More residential well questions

[nyone]

You alreaty have a well that produces water. I would get the pump out by force. If it breaks off (and I doubt it will) let it drop all the way down and put a new pump and poly pipe ontop of it.

4in casings with a safety wire is a dumb idea. The wire can drop in or get cought on things. You just dont have alot of room in a 4in casing well. At 100ft I would just use poly. At that depth its pullable with 1 able bodied person.

 

[JethroB]

In Georgia the local health departments issue well permits based on state regulations. They will send someone out to approve the desired location for a well. The permit must be in hand and an approved driller is to be used. The well cannot be within so many feet of a septic system, open old well, open water, etc. due to potential contamination.

 

[Cub 7275]

You alreaty have a well that produces water. I would get the pump out by force. If it breaks off (and I doubt it will) let it drop all the way down and put a new pump and poly pipe ontop of it.

4in casings with a safety wire is a dumb idea. The wire can drop in or get cought on things. You just dont have alot of room in a 4in casing well. At 100ft I would just use poly. At that depth its pullable with 1 able bodied person.

So how would the new replacement pump be protected from the silt and small stones that fall into the well through the failed casing? And what stops the well bore from filling up with the debris over time? From the original driller's report the ground is layered, starting at ground level: stony clay, coarse gravel, fine water sand, clay, stony clay, sandy clay, water sand, etc. Currently our pair of water filters clog with fine silt and have small stones maybe 1/16" diameter in the bottom of the bowl. How long the filters last depends on the season. After the attempted pump removal we went through around 12 filters over several days until it went back to normal. In my ignorance, since the well isn't in solid rock, it appears we need a sound casing all the way down to inlet screen, no?

I'm all for not spending money if I don't have to, but I also don't want to shoot myself in the foot trying to save a buck.

In Georgia the local health departments issue well permits based on state regulations. They will send someone out to approve the desired location for a well. The permit must be in hand and an approved driller is to be used. The well cannot be within so many feet of a septic system, open old well, open water, etc. due to potential contamination.

Same around here. A permit is needed and the minimum distances from 31 "contamination sources" are listed. I saw nothing about how far from the old well the new one had to be. The county health department said there was no minimum distance. That said, I would think there would be some minimum distance preferred by a driller. I'd like to know so I can plan where to put the new well. It pretty much has to be in the front yard, which is where the existing well is. The closer to the existing well the better.

 

[nyone]

I didnt read it has a failed casing. Does a camera inspection support that? If it does then a new 6in well would be even more important. You can drop a 4in well liner in a 6in casing but I dont thing you can in a 4in well.

Is your water level shallow enough to use a jet pump? If so you may beable to put a pipe down any way.

 

[JethroB]

So how would the new replacement pump be protected from the silt and small stones that fall into the well through the failed casing? And what stops the well bore from filling up with the debris over time? From the original driller's report the ground is layered, starting at ground level: stony clay, coarse gravel, fine water sand, clay, stony clay, sandy clay, water sand, etc. Currently our pair of water filters clog with fine silt and have small stones maybe 1/16" diameter in the bottom of the bowl. How long the filters last depends on the season. After the attempted pump removal we went through around 12 filters over several days until it went back to normal. In my ignorance, since the well isn't in solid rock, it appears we need a sound casing all the way down to inlet screen, no?

I'm all for not spending money if I don't have to, but I also don't want to shoot myself in the foot trying to save a buck.


Same around here. A permit is needed and the minimum distances from 31 "contamination sources" are listed. I saw nothing about how far from the old well the new one had to be. The county health department said there was no minimum distance. That said, I would think there would be some minimum distance preferred by a driller. I'd like to know so I can plan where to put the new well. It pretty much has to be in the front yard, which is where the existing well is. The closer to the existing well the better.

In my case I had a hand dug or augered (?) well about 50 feet from the preferred site for a new drilled well. From the the 1930’s maybe. It was about 3 feet wide and 30 feet deep. I quietly had it filled in before requesting a permit.

 

[Valveman]

There is not much room between a 3.75" pump and 4" steel casing. A little rust in the casing and the pump is stuck. Casing is probably still good. With 1" steel drop pipe the pump man can get rough enough to most likely unstick the pump. A little acid to eat the rust may also be needed. If you get the pump out, run a camera down the well. If the casing is good but just a little rusty, I would go back with an SQ pump that is only 3" diameter. Then some 1" sch 80 or 120 PVC pipe with metal couplings would be best to hand the pump on. Torque arrestors, wire stand offs, safety cable or rope are not good ideas. All just things that can help stick a pump in the well. With good pipe like sch 80 or 120 you won't need anything for safety.

With the well pump only making 30 PSI and having to wait for a pump man. You could put in a cistern with a booster pump for temporary service. Might also make the pump in the well last much longer.

 

[Valveman]

The rust problem was not, but short pump life, splines stripped, broken pump shafts, bad start capacitors, burned pressure switches, motor rubbing on casing, tank bladders going bad, even sediment problems in the well are all caused by cycling the pump on and off too much. If you can get the old pump out, go back with a 3" pump, and adding a Cycle Stop Valve will solve just about every problem except the rust.

 

[Cougsfan]

Not knowing your local conditions, it is hard for us TBN "experts" to make expert recommendations. I would depend more heavily on the recommendations from local well drillers and installers. They have more experience in well issues that occur in your area. However I would add that wells is the one place where it is not a good idea to go cheap. If a new well becomes the answer, 6" steel casings will alleviate a lot of potential problems down the road.

 

[Valveman]

While there are still some good pump men and well drillers out there, they have become the exception, not the rule. Most now will just sell you what they have been taught by manufacturers makes them the most money. This is never the best thing for the end user. You are wise to educate yourself on pumps and wells anyway you can.

Every area is different and a local well driller/pump man should have the knowledge you need for that area. But even well people in the same area will have different ideas of what is best. In the end it is up to you if you drill a new well or try to fix the old one or both. Drilling is something that is hard to DIY. But once the well is drilled, the pump can easily be a DIY project, which could save you thousands of dollars and get you a better water system.

Just doing what the pump company spends the most advertising on could keep you in a never ending loop of planned obsolescence. It takes a little research to find the equipment like pump controls that the pump manufacturers don't want you to know about. But it could save you thousands of dollars and considerable time being out of water to find a pump control the pump industry calls "disruptive". A "disruptive" product is one that makes pumps last longer, which is always a good thing for the end users.

 

[Cougsfan]

While there are still some good pump men and well drillers out there, they have become the exception, not the rule. Most now will just sell you what they have been taught by manufacturers makes them the most money.

This may unfortunately be true is some areas. However where I live, the ones I know are exceptionally honest, knowledgeable and not at all out to fleece you. Maybe we are an exception, but I hope not.