Recently my plumber friend removed my jet pump and replaced it with a submersible pump that goes down into my shallow well (32 feet). To make the job much easier he used the old 1 1/2" plastic water line that is about 25 inches underground and that goes from the well to the basement through the cellar wall as a conduit for the new 1" water line and the electrical wire. Where the new pipe and wiring go into the old plastic line is 25 inches underground but he didn't caulk the larger pipe and now water from the pit goes into my basement through the 1 1/2" pipe. I tried using foam in a can where the water goes into the pipe outside in the well pit but that didn't work. He told me I should just caulk it inside where the pipe and wiring enter the house but I think it's better to caulk where the water comes IN and now where it goes out. My question is what kind of caulk or other material should I use to close it up outside where I'm sure there will be water? I had to dig down to get to the pipe but I didn't close it back up yet and I would rather do something to prevent that water from entering that pipe. Thank you for any suggestions.

Rich

 

Silicone caulk should work.

 

Thank you, Dane. I will give that a shot.

 

I would have some definite concerns about using water from a shallow well like that. I would recommend you have the water tested annually. In my state it is required to case off the first 50 feet of any well. Water at less than 50 feet is very likely to have excessive contaminants such as pesticides from runoff in it.

 

I appreciate the concern. When my wife and I bought this house in 2001 one of the tests we did was for the water and the results came back saying the water was nearly perfect. It has a little bit of iron in it but all else was great. Thanks.

 

Hi again, Dane, I have been looking for silicone caulk ever since you mentioned it but I am having a hard time finding some that will work under water. The pit where I must caulk has ground water in it and I can use my wet and dry vac to remove the water but since the caulk tube says it takes perhaps a day to cure I can't stay with it that long. So I need something that will cure in less time, perhaps 6 hours or so, or even something that will cure under water . Do you have any suggestions? Thanks, Rich

 

Try searching for "underwater sealant" and see if any of those product might work for you.