Greetings everyone,

I am having issues with my well housing, it floods every time we get over an inch of rain.

our well casement comes up inside of a 3' deep concrete ring that is 2.5 foot buried. Inside the ring/well housing is a pressure tank. The tank feeds a few things on the property before reaching residence.

we had no problems, so far as i know, until we buried an additional water line to the well housing to serve a hydrant in the garden. We took it under the housing through a sleeve and patched it onto the service.

ever since then it floods every-time we get a good rain and i've been having to bail it out.

I went back and re-tamped the trench and soil in the well housing; added more dirt and even added soil around the well housing to make water move around the well housing on its way down hill.

Im at a loss for a permenant solution

i think the soil water is moving up through the disturbed soil once significant pressure is built up in the surrounding soil. Ive gone back and retamped it several times to find it still floods.

The next things i can think to try would be

1. perhaps a soil solidifier in the bottom of the well housing? this might keep the light pressure exerted by soil at bay. I have no experience with this and am not sure if its a good option or even feesable.

2. My favorite option, Install a sump pump in the well housing that can pump out the effluent

The sump pump option would be nice but i would want to use the 240v well power and there are no inexpensive 240v sump pumps stateside. So im weighting my options.

1. I could order a light duty sump pump from europe.
2. I could step down voltage in well housing to 120 for a cheaper pump
3. I could spring for a 240v pump domestically and hate life

Does the sump pump Idea seem reasonable?

 

Realized i should be looking for a 230v pump not 240.

found these guys

https://www.plumbingsupply.com/subme...ent-pumps.html

can i just splice into the the power for the well pump?
should i be worried about the possibility of both pumps engaging at the same time? its a 60 amp breaker

 

Things anyone would need to know to come up with a reply.
What size wire was run to the well casing?
How many amps does your well pump draw?

 

hmm no idea on draw. Don't really have a good way to figure that out. Acquired property with well existing. Seems to me like 6 GA

 

Amps. needed to run will be right on the name plate on the pump.

 

If the pump is controlled by a pressure switch than your new pump may only run when the other one does, explain how the old pump is controlled

 

Dig a hole about the same size as the well housing next to the well housing but about 18 inches deeper. Line it with bricks or with a concrete ring of similar character to the existing well housing except with many holes in the concrete to let water seep in. Put the sump pump in this second housing.

The sump pump has a maximum circuit rating as well as a maximum power draw and a running amperes spec.

The maximum circuit rating may be implied by the power plug if the pump is intended to be plugged into a receptacle.

Most likely you will need to run a new power feed for the sump pump.

 

Seconding the suggestion on the sump well next to the well pump pit. You could even get one of the tiny ones that is designed to fit in a 5 gal bucket.

The well pump itself is submerged in the well -- not a shallow jet pump sitting in the pit right? If so, another possibility would be to have a well guy come out and convert the well to use a pitless adapter then put the pressure tank in the house somewhere. Not sure of your location, but it's common here to put pressure tanks in the basement.

 

its a 300' 6'' well with a submerged well pump. hence no idea as to amp draw.

Yea ive had that suggestion about burying everything and putting pressure tank in house but we are more of a farm than a residence and there is alot of service between the well and house.

I like the auxiliary pit idea however I think i can fit a buried 5 gal bucket inside well housing so id just as soon dig that out more. however that is a good thought and may end up doing that for cleanliness

There's got to be a simple relay or something that i could use to say if the float switch is activated do not run well pump. or perhaps i just hook up the sump pump and well pump,run both, and see if it throws the breaker?

Am i out in left field here. Definitely dont want to run another power line as its about a 7-800 foot run

 

What about a 12 volt pump and battery? You might be able to keep it topped off with solar cells. Have maybe enough in the battery till the next sunny day.

 

Wow, so the pump actually runs correctly with 1000' of cable on it? That is a really long circuit to start a pump motor on. I agree with giving Ray's 12V bilge pump + solar panel and car battery idea a shot. Adding any additional load to a cable that long is dicey.

Where is the pressure switch? If it's in the pit you've got a lot more options. If it's in the house we'll need to dig much deeper.

 

You've gotten some good suggestions and conversations about the pump idea... but do you think you can better seal the 'ring' to keep the water out? Hydraulic cement might seal better around the pipe you added than regular cement. Or maybe just a better sealant around the pipes to combat the hydraulic pressure you're experiencing? Since you're getting a considerable amount of water, it doesn't sound like it's seeping through the cement?

 

solar and battery pump sounds like a nice solution.

Would definitely need to dig a secondary sump pit for that for sure. as i would not want to have lead acid battery in well housing.

for that reason i am not super excited about that prospect. because it would involve an incredible amount of work.



Getting the well housing sealed off would definitely be my best solution. I just have no idea how to do that and have been unable to find any information on how i might do that.

I was thinking that perhaps i could take some portland cement make a dilute slurry and pour over the floor of the wellhousing. would that do anything or is there a more appropriate solution?

Just need to get the floor of the well house to withstand a little bit of pressure.

Were getting alot of rain today and tomorrow. I am about at wits end with this

 

its not seeping through the ring. Probably coming through the trench where i took the water line under. Should i dig out around the water line and add cement to seal it off? Seems like it could work but i would be concerned that it would not be enough as water would probably just come around the cement chunk?

 

Sounds like you are considering putting the battery underground. That was never my suggestion. A small above ground enclosure would house the battery with the solar cells on top.

The enclosure could be as simple as four posts (one at each corner) with siding attached and a sloped roof.

 

above ground would be ok for deep cycle in winter?

 

I can't answer your question but car batteries are often exposed to cold conditions when is car isn't running and parked outside. Where are you located?

 

virginia. by no means the north but winter gets cold