EE_Bota
Elite Member
Doesn't the area between where the OP installed his check and the actual water level in the well also need to have all the air displaced by a good priming?
Priming shallow well pump?
- Thread starter MNBobcat
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J_J
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Sure, that could take just a couple of minutes, if everything is sealed good.
EE_Bota
Elite Member
Getting water to go against the check direction suggests that something has to get unsealed. Doesn't that start a race condition?
J_J
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The pump will pull a vacuum and uncheck the check. A little water added above the check will help.
That's exactly what I did yesterday. The garden hose was temporary just to see if the well would work. I'm installing 4 points and plumbing them all equidistant from each other and from the pump. So I didn't want to hard pipe the first point only to see if I was going to sustain water from the well. I have 7 feet of water in the pipe right now but don't know what might happen to that level when I start pumping. I want to get one point working and see what I have before sinking the other 3 points.
But....I don't think I was able to create enough vacuum through a 3/4" line to lift the water in the 1 1/4" column which is the well. So yesterday I started plumbing it with 1 1/4" PVC (because it will get thrown away and PVC is less expensive).
Unfortunately, the pump I had drew too many amps for the circuit I have available. It even tripped the breaker on a generator I tried. So at that point it was either rewire the pump for 220 (220 is what the final installation will use) or go get a smaller pump. I had a 2 hp pump and I'm now going to a 1 hp pump. The 1 hp pump is good for about 45 gallons a minute which should be plenty to run my 4 sprinklers simultaneously. I know I won't get 45 GPM capacity from my 4 points...but I'd be happy with 20 GPM. I can add a 5th point if need be.
The other issue I'm dealing with is we've had a tremendous amount of rain this year. There is water in places that haven't been wet in 20 years. So I don't know if my well well run dry in a normal year. I'll have to deal with it then if it does. I can maybe go down another 3 feet but then I hit clay. Don't have a lot of options on depth. The only other option I have is to move the wells closer to a swamp. Hopefully, that won't be necessary.
bp fick
Super Member
Here in the northern mid-west, it is somewhat common to have a layer of sand, say 10-25 feet which holds the surface water. At 20-30 feet, it is common to hit that first layer of harder, clay type, water "holding" layer of sub strata.
There's no point in pushing, grunting, driving through that clay layer because the water that might lay beneath it further down in a gravel strata is typically too far down for shallow well systems anyhow. If you are concerned about whether you're deep enough for a dry year, you might knock your points down another foot, but honestly, if your surface water peters out in a drought year, you're toast anyhow. Sometimes, someone a half mile away digs a huge lake and disrupts the shallow water table as well. That happened to us 25 years ago when a big subdivision development went in near our semi-rural home.
I've pulled water, using a simple, cheap jet pump, of low HP, from 3-5 sand points. Not an issue. It is only going to pull what it can pull, volume wise, anyhow. We always used to test our individual driven points by using a simple pitcher pump. I think you'll be fine. You can always put your sprinkler in circuits and run them at different times. A guys gotta do, what a guy gotta do.
There's no point in pushing, grunting, driving through that clay layer because the water that might lay beneath it further down in a gravel strata is typically too far down for shallow well systems anyhow. If you are concerned about whether you're deep enough for a dry year, you might knock your points down another foot, but honestly, if your surface water peters out in a drought year, you're toast anyhow. Sometimes, someone a half mile away digs a huge lake and disrupts the shallow water table as well. That happened to us 25 years ago when a big subdivision development went in near our semi-rural home.
I've pulled water, using a simple, cheap jet pump, of low HP, from 3-5 sand points. Not an issue. It is only going to pull what it can pull, volume wise, anyhow. We always used to test our individual driven points by using a simple pitcher pump. I think you'll be fine. You can always put your sprinkler in circuits and run them at different times. A guys gotta do, what a guy gotta do.
BP,
You're correct! Our clay layer is 33 feet deep and then there is hard gravel under it. I'd have to go down 55 feet to reach the start of the gravel. I can make a drill rig to do that if need be but until I know I'll have a problem in dry years I'm not going to worry about it. There is a river about 700 feet to the west and low land which holds water about 200 feet to the east. We're known as the land of 10,000 lakes and the DNR shows wells at 18 - 21 feet in the area. So I'm hoping we have reliable water. We'll see!
You're correct! Our clay layer is 33 feet deep and then there is hard gravel under it. I'd have to go down 55 feet to reach the start of the gravel. I can make a drill rig to do that if need be but until I know I'll have a problem in dry years I'm not going to worry about it. There is a river about 700 feet to the west and low land which holds water about 200 feet to the east. We're known as the land of 10,000 lakes and the DNR shows wells at 18 - 21 feet in the area. So I'm hoping we have reliable water. We'll see!
foggy1111
Elite Member
As has been said....this year we have a higher water table than the past...due to all the rain. May change in the future for you MNBobcat.....but you wont know till it happens unfortuneately.
When operating my well for the first time......I simply threaded on a small pitcher pump (threaded onto the top of the 1 1/4" pipe) and operated it by hand. You can prime it by pouring water into the top of it....and it will pump quite allot of water on a trial basis. That is the method I would use to get those wells started.
After you KNOW you have water.....you can plumb your pump system.
When operating my well for the first time......I simply threaded on a small pitcher pump (threaded onto the top of the 1 1/4" pipe) and operated it by hand. You can prime it by pouring water into the top of it....and it will pump quite allot of water on a trial basis. That is the method I would use to get those wells started.
After you KNOW you have water.....you can plumb your pump system.