Ive resurrected a shallow (40ft) well for a house I rebuilt. I dropped a 5hp Meyers submersible pump down the 6" iron sleeve and it pumps water fine. However I am getting tons of sediment that I thought woulda cleared up by now?? (well was inactive for 10 yrs, so I expected some). Im changing a whole house large sediment filter every month and Im still getting dirty water in the washer? NO GRIT just soft reddish brown clay like sediment.

The pump is sitting 15 feet off the bottom and Ive got water in the casing 14 ft from the top of pipe (so approx 30 feet of water). I lowered the pump to the bottom and ran it for 1/2 hr it ran dirty for about 2 minutes then cleared up totally clear for the rest of the time.

I turn off the pump for 5 minutes, do it again and same results??

I raised the pump to 10 ft, same results..dirty for 2-3 minutes then clear for as long as its on.
I turn it off waite 5 minutes ,...same results????

I thought I could pump the sediment out of the hole but apparently its getting pulled from a compromised casing. SO HERE IS MY QUESTION

If I drop 4" PVC SCH40 pipe down around my pump to keep it from whirling the dirt out of cracks, should I drop it all the way down to the bottom and just up over the pump?

Has anyone fixed a prob like this in this manner? seems like an easy fix and easy to test it out.

Was also thinking of suspending the PVC section so its length is held maybe 5 ft below and 5 ft above the pump. Water has to enter the PVC in order for the pump to send it out.

Thoughts? Ideas? short of hiring a well guy to drill me a new well or costly sleave this one down to 4" anyway?
Thx

 

Do you know how deep the casing extends?

A shallow 40' well is likely only in the dirt and does not extend into a rock aquifer. I think that coupled with the insanely over sized pump are the culprit. Really, a 5hp pump in a 40' deep well for just one house?

The water you are drawing is likely in the clay and dirt. Basically it's muddy water to begin with. If it's drawn at a reasonable rate the soil will act as a filter to clarify the water. Pump it too fast and you just end up washing the soil into the well.

I don't think the 4" idea will succeed. I don't believe your premise that the pump is "whirling the dirt out of cracks".

 

It was a surplus pump I had on the shelf for another property we were at. What HP pump is recommended for a 40 ft well?

I have a 14GPM requirement based on fixtures, qty 2 barbed 1" pipe connectors before it gets to the press switch and 4 ft of rise after it exits the well

 

OK pulled pump to get a sample before the house

The pump is only a 1/2 HP unit...MY BAD!

The sample was submitted to a drilling co and they came back and said it has IRON ALGEA and its very hard to treat.

Options are drill another well
or
Treat with a sediment filter that backflushes on a timer

The second option would require the media to be replace probably every two yrs according to them because the levels are so high.

I think Im going with the second at a cost of $300/2 yrs or North of $10,000 for a new well.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

 

How did you determine that this well is only 40' Deep ?

Deposits of sedimentary clay are often found close to the surface in ancient river beds and well drillers usually drill much deeper to get beyond that strata and drill into the underlying rock layers to find a vein of a reliable aquifer.

Maybe it was drilled much deeper than the 40 feet and has filled in during the period it went un-used ?

Where are you located ?

 

Isn’t it more than $300/2 yrs.? I think the treatment tank and automatic valve will cost at least $900-$1,000 and that doesn’t include the cost of installation if you need a plumber. You’ll need room for the tank and you’ll need a drain.

You said sediment filter but you said also that they found iron in your water. I think if you get into a sediment filter plus an iron filter the cost will go up – if you wanted full blown treatment. But I guess that sure beats 10K for a new well.

(I installed in my home an Acid Neutralizer (AN) tank myself with an auto-backwash valve.)

 

I dropped a tape measure down till it bottomed =40ft
I also dropped the pump and line down to the bottom, till it would go further just to try and pump out any sediment = 40 ft.

When I rebuilt the house I uncovered a hand dug stone lined well and it was about 30 ft deep with 15 ft of water in it..Im assuming the same water table as the existing well Im working with. A neighbor redrilled his and it went to 475ft! not sure why so deep maybe to avoid thier old Sess pool which was close to thier well.

I can do the install of the new system and plumb it with the drain and all no prob. Yea Im thinkin prob $3k in flushing/filtering and then the media purge every couple of yrs...still beats an est $10k well and thats not knowing how deep it would need to be?

 

I will be very surprised if your drilled well is only 40ft. Drilled wells don't even think of stopping until after they are in bedrock. The upper portion of the well is lined with a casing to prevent soil, mud and sediment form the dirt getting in.

Is your well casing steel or plastic? If it's steel it is possible that your casing has rusted through and is allowing surface water and mud into the well. A well company can drop a camera down the hole to confirm and if needed the upper portion of the well can be sleeved.

 

So your property has two (2) Wells; one is hand dug and lined with stone and the 2nd is drilled with a casing . . . . and you have concluded that they're of similar depth based upon the static water level of the hand dug well ?

I think that if any reputable well driller took the time to bring a well drilling rig out to the location, s/he would have far drilled deeper than 40 feet, and would have lined his work down to and beyond the point where he struck bedrock.

What has happened since to allow the infiltration of clay sediment and silt to enter the casing remains a mystery.

What State are you in . . . . most State Authorities now have a registry of wells that were drilled over the past 40 years or so, and you should be able to research this to identify who drilled this well, when it was drilled, its depth, the static water level at the time of drilling, the recovery rate and the HP rating of the Pump that was originally installed (among many other items specific to each well). Tax dollars paid for that Registry . . . . you may as well access it.

 

I bought a piece of property once that only had a 40' drilled well BUT it only had a 2" casing. That well ended up collapsing and I had another drilled at 105' .... which was in the neighborhood of the norm for that area.

Have you got more than one estimate on the cost of new well? Do know the average depth for wells in your area? You never want to pump from the very bottom of a well.