Vacuum muck from old well

[airbiscuit]

We had an old school well driller drill our well. He would drive the casing down a ways, and then lower a slightly smaller diameter pipe in the hole and pull the out the tailings. Think about putting a straw in a glass of water and then covering the top with your finger and lifting it out of the glass.

You could do the same with a pipe that had some sort of flapper valve in the top to let out air on the way down, and seal the suction on the way up.

See 1:50

 

[turnkey4099]

I’d hate to spend several hundred $ on a trash pump and learn it can’t suck mud up 18 feet .. Have to ask vertical specs
I don’t have a friend at firehouse, (but I should)

Put it on a platform and lower it to the water surface. someone has probably already suggested that tho.

 

[turnkey4099]

Put it on a platform and lower it to the water surface. someone has probably already suggested that tho.

Ooops. I was assuming a dug well with enough cleaance. The HF pump sounds like the good solution.

 

[etpm]

I have a hand dug well on my property that is about 21 feet deep. To the top of the muck. It is pretty old, probably 80 years old or so. I don't know how deep my muck is but when I pump it out I am going to use a semi trash pump that I already have. Since my well is a square shape about 3 feet on a side my plan is to float my pump because my suction hose is only about 6 feet long. I read the original post one day and then a day or two later posted a response and forgot about the age of the well. A 100 year old well is probably pretty large in diameter. If this is the case and the OP could float the pump then a short section of pipe could be used instead of a hose. That would save some money AND the pump would not need to suck the stuff up very far.

Another option that is less expensive but would probably work fine is a dewatering pump like this one: 3/4 HP Submersible Utility Pump Stainless Steel Construction 4400 GPH
Only 200 bucks.

Or this: 1/2 HP Submersible Sump-Effluent Pump with Vertical Float Switch 4400 GPH

I know the first example says it is for clear water but there is a screen that should not let debris larger than the pump can handle pass through.

Both pumps can discharge through a garden hose. It looks like for around 200 bucks or less if electricity is available a pump could be lowered down even a small diameter well. I am sure the best results will be had if the muck can be diluted with enough water to make it fairly thin in consistency.

If the stuff is pumped out in a dammed area where it can be allowed to drain and/or settle then the muck can be hauled off much easier. Maybe a small area could be dammed so that the solids could settle and the water pumped back into the well. This would help in two ways. The well might not start to run dry (I don't know how many GPM the well produces) and the water directed back into the well could keep the muck stirred up and keep the solution being pumped fairly thin and easy to pump.
Eric

 

[Doofy]

One possible problem with most modern pumps is that they have plastic impellers. Sand could eat up a pump in a hurry.

 

[LouNY]

Question for the OP is this a dug well a few feet in diameter?
If it is a dug well I would get a submersible trash pump,
lower it down into the water and get it pumping when the water is down to just a couple
of feet above the sludge I would start jetting it and churning it up with the pump discharge
then direct the mixed up sludge out and away from the well and repeat till cleaned out.

 

[bcp]

What happens when the pump runs into the dead cow in the well?



Bruce

 

[LouNY]

Depends if it's just a bunch of bones they will settle to the bottom and just add a bit of calcium to the water,
other wise it may chew it up for hamburger

 

[ponytug]

Submersible pumps are usually labeled clear water only and they mean it. They tend to have plastic impellers and tight clearances, great for building pressure, but vaporize in sand and abrasives.

One other item thing to bear in mind is that a big pump isn't very effective in a sludged up well with low infiltration. And if the pump stops with sludge in the output line, it probably will stall and won't restart. (BTDT in another use.) So you will be lifting a pump and a lift line with a weight of sludge in it.

The other thing that I try to remember about wells, is that if whatever you put in the well breaks free, how bad is it going to be to a) find it, b) attach a line to it, and c) get it up the well without snagging it. Lighter is better in my book, and well tied together and to a lift line is even better.

Don't knock the air lift method until you have tried it. It may be old fashioned (can be, and has been, done with steam), but it works. The expanding air can lift a lot of sediment, and by varying the air pressure you can tune the output to your well infiltration and sludge, and nothing goes wrong if it runs dry.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Topzide]

My thoughts would be to use a sewage pump. It can handle solids and slurry. Generator for power if remote. Discharge could be 2 in hose or pvc pipe. JM2C