Wow... 5 gallons a minute is a lot to ask. I think the "norm" is 3 gallons a minute for 2 hours (that's the metered part but some actually run it for the full 2 hours). How deep is the well? It very well could be a dug well and if it is that's probably part of the problem (it's not deep enough).

Basically, you want enough that if you do a load of laundry and flush the toilet, take a shower and want to do the dishes all within an hour or so that you won't run out of water (or have it so low that it will take a while for it to come back).

However, if it's running out in about 10 minutes, that's not good at all. Again... how deep is the well? Is it dug or drilled?

@JAC "oh no...anyway" LOL

We live near a swamp, errr I mean "wetland" which was manmade due to dairy farmer tiling the land. We have an artesian well and live in a very low area where the soil doesn't perc. We NEVER run out of water (knock on wood). Even in the dryest of spells when other people down the street (on the high side of the road) are buying water b/c their well ran dry days ago, out pump is still cranking out overflow.

I went to buy a house using a well for water in the dessert. Could have been my WORST PURCHASE had I not done my Homework! The property I was interested in buying and the house next to me shared a second well, on my property. So the previous owners dug a second well because the first went dry in the drought. Since this was a vacation property, the neighbor was and old poor guy and convinced the owners of the property I was interested in buying to allow the use of surplus water.

Years pass and everyone forgets these issues. So I went to all of the neighbors with wells and asked if they could share with me their history and any test drills results. For a Fee, they all provided me with information.

I then made a counter offer to purchase the property.

1) I would have the well tested at the sellers expense, no more than $1000.

2) If there was any issues and I'd need to dig a new well, the sellers would pay HALF of those costs, out of the escrow fund.

3) If there were any "legal" issues with the Water, then the sellers would pay for my legal costs.

I then upgraded my Title Insurance to include all boundaries to be surveyed, marked and recorded with the county recorders office.

Since the neighbor never documented use of my water, I cut him off!

He filed a restraining order not to tamper with "His Water Rights".

As that moment my Title Policy and the Sellers were on the hood.

We have 21 properties. Three of them have two houses on one well. Only one of them has ever given us a problem, and they are all "bored 24" wells), so not very deep. Probably 30-40' with 15-20' of water.

The one we have the occasional problem, we installed a large accessory tank under the house (trailer in the yard).

When I had my new septic installed the well guy replaced my pressure tank and tested the flow.

I don't remember how long he did it but I was getting a consistent 5 gallons per minute.

Lost the well at my last house. It was an ordeal to get the new one in because of the trees that had grown since the first well was installed.

Had a rental close to the river that would go dry very fast. The tenants wanted the place so much they put up with it for years before they actually bought it from me. Knowing what little I know now I think the well wasn't deep enough. It also sucked sand pretty bad.

Besides my place I only have one rental with a well now.

Ken,

Some thoughts if they mean anything...

Locally, well water is polluted by animal and farm chemical run off so one must have a filter for drinking/cooking. Purity testing is common and necessary.

FHA required we move the well inside the footprint of the home to qualify for a buyer's loan.

Health Dept required it be XX feet from the septic distribution box, tank, and finger field.

A few years back we had a big flood, hitting 600 homes. That event changed the underground aquafers so we had to drive the wells deeper. Not hard, just a few hours each.

Easy solution for an underperforming well .... put a holding tank between the well and the house water.

They never run out ... regardless of the well performance.

I am with Ryan on this 1 gal a minute.

You fill a 5 gal bucket in 5 minutes.

I would be measuring the static water level before drawing any water. I would also measure the bottom of the well. I would then measure the diameter of the well casing head. This will give what you need calculate the the volume of the well.

Wells shouldn't run dry in 45 minutes time of running. If you have one that does, then you need to price out the cost of drilling down deeper. It used to be $10 a foot so it is probably closer to $12-15.

To the question of anyone have a well run dry- my son’s house did, so he and his roommate rook showers at work for a few days, used bottled water. Then it rained, so the water is back. They had very low snowfall last winter, so that makes sense.

They are 100 miles from nowhere up in Alaska, so I doubt corporate interests were at work.

Back in the early 90's I worked for a crew that built a house with a water source heat pump.

The boss said it would be the most desirable in the area because it pumped the water out onto the ground. Always pumping. Made a nice little oasis for the critters.