thanks Chris for your experiences - all information is good to know, but we are on the top of a hill so it's unlikely we'll have problems with flooding. And there is a well already but too far from my veggies to be feasible. It's quite a large plot and even with the rainwater saving plans we have plans for, I don't think you can ever have too much water here if you're a keen gardener!!

modicasa

You should find out how deep your neighbors had to drill - it could be expensive. Try a dowser too - you pay to drill even if you don't find water the first go. Don't start anything without your permit. The fines are big. Your trivellista should give you a quote per linear metro - if you're in a non gravel/non seismic area they can line with pvc or you will have to line with steel which is much more expensive. They will quote for the hole, then the liner, then the pump - if it sounds too cheap they are quoting only for the drilling....

Twinkle Canelli

Thanks Modicasa. That's just the sort of info I needed and I really appreciate the advice.

Lorna at Vicenza

Yep - I'm beginning to realise that Modicasa is the housey person just like Duffer is the Tv one.
Modicasa doesn't come on the board with the same sense of double innuendo, sarky humour though and has never risked getting a telling off for being too close to the mark.

Isakat

A group of neighbours had a well done last year in the condominio where they live and if I remember well it cost around 100 euro per linear meter. Whether that included the pipe, lining etc, I am not sure.
They did find water, but as we are 400 meters above sea level, it was very deep.
OH was thinking of doing the same,just to water the garden, but living in an area with so many vincoli, it will require sopraintendenza, parco, plus archelogical permessi. On top of that we reckon it might cost 50,000 euro for the drilling.
Another thing to bear in mind is how clean the water is for human consumption/watering plants. Many of the local comuni had a notice last year asking the owners of the pozzi to have them checked as many contained arsenic.
If you are going to be using the well just for the veg garden,( and not for your house) it might be cheaper to install a pump in the existing well and pipes to your veg garden then to dig a new one.

modicasa

Thanks Lorna!
Re costs: down here (Sicily) you pay 10 euros per linear metro for the first 100m then 20m plm, for the next 100, then 30 and so on. The liner is the expensive bit - if in steel its 55 euros plm. PVC is around the 15/20 mark. You only need the liner where there is no solid rock and the first 20 m or so.
You won't get a permission for agricultural usage, only for domestic which will be at most 0.5 litres a second, which is actually a lot of water - but probably only for an hour a day or something like that. You will still need a tank or a cistern because your pump will be probably 2Kw and you don't want it turning on every time you turn on a tap.

duffer

Maybe it's because Modicasa could be German perhaps... ?

I forgot you were the moral guardian for this site Lorna

modicasa

modicasa is 100% Yorkshire just to be very very clear!!

Lorna at Vicenza

Oh bugger off. I let you get away with just enough don't I ?