I have a submersible well pump that feeds the house with water. The pump pit is just below my driveway and the pitless adapter is about 25 inches below the top of the 6" well pipe that goes down into the ground. Right now the well pit is filled in with gravel and dirt but my problem is some of the macadam that covers the area around the pit is breaking up. Also whenever the pump goes on I see water develop in the pit. I'm not sure where that leak is coming from and my question is that something I should worry about? The leak seems to be coming from under the ground where the water pipe goes toward the house. When the pump goes on only a small amount of water collects in the pit. I want to black top it over but I don't want to have to keep doing it if that leak is going to continue eating away the soil. Thanks for any input.

 

Below your driveway ?
Near your driveway or in the driveway itself ?

Since it's a submersible pump.... more than likely the pitless connector is leaking.
24" is not below the frost level of that area.

What I'm not understanding is why the pit is full of rock and dirt.

 

It's actually below my driveway right at the edge where my lawn starts. When I first moved in in 2002 I wasn't sure where the well was because it was paved over. At that time I had a jet pump in my basement but because it started to go bad my good friend suggested we put in a submersible. There was already a 6" PVC pipe in the well pit and the water piping (or tubing) came up through that almost to the top. That tubing went into the house through a larger underground black tube which is still there but I only use it for a way to get the present water piping into the house. I did measure how far the pitless is down and it's about 25" below the top of the 6" PVC pipe. I turned on the garden hose and watched where the leak might be coming from and it is not from the pitless, at least not inside the 6" PVC pipe. The reason there is rock and dirt in the pit is because when the submersible was installed we had to dig up around the 6" PVC pipe in order to run our electric and for the hookup for the incoming tubing that goes into the black tube that runs into the house. So the rock and dirt was used to fill in that hole (about 24" across) because the hole is right at the edge of my driveway. I also laid a piece of diamond plate (about 12" x 24") across the hole but since the blacktop is eroding the hole is getting too big for that plate.

 

What is keeping surface water from contaminating the well? It sounds like a pretty easy path for water to just run/soak down into the well.

 

I'm not sure. The 6" PVC pipe comes up to near the surface of the ground and the driveway. I don't know how far it goes down but I believe it connects to another pipe that goes to the well and that was installed by a pump contractor years ago. On top of the 6" PVC is a cap with side covering where the electric cables go in and down to the pump. There is also a pitless adapter that connects to the black tubing that goes into the house. When the pump goes on water shows up in the hole, or pit, that houses the 6" pipe. The hole is about 18" in diameter and has been partially filled in with gravel and rock. It's not a lot of water and it seeps into the ground shortly after it shows up. I have no idea where it goes.

 

Well, it sounds like you'll be doing some digging. Post some pictures after you get the area exposed. I'm curious to see your setup.

 

I would love to post some pics but I'm too computer illiterate to do that.

 

I dug down to where the pitless adapter comes through the PVC pipe and connects to the black hose that feeds the water into the house. There is a galvanized union that connects the adapter to the hose. It is leaking at that union. I tried to tighten the union but no matter how much I do it still leaks. It could be leaking on the underside which I can't see. I might have to change the union if I have enough room in that pit to do so. Not sure why it's a galvanized union. I would rather see a brass one. I did get the leak to slow down but it still leaks. I'm kind of afraid to keep trying to tighten it because if it breaks I have no water. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

Definitely don't mess with it until you have replacement parts on hand.

If you take pics on your phone... you can send them to me and I'll post them for you.
I PM'd you my email address.

 

Thanks, Pj. I don't have a phone that works that way. I have a flip phone and I doubt if it will be able to send pics. My next try at this thing is I'm going to back the union nut off and use some pipe dope to try to seal it. I have very little room in the pit to work with it. If that doesn't work I will think about replacing that union if I can. It's 25" down and my arms aren't long enough to get all the way down there. Thanks for your help.