[willow]

Good Afternoon,
My husband and I are working on renovating some property and are currently struggling with the well. Now, I should mention that we do not have much experience with wells, so all advice is welcomed. The well is 160 feet deep and the static water level is at about 80 feet. We had an old 1/2 hp pump down there and it could barely pull up water, I think the pump was about shot. We just put a new 1 hp submersible pump down to about 135 ft. Now we are getting a lot of sand in the water. He wants to bring the pump up to about 100 ft and see if it gets any better. I was wondering if the well is just deteriorating and if so is there anything we can do short of driling a new well? Oh, any other useful information about wells would be great, too.

 

[evilbunny]

I'm glad you posted this. I have questions about my well too.

The people who owned this place before has had a lot of work done to it. They had a submersible put in not very long ago. I know there was some other stuff done but I dont remember what all it was.

I am curious to see what others have to say or if we have any resident experts on wells who can help us.

I hope so. Good luck with the well.

 

[boxwoods]

you should be able to rent a gas powered pump and a hose long enough to suck that water and sand out of well 1½" or 2"


1/2 horse was not big enough pump for that depth

the 1 horse should work fine.

 

[fordy]

..............willow , first , most states require that well drillers KEEP accurate records of each well that they drill. So, I would try and Either(1) contact the Origional driller and findout...How deep he set the casing into the Hole. The casing keeps the sides of the well bore from Collapsing and filling the hole with sand. (2) try to contact the LAST person who was Paid to work on the well as they may how deep the casing is set. Most NEW wells will have the Pump motor run for atleast for 24 to 36 hours in a free flowing condition to CLEANOUT any sand deposits that are entering the well bore thru the perforations in the casing. Usually, the constant pumping will remove Most deposits that flow in with the water after the well is first drilled. You will have either 10 or 20 foot joints of Sch. 80(thickwall) PVC and they should have been attached to each other by galvanized metal pipe collars.
..............First, I would turn on your pump motor and let it run for several hours and see if it is going to clean itself UP. Use a 5 gallon bucket when you first turn it on and catch acouple of gallons of water with sand included as a SAMPLE for comparison . Then , afeter several hours of free flow pumping catch a nother sample and compare the TWO samples. Arbitriarly moving the Pump UP the hole by one joint of PIPE is ALOT of work if it really isn't necessary. I am assuming here that you DID install a NEW Check valve on the TOP of the PUMP when you rehung your new pump and well motor. I wouldn't CUT a joint of that Sch 80 pvc and then use cement with a SCH 40 plastic collar as it maynot HOLD and eventually Break . ALSO , DONOT turnon the pump motor and leave it running UNTIL you have determined that IT WILL NOT pump the HOLE DRY!!!!! In other words , start it pumping early in the morning if you will be there ...ALL DAY...to monitor it as it runs. The pump motor is kept COOL by being Submerged completely in the water. IF it pumps the hole DRY....You will spend mucho..$$$$$...to buy another MOTOR....fordy...

 

[mikell]

Rent / borrow a pump that will pull from that depth and let it run ALL DAY or 2 or 3 days to get the junk out. Put the drop down as far as possible and pump away. Or if youur new pump and such are working just let it pump right off the pump without any restriction. See how long it pumps or if it will clear. You will not burn the pump out as long as it's not pumping dry. I do that at my cabin every spring to get the sediment out

mikell

 

[agmantoo]

Willow,
What was the depth of the old 1/2 hp pump? If it was near the 135 ft area where the new pump is now residing then part of the reason it was not pumping could have been that it too was pumping sand and the impellers were worn. Do you have a galvanized or plastic well casing? Is this casing sealed on the exterior at ground level with concrete? At 135 feet I would guess that you are below the casing but as stated above you need to verify that before moving the pump upward. The storage area created by the pump being at the 135 ft level could be beneficial if the recovery rate is low on the well itself. I too agree that you should pump off the well. Your new pump should have a check valve built into the dishcharge side. Report what you determine after the pump off and possibly we can assist.

 

[james dilley]

To find the depth try this take a flashlight that can be put on a cord and measure the cord turn the light on and lower it and check the nearest mark to the surface. Also to wallow the pump area out you might need a small workover drill , or try to pump the sand out you will need to run the discharge host to the bottom and let the pump run for abou a day or so non stop to remove the sand. but it sounds like the side walls might have collapsed thats why your getting sand..