Well not in use for several years What do I need to do?

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Hello,
I purchased a property in South Carolina. The condition of the well is unknown. How can I determine if the well is any good or not. The house needs major repair and a new well is not the first thing I want to do. I do not live at the property and plan to move a camping trailer there in the fall. I will work a couple of months in fall and spring. It would be nice to have water to shower after a long hot day of working on house. If water was not potable I could easily get a supply of drinking water but would like to have water to wash with.

I purchased the house site unseen and only went there for a few minutes one time. I am trying to gather some information so that when I go there in the fall I will have a game plan. I was told there are 2 wells on the property. One is on the back porch thru a concrete patio and covered with a huge concrete block with a steel hook in the top. The other is 50 feet away from the house and has a deteriorated shed around it. I did not see any pressure tanks or anything that would lead me to think it is a put on the power and prime it and have water type situation. Furthermore, I do not want to put expensive equipment on the well at this time since the property will be vacant for months at a time.

Ideally at this time it would be great if I could be able to diagnose if there is water and be able to get it out of the ground with a system that can be removed with some unions or something like that when I leave. If I had running water for the camper I could get it tested and determine the quality. As mentioned I can purchase drinking water until I have drinkable water.

House needs too much repair to spend too much money on well now. Floors rotted. Need footings and piers and new beams in crawlspace, roof, windows on and on. I plan to tear up the floor to determine if the structure is sound. I believe I can fix everything but as mentioned with this huge task of gutting everything and rebuilding, I do not want to spend big dollars on a well until later and maybe one of the wells I have is fine.

Any and all advice is welcome!

Thanks:)

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Deal with Water FIRST!!!

If that doesn't work, you have nothing.

(Hope this PROPERTY is worth a lot, because you really have your hands full with the building)

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@Schifference,

Surely there are companies in the area which dig or service wells. Price out inspections and then find out how much it will cost to fix yours, if that's needed.

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@jespah,

I was hoping for some do it yourself advice. I know I can call out a well company but don't want to waste their time or take advantage of them. I have done many things that professionals usually tackle. Even if a professional is hired to do something it it always good to be as knowledgable on the subject as possible so that the professional doesn't take advantage of the consumer. Furthermore, asking the right questions or suggesting a different approach can oftentimes save lots of time and money.

I am still hoping that someone will respond on what a homeowner can do to gather information about their well/wells and how to trouble shoot a well.

I think one approach will be to find the well and use a fishing line or some type of string and drop a clean weighted object into the well and then measure how deep it is. Then take a floating object like a fishing bobber or something like that and drop it in to determine if there is any water in the well and if so how much.

If I remember correctly the house was built in 1923. I spoke with someone not far away that told me they put in a well and went down 350 feet and cost around $9,000.

I have a well at the house I live in presently. Suppose I move out and abandon the property and someone comes in and steals the pipes and well equipment. The well is functioning totally fine now. Just because I leave and someone steals the hardware doesn't mean the well is not good.

I am confident that I can drill a new well and get water but would not want to spend that kind of money until I know I am going to keep the house and fix it up.

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