Need some help fixing my well.

[teg]

I think the oil in my tractor is lighter in color than your water!!! :shocked:

 

[radioman]

my folks have two water sources. one spring and one well. in order to buy the house-the owner had to drill a well to be legal. of course it wasnt used for 30 years then the spring piping started to close up and leak. when he started using the well -- all got was dirty clay like water all day. he tried flushing,running til it might be clear. nothing worked.one day he pulled the foot valve out of well and cleaned it and then shorten the length it goes down by 20 feet. no more dirty water. apparently there was silt on the bottom and it wasnt gonna clear up. maybe you could lift how high your foot valve would go? you need to find your static level first

 

[Woody65]

my folks have two water sources. one spring and one well. in order to buy the house-the owner had to drill a well to be legal. of course it wasnt used for 30 years then the spring piping started to close up and leak. when he started using the well -- all got was dirty clay like water all day. he tried flushing,running til it might be clear. nothing worked.one day he pulled the foot valve out of well and cleaned it and then shorten the length it goes down by 20 feet. no more dirty water. apparently there was silt on the bottom and it wasnt gonna clear up. maybe you could lift how high your foot valve would go? you need to find your static level first

I agree. I have a well drilled to 277' to get 20gpm. The static water column is 150'. That left 127' to ground level. The well driller set the pump 150' down the well which left it 127' from the bottom of the well. No silt problems at all. I know your well is much shallower but if there is a static column of water 10' or so from the bottom, set the pump 5' from the bottom to avoid excess silt.

 

[City Farmer]

I've been here before. Can you double check to make sure you have silt? Draw off the sampling faucet into a clear glass. Does the black stuff look oily and does it smear on the side of the glass? Does it stink? If so, then you have iron bacteria. Sounds nasty, but it really isn't. Actually poses no health risks and given some time the water will clear up. Throwing a couple pool chlorine tables down the casing will help. Just don't put too much down or you'll kill the softener. Honestly, there is no permanent fix but an iron filter will help deliver good household water. I attached some pics of our well water when we first bought the house. It's been 4 years now and the water is much clearer.

Now if the water in the glass settles out to a grit, then you have a silt problem. Aagain, there is no permanent fix as the problem is between either the gravel pack or the well screen. Unfortunately, neither is repairable; the solution is to drill a new well. As a work around, you can add a whole house sediment filter. I actually run two 20" blue filters in parallel because we pump a ton of silt. That said, I've never had to change the filter and it's going on two years now. You'll want to install the filter before the softeners to protect them.

I know what you mean about having to replace a good productive well, but that's what you're looking at for a permanent fix. That said, I've been able to filter and condition my water to a point where the end product is actually crystal clear and quite tasty. Way better option than punching a new hole in.

Flip’n Frogs Cord!!! That’s just crazy. My old lady won’t move in because of 8seconds of rust and mud. I could only imagine what would’ve happened if she seen that coming out of the facuet.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Something I have seen done in the past depending on the size of your fines coming up. You could run the water from the pump then into a container such as another pressure tank or barrel and then have the water come out of the top of it and go to the pressure tank. This container would be used as a settling tank. Have a valve in the bottom to drain or flush it every so often. Might save on filters and such. Those with more well experience may have suggestions.

That's what I did, and it's working. I re-did my entire plumbing system in the house, including a new heater. I used the old 40 gallon heater as a settling tank. The well water goes into the tank and most of the sand stays right there. I have filters after that. It has made a huge difference.

If you problem is fines, though, you may need more than a 40 gallon tank to settle it out. With fines, it's all about dwell time. How long will the water stay in there? The longer the better, which means, the bigger the tank, the better.

 

[2458n]

I have sand in my well also. CHOKE the well flow down and you will reduce the fines. Keep it off the bottom as much as you can. Filter before the pressure tank. 7500 would be a waste because you would bein the same place.

 

[npalen]

Looks like you've struck oil!!! Are you sure that isn't photo shopped?

 

[arkydog]

we just had a new casing set in our well. 4" plastic pipe set 80' deep inside our 6" metal 40' deep casing. tree roots had grown under that 40' casing and was causing the side of the well to collapse and little black particles in the water. the pump company pulled the pump and liner it with schedule 40 pvc. at the low end to the 4" was something that like inflated or? but kept the dirt from getting into water and 380' deep pump. it worked . didn't watch install liner.

 

[City Farmer]

Thanks for all the ideas but I ended up getting a new well. 5” PVC casing 36’ deep. He said it measured
40-45gpm, $3700. I had to do all the digging, drill into the casing for the water line and run the electric. He said I saved about $2k doing that part myself. It’s a good thing I had it done last week. Everything is frozen solid around here now.... 12* this morning.

This old backhoe has paid for itself 10x over already. There’s a good chance I would’ve died on the end of the shovel if I had to dig it by hand. 2’ wide X 5’ deep and about 50’ Long. It took about 1.5hrs to dig with the old 4500.