Since 1994, Murray Drilling Company has exclusively installed PVC casing on domestic well applications. PVC Water Wells have a much longer life span than steel cased wells, as PVC casing is a relatively new product, coming to the market in the mid 1980's. It is unknown exactly how long the casing will last. We do know that PVC wells that we installed in the mid to late 80's are not showing any signs of deterioration or aging as a steel cased well can.
In our service area, steel cased wells generally have a life span of about 20 to 25 years (although we have seen 4 year old wells with this problem), when they start corroding and deteriorating it will begin pumping a substance that looks like coffee grounds and sometimes actual flakes of casing. Pumping this material will lead to pump problems and pump replacements. When a well contractor notifies a homeowner that this has begun, plans for replacement should begin. Depending on the severity and the rate of corrosion, we generally see that within five years of the first sign of trouble the well will completely collapse and be unusable. By planning ahead a homeowner can avoid the panic and emergency of needing a well right now.
The average life of a submersible well pump is anywhere from 10-14 years. Of course, some last a lot longer, some not as long. Incoming power supplies, water use and a properly designed system will play a role in the longevity of the pump. Pressure tanks also have an average life of 10- 14 years. If you are on a well share, the average life could be greatly diminished depending on how many homes and the water use of the system.
Most of the areas that we work in water availability is not an issue. However, there are wells that are shallower for many reasons or wells that were installed just for irrigation that are now not deep enough. These wells can run into issues with not having enough water in the well to sustain a flow for long periods, sometimes different things can be done to extend the life of the well and other times a new, deeper well will be required.
Other service areas that we cover can have spots that, due to the geological nature of the area, struggle for water right from the start or produce for a period of time and then slowly decline. There are a lot of dynamics in play that can have drastic affects on the drilling, pumping, and water quality.
Again, due to the geological nature it is a very difficult area to work in these areas, one should never assume that just because a location has a good well that the lot next door will also have a good well. It is not uncommon for wells just feet apart, to have drastically different characteristics in formations, yield and quality.
