HomeWell servicesIrrigation Wells
Lawn and landscape wells
Irrigation wells, sized to the biggest zone on the controller
A well that carries the sprinklers so the utility meter does not, tied into the existing system with the backflow separation the code requires.
At a glance
- Sized to
- The largest zone in gallons per minute
- Setback
- 50 ft from a septic system
- Watch for
- Iron staining from the shallow zone
So the meter stops watering the grass
On a utility-water lot the biggest water bill in the house is often the lawn. An irrigation well moves that load off the meter onto a pump that draws from the ground for the cost of the electricity to run it. On the sandy lots that need watering most, it is the single most common reason a rig turns up in a subdivision.
Irrigation wells are built for volume in bursts rather than steady household draw, so the sizing is different: the pump has to carry the largest zone the controller will open, and the well has to recover between cycles. A shallow water-table well handles many lawns; a larger property or one on tannin-heavy ground does better on a deeper bore.
Call Flamingo drills and equips irrigation wells and ties them into existing sprinkler systems, including the backflow separation that keeps well water out of the house supply.
Sizing
Before the well goes in
- The largest irrigation zone, in gallons per minute, the pump has to carry
- Whether the shallow zone here stains: iron in irrigation water marks driveways and walls
- Where the well can stand clear of the septic system and the property line
- How the well connects to the controller and where the backflow separation sits
- Whether a consumptive use permit applies, which for a household lawn it normally does not
Iron staining is the irrigation-well complaint
Shallow-zone water is often high in iron, and iron sprayed onto a pale driveway, a white fence or the side of the house leaves orange streaks within a season. Where a test shows it, an iron stage on the irrigation line or a deeper bore solves it. That decision is cheaper made before the well goes in than after the house is streaked.
Straight answers
Questions this job raises
Does an irrigation well need a permit?
Yes. It is constructed under the same chapter as a drinking well and permitted by the same county office, with a shorter setback from a septic system.
How much can an irrigation well save?
That depends on the utility's rates and how much the lawn drinks, so no figure is printed here. On a large sandy lot the lawn is often most of the water bill.
Can an irrigation well feed the house in an emergency?
Not without treatment and not without a permit change. It is a non-potable well and is separated from the house supply by a backflow device for that reason.
Next door to this job
Work that usually comes up in the same visit
Shallow Wells
Water-table wells, sand points and jet-pump systems: what they can do and when they cannot.
Well Drilling
New residential, irrigation and replacement wells, permitted before the rig arrives.
Water Filtration and Treatment
Iron, sulfur odour, hardness and sediment treated at the wellhead, matched to a lab test.
Free estimate, then the work
Call Flamingo quotes well work at no charge and schedules seven days a week across the Jacksonville area.