water well issues

[redlevel]

Around here a gravel packed well is a drilled well with stainless steel or pvc screen. The screen has something like pea gravel packed around it. I have a 10" irrigation well (a twelve inch hole drilled with 8" casing, with a six inch turbine pump and column). It is gravel packed. I remember seeing a small dump truck with about a half-load of pea-gravel, or something similar, backing up to the edge of the well.

Most residential wells (in this area) consist of a six or eight inch hole with four or six inch casing, usually pvc with either pvc or stainless screen, and a submersible pump. They may or may not be gravel packed.

I would bet that your problem is something simple. Nine times out of ten when we have problems with a small residential well it has something to do with a switch or a check valve. I am not an electrician nor am I a well man, so I immediately call in professional help when I have a problem that isn't obviously something as simple as a blown fuse or tripped circuit breaker.

 

[Egon]

Even deep well aquifiers have a recharge source which can allow contamination.

Also the methods of sealing the casing may not be the best for stopping infiltration of water.

 

[GaryQWA]

With heavy water use your static water level falls and that makes your jet pump incapable of lifting water from that depth so it simply sits there running; until it gets too hot and the thermal overload opens shutting it off and/or melting the impellor. That's why after shutting off the water and pump and waiting for a period of time things are back to normal; the well recovers(the water level increases) and all's well except for the wear on the pump and the higher light bill...

Gary
Quality Water Associates

 

[Dutch445]

Gary,
That's what I thought was happening,
so now what's the solution?
I have tried to limit when everybody showers
and does laundry, but if I'm not there, nobody
seems to care.
What is involved in a holding tank? I have room in the basement,
what would be required for a problem that isn't an every
day problem?

 

[Egon]

You could add a low pressure shut off switch or a timer that will shut the pump off after a certain period of operation.

 

[GuglioLS]

.....what options do i have, outside drilling a well, or
using a holding tank?

I have tried to limit when everybody showers
and does laundry, but if I'm not there, nobody
seems to care......

Those statements really limit your choices.

You have very few options "outside drilling a well or adding a holding tank"

1. Time for some "tough love" with the GF & her kids.
If that cannot be done then:

2. Install a timer on the pump that shuts off after X amout of pump on time. Then expain to everyone when the water shuts off there is no more water for at least X hours until the well recovers so choose & use wisely.

# 2 will solve # 1

Now other options : Get a High Effiecieny front load washer.
Install extreme water flow restrictors on the shower heads.
Low flow toilets.
If it's yellow let it mellow if it's brown flush it down.

My wife, twin daughters and I live in extreme drought conditions and have lived with a low procducing water well for 30 years. You MUST conserve and spread out your water usage, it's not a choice. We finally installed an 1800 gallon holding tank underground and fill it very slowly 24/7. Life is now good.

 

[CurlyDave]

...so now what's the solution?
I have tried to limit when everybody showers
and does laundry, but if I'm not there, nobody
seems to care.
What is involved in a holding tank? I have room in the basement,
what would be required for a problem that isn't an every
day problem?

If you can solve this problem by some method other than being the "water ogre" I suspect your domestic tranquility will go up.

No solution is going to be free or perfect, but a holding tank will be useful even if you wind up having to get a new well, which I don't think you need right now.

Step one would be to measure the flow rate of your well. Since your existing pump can pump water out faster than it enters the well, this is a fairly inexensive thing to do. Although it may take several hours.

Measure the static depth of water with no flow and the pump depth (A weight on a line). The well head will usually have a port for doing this -- frequently it is about a 6" long plastic riser, about 1/2" pipe thread. Just unthread it to gain access.

Get a 5 gallon bucket, a one gallon plastic bucket or container, and a one quart plastic container and set up a garden hose where you can spill a lot of water without making a huge mess. And, without any of the water draining back into the well.

Start by setting up a flow of about 0.25 gpm, which means filling the one-quart container in one minute. The professionals use a stopwatch, but any watch with a second hand is good enough for low flow rates.

Keep this flow rate going, and measure the water depth every 5 minites, until you get three consecutive readings with the same depth.

Then increase the flow to 0.5 gpm and repeat, keep going up in 0.25 gpm increments and sooner or later you will find a spot where the flow rates drops the water level to just above the pump. This is the flow rate of your well.

Write down all this data.

PM me for what to do next, which depends on the output of your well, but one thing to consider for sure is that you need to be careful of overwhelming your septic system. Everything that comes out of your well goes into your septic field, unless you irrigate.

For instance, my new septic system is rated for 450 gallons per day. Over 24 hours this is only 0.31 gpm. Most systems are rated for muchg less flow. Clearly even a very poor well can outproduce what a septic system can handle. Add a holding tank to a 0.5 gpm well, and you may get into trouble on the outflow end of your system.

 

[Doc_Bob]

For instance, my new septic system is rated for 450 gallons per day. Over 24 hours this is only 0.31 gpm. Most systems are rated for muchg less flow. Clearly even a very poor well can outproduce what a septic system can handle. Add a holding tank to a 0.5 gpm well, and you may get into trouble on the outflow end of your system.

Another choice is a grey water system to take the load off of the septic.
Bob

 

[BobRip]

Gary,
That's what I thought was happening,
so now what's the solution?
I have tried to limit when everybody showers
and does laundry, but if I'm not there, nobody
seems to care.
What is involved in a holding tank? I have room in the basement,
what would be required for a problem that isn't an every
day problem?

My uncle had a pump like yours or so it seems from the limited description, I am not quite sure. It also sounds like your well may be running low.

It seems if you flow too fast the pressure starts to fall and then the pump has less output flow, which makes the pressure fall and the pump have even less flow capacity and the pressure continues to fall. What he did when I was taking a shower was to partially close the output valve so that the pressure at the pump was higher and the pump could pump more by building up pressure. Once the pressure was up, he could open the valve. If you had a system output valve that would reduce the flow when the pressure got to low and then open when the pressure built back up you could automatically control the system. I would put a solenoid operated valve in parallel with a manual ball valve. Partially open the ball valve and leave it that way and only open the solenoid valve if pressure is above some limit. Your pressure would drop, but at least you would have automatic recovery. This is an automatic water ogre.

Back to reality. This sounds like a low quality obsolete system. Having enough water is important to the quality of life. See about getting a better pump and well if it is possible and you can affored it.

 

[Egon]

Dave has real good advice. I'd suggest you get in contact with him.

My only other sugestion is a very large pressure tank and a flow restrictor sized to the pumps output.