OT: Well point depth

You have to look at flow and the drop in level when flowing. Water engineers know all of this. If the recovery time is long you might run out of water. If the recovery time is very short or not there - you have plenty.
Be cautious - have the water tested. It is shallow water and might be full of germs and other nasty stuff. Might have to put in a UV lamp in the flow to kill stuff and even filtering / chemical mixing.
Wild animals or domestic might have contaminated it or the runoff from sewer or other contaminated source.
There are micro-organisms - Some invade the body through the skin.
Have it tested. Martin

Can this be checked without actually sinking a well?
We have city water, no septic tanks, etc. I just don't want to pay city water rates.
Oops!! Not for kids to actually play in, just used the example so people knew what type of sprinkler was going to be used. I have no kids at home, and none will be playing in the water.

Hard to say. When you are pumping water, the water level at the well point depends on how fast the water flows to the well point. I have done what you are thinking about, except I used a auger type fence post hole digger with extensions. I did it to water a vegetable garden and used a HF manual pump. HF no longer sell manual pumps. Any way I could pump faster than the water would come to the pump if I put a lot of effort into pumping. I considered putting in multiple wells all connected to the same pump, but never did that.
Dan

Steve Walker fired this volley in news:TaednfNGq7zIeg_MnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
No. It can be estimated if the well man knows the local geology. But then, if you use a local well driller, he'll already know how deep, the subsoil strata, and what sort of quality and flow rates to expect. Just get the same guy who sunk some nearby neighbors' wells.
But even then, remember that every hole is unique. You never know exactly what's under the wellhead until you drive pipe. Even a good well man can drop a bad string and have to start over.
Lloyd

I'd locate it a foot or so above the impermiable (clay) layer; after drawdown, recharging will only occur from water that's above that elevation.
(In the more usual situation, drawdown creates a conical depression, with recharge from water that;s located above, below, and all around the pickup screen.)

Id go to 16 feet...you might have a dry year and the water table will fall

If the gravel goes all the way to the clay I'd go to as close to the clay as is practical - try for 18 feet, mabee a bit more. Water below the point doesn't do you any good, and water above the point will never do any harm.

You want it as far as possible into the water-bearing sand. Take it down to 19.5' if there's clay at 20'. Water levels vary over the year and, depending on your recovery rate, if the point is too high, the well will go dry/suck air, lose its prime.
I've been researching this subject for the past month with the thought to put in a manual pump (emergency use) on my existing well. The things like a SimplePump cost $1,850, installed. I told the well guys I'd try a shallow well pump first, and maybe save $1,750 by doing it myself. ;) It'll be my first.

I can certainly understand that. Some cities have fees on water use which incur extra sewage fees, too, even if the water doesn't go into the sewer, like a lawn and garden. I found this out via a YouTube vid.
Martin has a good point, Steve. Even without kids, you don't want to be watering with potentially contaminated water. It costs $32 here to do a basic water sample.

Oops, I forgot that he asked for the top of a 3' point. (Please correct my suggestion to 16.5', Steve.)

Hard to say. When you are pumping water, the water level at the well point depends on how fast the water flows to the well point. I have done what you are thinking about, except I used a auger type fence post hole digger with extensions. I did it to water a vegetable garden and used a HF manual pump. HF no longer sell manual pumps. Any way I could pump faster than the water would come to the pump if I put a lot of effort into pumping. I considered putting in multiple wells all connected to the same pump, but never did that.
Dan
Northern Tool does sell a couple of hand pumps , but from the reviews they're junk . I've been looking around a bit as we have an 8" well casing right next to the camper , and it has water at the bottom . Unfortunately the water's too far down for a suction pump , so I'm going to try my hand at building a small lift pump . Looks fairly easy , and can be made from mostly off-the-shelf stuff . I plan on using mine to water the garden .

Lots of lands were converted over from farms and ranches and wild space. The ground and ground water might be teaming with unknown pathogens and worse.
Spray it on the top and re-infect the top.
Think what the land was 50 years ago or what is up hill or up stream.
Talk to a water well driller. Even pay him for advise.
They know from previous wells as to the quality of water.
You might have to get a permit to drill and one to draw - might be the same. If you get permission (driller knows - pay him off ) the water bill might go down. Maybe they average the bills and charge you for watering grass since it was last year.....
Martin [ has Private water, city sewer (based on water), lives in the county - former wild, farm, former sawmill site, home site for 20 years. ]