Artesian Wells

I hear this term thrown around all the time. I deal with a lot of pumps and it seems most of the older generation of our customers tell me "It's an artesian well"

I'm not a well drilling expert....but to the best of my knowledge ive always thought artesian wells were basically pumpless, and very deep. Basically tapping into a pressurized spring in the ground that will bring water to the surface, without a pump. Most wells we deal with are around the 100 to 400 feet mark, so I doubt anything around that depth would be a true artesian well. Just a drilled well that relies on a pump to bring water up.

Am I understanding this correctly? I think there's a few "older generation" guys here that may be able to better guide this young buck!

Simple answer yes.

It is not uncommon to need to drill 400' to hit water. And when you do hit water, the level in the well comes up and may flow on its own or just come up to 100' or maybe 2'. Even if the well doesn't flow out the top, they can still be considered Artesian because the aquifer is pressurized, which is why the water comes up in the well so far. You will still need a pump, but you maybe able to set it at 10' or 110' even though the water is really coming in at 400'.

I was under the impression that the well had to overflow to be artesian.

All wells with a water level higher than the bottom of the well are artesian. The wells that flow are called for the lack of a better term, flowing wells.

I have always heard wells that don't need a pump to bring water to the surface called "flowing wells", as speedbump mentioned.

However, a quick definition search seems to show that an artesian well is a flowing well, or one which is supplied by an aquifer with a head pressure higher than the outlet of the well.

Clearer now. Thanks gentleman!

We have an abundance of artesian wells around here. They flow and have more pressure than a pumped well that is supplied by water table. some will bubble up like a drinking fountain and produce a nice natural spring.

This is from the Flowing Well Handbook written by MDEQ in Michigan:

ARTESIAN WELL CHARACTERISTICS
In artesian wells, water rises within the well to a point above the top of the
aquifer. If the water also rises above the ground surface, the well is called a
“flowing well,” or “flowing artesian well.” All flowing wells are artesian, but not all artesian wells are flowing wells.