Well . . . I Gotta Problem

[Kevin_in_VA]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but here goes.

My neighbor had a new shallow well bored a few weeks ago. I took the 15+ tons of loose soil off of her hands to backfill a retaining wall I'm building, but that's not the problem.

Last night about 8PM the missus tells me we don't have any water pressure. I checked the pump (it was OK), but I ended up replacing the filter cartridge which had become packed solid with dirt. Water pressure came back (50PSI), everything is fixed (so you'd think)

Long about 2AM this morning she wakes me up, she got up to go to the bathroom, no water pressure, again. So I get up and check the filter, sure enough its clogged solid again. I put another cartridge in it this morning, so far its OK (she hasn't called me at the office to tell me otherwise).

My question: Could loose soil (we are mostly clay around here) from my neighbors new well have migrated to mine? If not what else could be the problem? The neighbor's well is about 600 feet from mine and up a small hill. If anyone has seen this problem before, does it usually clear up over time? I am contemplating a couple courses of action. Buying and installing one of those Super-Wham-O-Dyne whole house filtration systems with backflush capability or really biting the bullet and having a deep well drilled.

With the exception of a fireplug, county water is about a mile away.

Kevin

 

[KennyV]

Kevin…

15+ tons of dirt from a shallow well??? How shallow is this well? How big is it? That seams a lot from boring a shallow well.

If you have an outside the house faucet, turn it on and let it run… should clear up. You may need to chlorinate your well, check with your county extension office.
Any disturbance in the aquifer could cause this type problem, that includes pumping a close well exceptionally hard.

You mentioned there is a close fireplug? If you have rural water available you will be in a better water supply if you can buy a tap on that system. Water is becoming hard to get, good clean reliable supply. It will only become more expensive as time goes by. Keep your shallow well for irrigation and other uses. Shallow wells can be polluted, contaminated or depleted quickly. Deep wells have similar problems. Filters are nice I would use one regardless of my water source. For drinking water, cooking or making ice I would also include a RO system. Check on rural water tap. KennyV

 

[kensfarm]

"The neighbor's well is about 600 feet from mine and up a small hill"

My guess would be the drilling of the new well has disturbed the acquifier your well draws from.. and the sediment from the drilling is ending up in your well & house.

What I'd be concerned about:

Neighbor's water use: Your well might not "replenish itself" as fast.. the water level in the well might be lowered. In a drought.. your well may go dry.

Contamination: You now are connected.. if proper well maintenance is not done.. their problems are your problems.

I'd do some checking w/ the county/state health deparment that issued the permit. Their are probably rules about how close the wells are allowed to be drilled.. maybe the "driller" was not aware of your well.

This has already started to cost you money in "filters".. how much dirt can your well pump handle before it goes bad.. you probably already have sediment in your pressure tank now..

I'd start calling the county/state departments for info.. maybe a lawyer's advice will be needed.. especially when someone else is costing you money.

The best scenerio.. it'll clear up after the system is flushed out.. plenty of water for both you and your neighbor.

Did they have a well already? New house?

 

[ns_in_tex]

I have a shallow hand dug well and it tends to fill in with sand.

About every 10 years I have to remove a few wheelbarrow loads.

 

[Kevin_in_VA]

Wow! Thanks for all the replies

First of all Kenny, there was already a well on the neighbors property and it was right next to the house (about 35 years old). They are building an addition over the top of the old well, aso they had a new 30" well bored (I think he said 50 feet deep). I estimated the weight. I could be off a bit.

The fireplug is about 1000 feet from the house.

We already have an RO system for drinking water at our house, but unless there is water pressure it is useless. I will check into seeing what it would take to get county water run through.

There is a good sign. The missus says we haven't had any water problems all day, and it seems to be operating normally now, so maybe it was just a passing thing.

Kennsfarm

That was my initial assumption, however as I said above there was already a well on the neighbor's property so I'm not too concerned about depletion. My property is substantially bigger than theirs so we don't have to worry about them watering crops or anything.

I am concerned with the contamination issue. I treat my incoming water as it enters the house after it passes the sediment filter, not at the well, and I have check valves installed to minimize losses back through the pump should we lose power.

I have lunch with my attorney every Thursday (he is a personal friend). I plan on talking to him about the situation tomorrow.

ns_in_tex

these wells are 30 inches in diameter with concrete sleeving, so there is little chance of them filling in.

 

[DocHeb]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( these wells are 30 inches in diameter with concrete sleeving, so there is little chance of them filling in. )</font>

I've often wondered about kids falling into wells - most wells in our area are 4-5" diameter - you say the well is 30" in diameter. Why so big?

 

[Kevin_in_VA]

The water table is high so you don't have to go very deep to hit water. Most folks in this area that have wells have shallow ones with sumbersible pumps. Ours came with the house. I'd have done it differently.

 

[rlk]

Kevin, it sounds to me like you have a leak that is allowing your water to run continuously. You say you changed the filter at 8:00pm then it was clogged again at 2:00am. At my house, we use almost no water after dinner, so I can't imagine running enough water to clog the filter in 6 hours unless you have a leak. Also, my filter has never clogged to the point where we had absolutely no water pressure.

Are you sure you had not pumped all the water out of the well and that is why you had no pressure? Also, I would check for a leak somewhere after the water filter? Good luck.
Bob

 

[Kevin_in_VA]

rlk,

Thanks. I'm pretty sure we don't have a leak anywhere. The wife usually runs the dishwasher late in the evening, and we have baths / showers before bedtime, so there is ample opportunity for water use later in the evening.

There is plenty of water in the well.

Kevin

 

[Soundguy]

I agree with the others, the close new well probably dislodged the dirt... I'd pull the filter out, and let water run at that point for a bit to flush the system.

Soundguy