New Well Issue

[05fjrBluedevil]

So, what to do?

The lighting strike that fried our 2.5 inch well, so we had a new well dug, 6 inch...

NOw we have been having sand flowing for well over a week out of this well....

The guy wants to be paid and I would love to pay him, however I also think it should be working prior to him being paid....

Any one have any thoughts on things I should ask him to try to fix this?????

He said he is at rock bottom, 80feet deep and the pump is at 77 feet....

The pressure is good, but it sure does seem like a lot of sand is flowing, can't use the well like this...

So he comes out yesterday and installs a filter only to have it clog so he chnages out cartridge and it cloggs with in a few min's.

What should he be doing to fix this, pull the pump etc...

any help would be much appreciated......

Thanks MIke

 

[Geezer]

Where I live wells are drilled until they go through a layer of rock and the well casing goes down to reach that layer of rock. That prevents sand and other stuff from damaging the pump and eventually filling the well. That also prevents you from drinking ground water that may seep down through the sand. Also, the well should be deep enough that you don't need to put the pump that close to the bottom.

 

[dcarver]

I woudn't pay him yet. The pump won't last pumping a slurry of sand and water. And 80 feet deep with the pump at 77'? Get real. What if you water table drops by 3'? By your profile, your in Kentucky, you may eternal springs or something there, but out West, water level dropping 3 feet and more is normal.

Call another well company, explain the situation, ask if this normal for your area. My bet is not. Good luck.

 

[kansas transit]

I know wells are a hit and miss adventure but I would ask some of your neighbors what depth there at, how much flow etc. We just sunk a well this time last year for a house were planning to build in the future. We got lucky hit a good well at 140 feet 350 gpm set pump at 110. good luck. Stan

 

[wpbfjr]

send a pm to charliehoss on this forum...

he is the one that gave you your first well system answer...

wells is his business...

 

[ionbeam]

A place to start.

Rules, regs and well details for KY.

How it’s done in New Hampshire, contains some useful info on well types.

 

[05fjrBluedevil]

send a pm to charliehoss on this forum...
he is the one that gave you your first well system answer...

wells is his business...

Just did thanks

Man I can not wait for this headache to go away!!!!!!!

MIke

Heck I still have trees that need to be cut down and electrical issues to deal with but this well is taking for ever!!!!!!!

 

[Orient_Express]

Where I live wells are drilled until they go through a layer of rock and the well casing goes down to reach that layer of rock. That prevents sand and other stuff from damaging the pump and eventually filling the well. That also prevents you from drinking ground water that may seep down through the sand. Also, the well should be deep enough that you don't need to put the pump that close to the bottom.

I agree - my deep well is 390 feet. They hit water at 225 running at about 3 gallons / minute, but I kept them going to try for another vein. Never did find a new vein, but the pump hangs at 340 so I have a good column of water to draw from. Well is lined with a casing as well - no dirt and won't cave in.

I'll tell ya' one thing - with the pump at 340 feet - I ain't gonna be able to pull it myself if I need to replace the pump or motor!!!

 

[DonRed7]

There are a few things to consider while trying to arrive at a solution to this

1) what is the draw down?,.. does the pump Really have to be at 77 feet. What is the static water level. Residential poly water line is pretty cheap try cutting 3 feet off (keep an eye on the draw down) and run it for bit.

2) The pump may take a while to set in place(corrode away a place to nest) because a drilled hole in the ground may be 3 or 4 feet over at the bottom(the well hole is rarely "straight" down) which leads to a possible future problem if you are very close to the bottom of the hole *see #3*

3)If the pump is erroding the side of the well it may encase the motor below in sand which will not allow it to cool properly

4)This is a submersible right?? not a jet pump.

5) What do you mean by "rock bottom" I've never really heard of this in the well world? did he hit a shelf of diamond ore?

cheers

-Don

 

[DonRed7]

Thinking a bit more,...

-How long did you run the water before fitting it up to the system,..which is part of setting the pump in place

-Can you run it for 3 or 4 hour's with a hose off the way to "Clear" the area around the pump.

-Don

 

[Grumpy]

There's always the preverbial 1/2 stick of dynamite!

 

[burnergold2B]

Don't know if this helps, but my cousin just finished the same project at his new cabin; put a different pump in the well and it turned out to be too powerful-lots of sand. One of the water engineers at his place of employment, an engineering company, told him to decrease the amount of flow being pulled from the well. Can't remember exactly how he did it, but it did not involve a new/different pump, just an adjustment on the settings. No more sand. Help any?

 

[brazos parker]

Water Wells

Here's a contact for you. Ask for Cory. He's my brother-in-law. Lots of experience in East Texas w/ drilling water wells.

 

[05fjrBluedevil]

Thinking a bit more,...
-How long did you run the water before fitting it up to the system,..which is part of setting the pump in place

-Can you run it for 3 or 4 hour's with a hose off the way to "Clear" the area around the pump.

-Don

I really do not know a lot about all this stuff, however it was drilled with a rig, where he pounded the casing down by dropping something on it, it is a sand a gravel well.

He said the well is 80 feet and the pump is 5 feet off the bottom.

it is a submersible and it is a 3/4horse, 12 gpm pump.

the water was supposedly 16 feet deep.

he called it bed rock, then he dumpped a lot of water down the well, that he had collected in a giant plastic container..

He also blew air in the well causing water to shoot out of it, about 10-15 high in the air.....

It has been pupming a lot of sand since the pump was dropped down in it, he pulled the pump cleaned it out and then did that air thing.

So for the last 10 days of contanst pumping directly from the well, it has a hose right after the tank.... it has been sandy water, so much so that when we thought it was clear for around a day and came home from work it filled the tub with about a good 1/2 inch of sandy water... so I cut the water off to the house and have been runnig the water ever since outside, it looked clear yesterday, so I tried it out and got a little sand still, it looked clear enough that i drained the water heater of sand and was able to flush the toilets, however the bowls are stained black now, so I am sure i will have to try and clean them up/bleach them or replace them, the ballcock assemblies are clogged.....not letting water back into the tanks.....

So I once again cut off the water to the house and went out side and let the thing run out the well again, it looked okay after a while so I cut the water off and since he came out the other day and installed a filter, thinking he could get by with it (it plugged with in min.'s on him...) I changed out the filter and let the water run through it, it was fine for four min.'s then from 4 to the 5 min. mark I could see a small amount of sand but it still looked okay, then from the 5 min. ,mark maybe with in 15-30 seconds max, the filter filled up with sand, so i shot off the water, open the bypass, made sure the water to the house was shut off and opened up the hose off the well again... So this thing has been running for almost 2 weeks straight and has not cleared up.....

He is suppose to come out tomorrow and drop a 4 inch pipe inside the 6 inch pipe and then pack with gravel, i sure hope this

works.....

I still have other things, cutting down trees etc, electrical work that nees to be done.... So other than the fact that we are living in a residents inn for the last 2.5 weeks with breakfeast every moring, hot tub, pool to use, i would be fuming......

I just can not wait to see what happens when our policy renews!!!!!

since it has been pumping sand for well over a week now

Thanks for everyones helps / suggestions....with this crap....

Mike