Well problems, more silt than water.....

[mx842]

MX842

On my well work the $1200 was for a clean out too, new wire, schedule 80 1" Threaded PVC pipe & 20 or 25 yr pump. The well guy used a Cable Winch that dropped a big heavy tube with a Hammer Check valve on the bottom. The hammer opens the valve when it hits bottom filling it full of silt/sand/debris. it managed to reclaim 4 or 5 feet of depth in this method. When the pipe is pulled out we pushed it to the side & sat it onto the hammer end and opened the valve dumping water sand and silt out of the tube. We did this for about an hour or so, after 5th or 6th drop the water had been lowered to really get a good hit on the bottom. at one point it dropped about 3 or 4 feet at one hit, (tape was on the cable at the starting depth.)

We surmised the original pump was broken off and setting near the bottom wedged there and the pipe knocked it loose and down to the very bottom. that or a bigger rock? we pulled out plastic, metal copper wire and lots of electrical tape... not very appealing to say the least.

You may be able to use similar device to clean out your well. the device was simple enough and inside was a mating cone with a 3" OD maybe 10' long. the cable needs to free drop so it drives into the bottom but can pull up slower if ya want.

Other method would be a Trash Grinder type pump dropped into the well with a straight outlet pipe & run it full blast out of the well into a big settling tank and then run the settled water back into the well to help stir up the silt. That way the well wont dry up, might need to put a filter on the return line could even pump it back down with force to help stir up the silt.

Mark

OH, well that's not too bad if labor an all the additional stuff was included along with the pump. $1200.00 doesn't last very long these days and that's why I'm always looking for ways to cut the middle man out of the picture if I can.

Yeah I have been dipping out some pretty disgusting looking stuff out of mine as well. I don't know where all that tape comes from it looks like it must be growing down there. As long as I can keep the once live critters out of the water I guess that's the main thing. So far I have scooped up a couple bugs and a snail or two, no cats, dogs, mice or anything like that so I guess so far I'm good.

 

[Egon]

Spiker has a good solution to cleaning up the well. cheap and easy to assemble and works. The main thing is to keep water in the well so its fluid sludge which pumps easier. Using this method you can even drill yourself a new well if you so wish.

Look up "Baptist" well drilling systems and you should find lots of details on construction.

How will you seal the concrete joints?

Next; didn't think you missed the safety police did you.

Before entry there should be an oxygen level check done. organic materials can succumb to bacterial action and produce gasses that will displace the oxygen. (think sewer tanks) (confined spaces)

Next is a proper man harness so you don't black out and fall to the bottom of the well.

Then at least a three man crew in case of a mishap.

When all is said and done you may end up in a better position drilling a new well. Use that method Spiker suggested and get yourself set up. Should take several days under the conditions you have described. My Grandfather and Father drilled wells this way.

 

[mx842]

Spiker has a good solution to cleaning up the well. cheap and easy to assemble and works. The main thing is to keep water in the well so its fluid sludge which pumps easier. Using this method you can even drill yourself a new well if you so wish.

Look up "Baptist" well drilling systems and you should find lots of details on construction.

How will you seal the concrete joints?

Next; didn't think you missed the safety police did you.

Before entry there should be an oxygen level check done. organic materials can succumb to bacterial action and produce gasses that will displace the oxygen. (think sewer tanks) (confined spaces)

Next is a proper man harness so you don't black out and fall to the bottom of the well.

Then at least a three man crew in case of a mishap.

When all is said and done you may end up in a better position drilling a new well. Use that method Spiker suggested and get yourself set up. Should take several days under the conditions you have described. My Grandfather and Father drilled wells this way.

Well........ thanks a lot there Egon:muttering: I just spent 6 hours of my life traveling around the internet looking at well drillers all over the world. I can't help myself sometimes when I start looking at stuff like this but **** I sure can get behind in my chores this way.:laughing:

I go down in the well and seal the joints with hydraulic cement. That stuff works pretty good even if there is water seeping in while you are working. If it's rushing in you are wasting time because the water will wash away the cement before it sets but it will stop a small flow if you can pack enough into the crack it's coming out of. I usually go in and fill the seams on the first try then go back a couple days later and go over the seam again but this time I'll go wider sort of like you do with a drywall joint until you get a nice even smooth band all the way around about 4" on each side of the crack.

Ahhhhh crap..... you ain't gonna play that card, are you? :yuck: I've been down in wells before and most time when I've been alone knowing it probably wasn't a really good idea but you have to do what you have to do at times. If I can't get some help and it really needs to be done I'm all in. I don't like to go in beyond the first couple joints if I'm alone and that I can handle off a ladder but the ladder gets in the way of working on the joints. In this case I wanted to go down almost the the water level and that's not something I would try alone cause as you mentioned there are too many things that can go wrong not that a man at the top could help if the whole thing came crashing in but at least he could tell everyone what happened to the **** fool at the bottom of the hole.:laughing:

I made a chair to sit on while being lowered in, probably not OSHA approved but it worked pretty good the time I tried it. It needs a few mods that I'll add to it before I go back down to finish the job. Three men??? Holy shitski! it's hard enough to get one person to help when there is work involved and all my kids have become wise to the, Hey! lets have a barn fire keg party, bring some friends, trick.:confused2: I wore that one out a long time ago.

 

[SPIKER]

MX842:

Dont waste your time with the air bubble/Lift Tube cleaner idea. The theory works on small scale where the air and water fill the tube in bubbles & can lift some small or light sand/silt/fish turds. Where it fails is it is only good for a few inches above the water level. It also has/needs to have somewhat small pipe size so there are mostly solid water/solid air bits in between. I think you said water level is some 20+ feet down so the water has to be lifted up that much. not easy to do for sure as it is 8'lbs per gallon and you would need a heck of a big compressor to basically BLOW the water up and out of the top. not going to fit thru a brake line in air volume.

Best & easiest choice would be the grinder pump and 100' length of 1.5" or 2" Poly Tubing/roll. a cheap filter can be built out of old bed sheets & towels to trap the light sediment & up stream a holding pit/tank to settle out the heavy sand stuff. I would build two tanks out of plywood, plastic and 2x4's. would cost maybe 100 or so bucks plus tubing and pump. (might already have them.)

Pump probably does not have to be a grinder type but that would suck up silt & sand pretty easy but regular sub pump would probably work well enough.

make the tanks using 3 sheets of plywood one cut in half. so 2 ea 4'x8' and 2 ea 4'x4'. take 6ea 2x4 x8' screwed to the plywood on the long sides top & bottom, take 2 ea 10' 2x4s and fit to the 4x4 and screw into the ends of the 8' 2x4s to form the tank (dont need a bottom as you will line it with some heavy plastic.) take some good 2" nylon straps or rope and strap all way around the outside to keep it from bowing.

you can add 2 ea 2x4s inside middle about 1-3/4" apart & build a rectangle frame to wrap the sheet over and slip it between the vertical uprights screwed in to the sides. Use one of the straps around the middle to tighten it up on this middle frame to help seal sides against the filter frame. may need two sheets on it and by loosening the strap that squeezes the center tight on it you could swap it out with a clean/cleaned filter.

use some threaded plumbing fixtures in the ends to connect two tanks together for settling out sand & silt then out of 2nd tank fitting near top that drains back to well thru some poly tubing best spot would be near pump to stir up water.

might take a day or two & may even have to empty the silt/sand build up or move the tanks & let the pile dry out? on final day add some bleach to the return tank & keep bleach going thru to help kill off all of the stirred up mucky stuff.

all the materials could be reused for the next project or next clean out


Mark