water well issues

[Dutch445]

I was told a year ago when I bought this house I'm in now
that the well was a "gravel pack" type of well. I guess it
isn't a drilled well, and not a dug well.
last nite, while i was out for a couple hours, my
g/f and her kids ran 2 load of laundry, and took
2 showers, and I know nobody is conservative
of water or utilities.
Well,, when I got home the pump was running. It's
located in the cellar.. it's a 115 volt gould pump,
and it wouldn't shut off... so I figured it was out
of water. once pressure started getting to the limit
switch, it would cut out, but bang, it would start again,
and cycle like this for a while till i cut the power.
i am thinking the well wasn't providing any water,
and by sucking air there was no way to hold pressure.

so my question is this:
what is the deal with this type of well? are they common?
what options do i have, outside drilling a well, or
using a holding tank?

I have heard the pump run extended times before,
but not to this extent where it wouldn't shut off.

any thoughts?

 

[Jimbrown]

Hmmn It must have some sort of pressure switch that cycles it on and off. before I did any thing else I would change tht out. Can't be very much $.

 

[Willl]

so I figured it was out of water.

Is it ?, what happens when you open a faucet ?

 

[RobertN]

I would start by the obvious; make sure all water is shut off through out the syste; kitchen, washer, toilet etc.

Next, put a gauge on the system and verify if you are getting pressure. I had a couple minor issues with my well system. One, my well is high in iron and sediment. It filled the orifice on my reuglar gauge at the holding tank. It has also filled the orifice on the pressure switch. A check with a good clean gauge showed my pressure was low at the system gauge.

I also had a small tree frog wiggle it way in to cover of the pressure switch. Zapped itself across the hot terminals. We had about 15psi of pressure... The switch tried to work.

That would be a good place to start.

 

[gotrocks]

Can you get water now with the pump running? If not I think you could be pumping air and that won't activate the pressure switch.

If you now have water and the pump keep running then maybe it is switch.

.02 no tax

 

[HomeBrew2]

I would probably help if you could desribe your whole system and weather you are getting any water into the house or at the pump, etc.
If your pipe from the pump into the well has a hole in it's length, it will be recirculationg some water back into the well then as the hole gets bigger, it will run for ever and never get water into the house. If you have a bad check valve, the water will be pumped up but fall back down into the well and keep the pump running ...
Good idea about the pressure switch ... we get pi$$ ants into the box that short the contacts sometimes.

 

[Dutch445]

Once I shut down the pump, and let things sit for a little while,
I started it back up and everything was fine, and things were fine
again this morning. Normal cycling of the pump.
I do not hear the pump unless water is running, and believe me
I would hear it. (although nobody else in the house would!)
So, I think when there is enough water there, things are good..
I didn't run water while that pump was running, and in fact I had
shut off the valve going to the house right above the pump. AT that
point, it still wouldn't build pressure right away. AFter it sat for a half
hour or so, things were ok.

 

[Jimbrown]

next thought I have no idea what a gravel pack well is but it sounds like a hole in the ground with water in it. Very shallow maybe 25 ft or less. To me that means you are drinking surface water just like out of the mud puddles in the yard. Me I would not think of any drinking water from any well less than 100ft deep. Mines 300.

 

[CurlyDave]

Me I would not think of any drinking water from any well less than 100ft deep.

I used to think that way until last weekend when I got to looking at my well & thinking (probably a bad idea).

My well is over 700' deep, the first 75 feet has a 6" steel casing and the whole 700' has a 4" PVC liner.

The top few feet has a bentonite seal around the casing, but below that, any water which comes in contact with the steel casing is free to drop right down to the static water level at about 100'. Think drip-drip-drip.

Sooner or later this water gets into the reservoir at the bottom of the well and is drawn up by the pump.

Sure, it is diluted mud puddles, but it is still mud puddles.

 

[Jstpssng]

Me I would not think of any drinking water from any well less than 100ft deep.

I used to think that way until last weekend when I got to looking at my well & thinking (probably a bad idea).

My well is over 700' deep, the first 75 feet has a 6" steel casing and the whole 700' has a 4" PVC liner.

The top few feet has a bentonite seal around the casing, but below that, any water which comes in contact with the steel casing is free to drop right down to the static water level at about 100'. Think drip-drip-drip.

Sooner or later this water gets into the reservoir at the bottom of the well and is drawn up by the pump.

Sure, it is diluted mud puddles, but it is still mud puddles.

At the last place I rented, the water from the drilled well (100+ feet down) would turn cloudy after every rain storm. I'm not sure, but suspect that the seal you just mentioned was faulty.

my well at my camp was an old springhole dug out years ago; a couple years ago I had an excavator come in and clean it out. YIKES!! there was water coming up through the granite ledge in the bottom everywhere. I've run my water pump and sump pump for hours, trying to drain it, but it still stays full.