Well Pumps Dry in 5 minutes...

[ultrarunner]

I helped my neighbor with a well his father put in 40 years ago.

The coupling from the pump to the poly pipe had disintegrated and the pump controller had rusted badly.

$40 for a Grainger Clearance Controller and another $16 for a 1 1/2" Barbed fitting and we were back in business.

The pump is a Horse and a Half Sears unit down 125' Water level is 26' from the top of the well.

The pump will fill a 5 gallon pail in 5 seconds... so 60 gallons per minute before it goes dry in 5 minutes.

His plan is to run the pump on a timer for 4 minutes every 12 hours to fill a 1500 gallon tank...

I'm thinking the Pump has too much capacity for the well...

Any thoughts?

 

[alchemysa]

You could look into chemical cleaners for the bore.

BoreSaver, solving your iron oxide problems

 

[Egon]

What was the past pumping rate for the well?

 

[WTA]

Is there a company that we can mail order products like that in this country from? I am having rust and lime problems in both of my wells now. My big one, 8 inch casing turbine pump goes dry in 5 minutes too and only pumps rusty nasty smelling water. The small 5 horse irrigation well capacity here has gone down so bad I can only run 1 3/8 inch nozzle big gun now. I used to be able to run two half inch ones off that well. The pipes are all getting clogged up with junk on it.

 

[Fiero guy]

If the well runs out in 5 minutes, the recharge rate from the waterbearing zone is insufficient for the pump capacity. If it hasn't been blown out in recent years, it may be that the screen is clogged up, or the well bottom has sanded/silted up, diminishing the effective length of the screen.
The other possibility is that the water table has either dropped at your well location, or in the area uphill.

 

[dynasim]

If some of the blades on the pump are corroded, when the water level drops, you may be getting beyond the capability of the pump raise the water. These sorts of pump have a severe drop off in capability as they get close to their limit.

The reason I suggest this is that your fitting was corroded.

Do you have the documenation for the pump. If so, I would look at the gpm vs lift height to see where you are at.

Chris

 

[ultrarunner]

The Pump was taken out and cleaned yesterday... the screen had very little muck on it... it was really clean. The well is only for irrigation and hasn't been run in 40 years. The area was totally over run with Poison Oak and Blackberries that I have since gotten rid of.

The Father put the well in and passed away shortly after. The son recently bought the place from his Mom... so there isn't a history to go on.

I think the recharge rate is too slow for the present pump.

Is it OK to run the pump a few minutes every day till it goes dry to fill his tank?

 

[turnkey4099]

The Pump was taken out and cleaned yesterday... the screen had very little muck on it... it was really clean. The well is only for irrigation and hasn't been run in 40 years. The area was totally over run with Poison Oak and Blackberries that I have since gotten rid of.

The Father put the well in and passed away shortly after. The son recently bought the place from his Mom... so there isn't a history to go on.

I think the recharge rate is too slow for the present pump.

Is it OK to run the pump a few minutes every day till it goes dry to fill his tank?

If it is running dry that fast, the recovery rate is very slow.

Is is okay to pump it dry? NO!! The pump requires it to be covered in water for cooling. Running it dry will ruin it in short order.

It would be okay to set a timer to shut it off just before it runs dry though and that cycle could be done many times during the day - depending on the recovery rate of course.

Harry K

 

[RedDirt]

Is there space in the well casing to add a pair of float switches?

An upper float switch would turn the pump on and the lower one turn it off before the well was dry. That way you'd not be relying on a timed episode that could cause a dry run depending on the time of year and accompanying recovery rate.

A master float switch at the tank could power the well float switches so when the tank was full the pump would no longer activate.

 

[alchemysa]

Is there a company that we can mail order products like that in this country from? I am having rust and lime problems in both of my wells now. My big one, 8 inch casing turbine pump goes dry in 5 minutes too and only pumps rusty nasty smelling water. The small 5 horse irrigation well capacity here has gone down so bad I can only run 1 3/8 inch nozzle big gun now. I used to be able to run two half inch ones off that well. The pipes are all getting clogged up with junk on it.

I don't know, but try emailing the company. They should be able to advise if they have a US stockist, or perhaps give you the name of a US company that has a similar product. Many of these types of products are based on common chemicals that can be bought for a fraction of the price direct from chemical supply companies. I'm no chemist but I'd suggest that something that dissolves iron or lime build-up wouldn't be too complicated. Its probably just a strong acid of some sort.
Acids + Metals
Probably hydrochloric acid. - Available from any pool or hardwarew store - but as i said above, perhaps much cheaper from a chemical supplier. Hydrochloric acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "In addition, a way of stimulating oil production is by injecting hydrochloric acid into the rock formation of an oil well, dissolving a portion of the rock, and creating a large-pore structure".

And note in the pdf that good old chlorine is suggested as a bore cleaner. Perhaps a really heavy dose of pool chlorine might do some good. (Not at the same time as the acid).