should the well cover be completely buried?
#1
10-10-11, 08:29 AM
should the well cover be completely buried?
Hi,
Our well cover is a concrete disk about 2.5 ft in diameter. It looks very similar to this, but without the riser:
This well cover used to be ground level and exposed with grass growing around it.
We had some landscaping done and now the well cover is completely buried under about 4 inches of topsoil. You can no longer see it at all.
It may be a coincedence, but now our water storage tank seems to fill much, much slower than before. In the past when the switch clicked on, the pressure gauge would go from 40 to 60 very quickly, in less than a minute. Now the gauge goes up much slower, I would estimate it takes around 5 minutes to go from 40 to 60 and click off.
My theory is that burying the well cover prevents air from entering the well, which is slowing the rate at which water can be pumped out. However, I don't remember seeing any holes in the well cover that would have allowed air to flow in so I'm not 100% sure about that.
Is it bad to have the well cover completely buried?
Our well cover is a concrete disk about 2.5 ft in diameter. It looks very similar to this, but without the riser:
This well cover used to be ground level and exposed with grass growing around it.
We had some landscaping done and now the well cover is completely buried under about 4 inches of topsoil. You can no longer see it at all.
It may be a coincedence, but now our water storage tank seems to fill much, much slower than before. In the past when the switch clicked on, the pressure gauge would go from 40 to 60 very quickly, in less than a minute. Now the gauge goes up much slower, I would estimate it takes around 5 minutes to go from 40 to 60 and click off.
My theory is that burying the well cover prevents air from entering the well, which is slowing the rate at which water can be pumped out. However, I don't remember seeing any holes in the well cover that would have allowed air to flow in so I'm not 100% sure about that.
Is it bad to have the well cover completely buried?
#2
10-10-11, 09:22 AM
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania
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hi 2005 –
I’m just a newbie, don’t know much. That looks more like a septic tank cover. But I do in fact have a cover that size (but metal) and it’s for a well pit. You remove the cover to be able to go down into a 4 foot deep pit. The well head with a seal on top is down in the pit. The water pipe comes up from the well, through the well seal, then makes a 90 degree turn and runs underground to the basement. Maybe your setup is similar?
If the time to build the pressure from 40-60 has greatly increased, and you have a check valve near your tank, I wonder if you have developed a leak. That happened to me. I had an underground leak in the supply pipe. The pump will run as normal, but some water gets pumped into the ground, and the rest goes to the tank. The check valve prevents the water from draining back out of the house, therefore the tank will still build up and maintain pressure – it just takes longer for the pump to get the job done.
Hope you don’t have a leak – just something simple. Hope the pro’s jump in.
Good luck!
I’m just a newbie, don’t know much. That looks more like a septic tank cover. But I do in fact have a cover that size (but metal) and it’s for a well pit. You remove the cover to be able to go down into a 4 foot deep pit. The well head with a seal on top is down in the pit. The water pipe comes up from the well, through the well seal, then makes a 90 degree turn and runs underground to the basement. Maybe your setup is similar?
If the time to build the pressure from 40-60 has greatly increased, and you have a check valve near your tank, I wonder if you have developed a leak. That happened to me. I had an underground leak in the supply pipe. The pump will run as normal, but some water gets pumped into the ground, and the rest goes to the tank. The check valve prevents the water from draining back out of the house, therefore the tank will still build up and maintain pressure – it just takes longer for the pump to get the job done.
Hope you don’t have a leak – just something simple. Hope the pro’s jump in.
Good luck!
#4
10-11-11, 07:55 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: S.E. Texas
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Originally Posted by 2005f22c
Hi,
Is it bad to have the well cover completely buried?
Is it bad to have the well cover completely buried?
..... If it is air tight, you will be ok.
If its not air tight, the well/pump will pull dirt and other trash down into the well, and in-turn will pump that trash into your house.
If it were mine, I would uncover it and put a riser on, to get it back above ground.
