Got water well up and running, not good.

[Fordiesel69]

Have a friends well I have been helping with that had been sitting vacant for 2 years. In summery we gutted the pump house of all the old gear and installed a new 1/2HP submersible pump at 45 feet (is a 48 foot well). It will pump water wide open out on the ground, for 8 minutes before running dry. We have done this over and over before hooking up the bladder tank and piping. The issue is the water simple will not clear up. It is like a grey color and at times it can clear to what a gin and tonic looks like. It will never come out clear.

We have done the chlorine shock for 24 hrs and then pumped it out several times after with no improvement. Still smells very much like metals.

Any ideas? At the current condition it will just plug up a sediment filer.

 

[SHOZ]

What's the ground like at 48ft? Is it suspended clay clouding things up?

 

[IndyIan]

My buddy just drilled a similar well that would not clear out at a moderate flow rate, and they ran it for days. So they just ended up pulling water at 2-3 gal/min so it ran clear and installed a few hundred gal storage tank that gets filled slowly and they can still have lots of flow when they need it.

Also I would try running it at a sustainable rate until it clears up. Most wells in our area, glacial till, will move sediment if you are drawing water at very high rates. Our did if we ran it down low as we normally have 80-90' over the pump, but we don't draw it way down anymore and haven't had sediment for years.

 

[Cujet]

My guess is that it will over time, clear up. Wells are so different from location to location and the differing depths can make or break a well.

I have a shallow sand point well at my FL house. It took forever to get the silt out. Over the years my well has gone from simply having tan sandy silt, to a fine brown deposit that is difficult to clean off the filter.

I shock the well by back flushing it with both muriatic acid and/or pool chlorine which is a deadly combo if the fumes are inhaled. This helps immensely, as the I can use my fire pump to push water backwards down the well. Pushing the chemicals into the surrounding sand. Which also helps clear the silt from the well point, and surrounding sand.

What's interesting is that "if" I leave the chemicals in there for a day, very little of it comes back up. There seems to be enough underground waterflow to carry it away. So I've learned to leave it for an hour or two, then run the well for an hour.

I'm mentioning all this because the high powered back flush prevents the well from running dry. It frees up the flow in the sand around the well point.

 

[Chris142]

I know all about well trouble. How much water is in the well? How many gpm is the pump?

 

[Fordiesel69]

We can pump 80 ~ 100 gal before dry and it has a 2 or 2.5 recovery rate.

 

[IndyIan]

We can pump 80 ~ 100 gal before dry and it has a 2 or 2.5 recovery rate.

That's basically what my buddy has, so he draws no faster than the recovery rate and fills the tank in the house. Not much if any silt now.

 

[Fordiesel69]

How do I slow it down? The pump comes on and recovers the bladder tank at approx 10 gal per minute based on the chart.

 

[John Galt]

What is the sedimentation rate? If you put the water in a tall glass does the cloudy stuff settle out? Becomes clear at the top and gradually clearing over time.

Use a valve or a pipe restriction to slow the rate down. Example- reduce the say 1 inch diameter line to ⅜ for a short length and the withdrawal rate will be reduced.

 

[MParr]

It’s probably not deep enough.

 

[Fordiesel69]

What not deep enough? In this area wells are 40 ~ 60 ft and sometimes up to 100.

 

[thastinger]

My well is 190ft deep, but the well pump sits at 50ft, no issues. I'm no well expert but seems there should be a common depth for your area.

 

[Fordiesel69]

Yes, pumps are set at 2 to 5 feet from bottom is the norm for our area.

 

[MParr]

What not deep enough? In this area wells are 40 ~ 60 ft and sometimes up to 100.

It’s pumping itself dry in 8 minutes. It only makes sense that it’s too shallow.

 

[Fordiesel69]

2 to 3 gal per minute is normal for wells in our area. Many only do 0.5 and the best ones do 5 gal. Not sure why our aquifers dont do more.

 

[Chris142]

What not deep enough? In this area wells are 40 ~ 60 ft and sometimes up to 100.

Thats not much water over the pump. At least here they want 100 ft over the pump. My well is failing. I need 10-12 ft over my pump to pump continuosly.

A high gpm pump cant be that close to the bottom as it will cause a rucus and stir up sediment. My well can only supply 6 gpm so I use a 5 gpm pump.

Sounds like you need a low gpm pump and a storage tank to feed the bladder. Instead of the well feeding the bladder directly.

BTW wells here are regularly 400+ ft

 

[ripcord]

Thats not much water over the pump. At least here they want 100 ft over the pump. My well is failing. I need 10-12 ft over my pump to pump continuosly.

A high gpm pump cant be that close to the bottom as it will cause a rucus and stir up sediment. My well can only supply 6 gpm so I use a 5 gpm pump.

Sounds like you need a low gpm pump and a storage tank to feed the bladder. Instead of the well feeding the bladder directly.

BTW wells here are regularly 400+ ft

And a heavy duty sediment filtration system, it sounds like.

 

[Chris142]

2 to 3 gal per minute is normal for wells in our area. Many only do 0.5 and the best ones do 5 gal. Not sure why our aquifers dont do more.

Depends on the mineralization below ground. granite, limestone and clay are hard to get water through.
Sand and gravel flow water much better.

 

[walterjay]

Every well is different and will require different things to clear things up.

In your case I would recommend the following

1. No further chlorination
2. No more extended runs pumping it out.
3. Let the well rest for a few days if possible
4. Install a large dirt and sediment filter AFTER the well tank and change as necessary.

This usually helped most of my customers with similar situations.

 

[AZjeff]

First, ground conditions in Cali or Fla or Ga will be no help in Erie PA. The wells I had 100 miles south of you in PA won't tell you anything, different geology. Best bet is to talk with a well driller familiar with your area, they'll know exactly whats happening. If you don't want to do that talk with as many neighbors with wells as you can. It may need cleaned out. Is it possible in the area to use straight well water or does it need treated? Where I lived all well water had to be treated.

What WJ said