Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site water well

I have a 4 1/2 acre pond in south louisiana,and due to lack of rain we've gotten this year i'm having trouble keeping my pond full.i'm going to put a well in within the next couple weeks and my contrctor is telling me we only need to go about 15' deep to pump water.my question is I do know there is water at that depth but is good water for my pond?I've been told you should not drink water at this depth,so would i want it in my pond.any feedback would be helpful.

Lee, First contact your County or, I guess, Parish Health Department. If they say it may be OK, have it tested before you install the pump. If it isn't ok, case by that spot and go to good water. I expect the driller has experience with producing wells in the area but I would also ask about this when I talked to the Health Dept. No matter how deep you go, have it tested aand be sure to follow the rules by the Health people precisely. I screwed up my first test and had to redo it. Didn't read the directions and my wife made sure I understood the errors of my ways.

Most well water is fine for fish, even if humans can't drink it.
Here's what bad for fish.
1) Water with high salt content. (greater than 2500 ppm)
2) Water high in nitrates.
3) Too much phosphate.
I agree with Dave, find out as much as you can about groundwater, and what's in it. Then you can make the best decision.
Also, find out the volumes of water a well will produce.
Remember this...1 acre, 1 inch deep, is 27,000 gallons. The volume of water your well produces directly impacts the size pond it will supply.

Not being from Cajun country, but I suspect a lot of the water at 15ft deep contains ground water that contains "setic" or coloform types of bacteria. With these bacteria often resides pathogenic bacteria which can if injested make you sick. Other than that I see no reason why this water, if in ample supply, cannot be put in your pond.

Note certain ground waters also contain leachate from surface contamination. If present certain types of these chemicals could be harmful to the pond ecosystem and some of it could be bioaccumulative and be deposited in the fish flesh which would be passed to humans that ate the fish.

Just an observation. If the well is anywhere near the pond wouldn't a well 15 ft deep be drawing water out of the aquafer that is actually feeding the pond now? kinda seems like you would be drawing water out of the pond to go into the pond.

If the pond has a clay liner or seal very little of the pond water will seep out of the pond into the well. But if the pond basin has porus soil or a leak, then yes some or a lot of the pondwater will be recycled through the well pumping.