shoot a 22 cal into a well?

My daughter was telling me about someone who just bought a river house. It has been empty for several years, and the well pump ran, but no water. Someone told them to shoot a .22 cal into the well AND IT STARTED WORKING! Anybody ever heard of this?
 
Yes--it's common. It's usually done on driven points. Points are usually used in sandy soil (they're difficult to drive in rocky soil) and over time the sand will clog the screen. Firing a bullet down the pipe will cause the water in the pipe to be pushed outward, clearing the sand away from the outside and letting the water flow again. I had to do it a couple of times to my driven point and it worked, though it's usually a short-term solution--I ended up going to a dug well later on. Of course, firing a gun down a pipe (and having a lead bullet in your well) aren't the smartest of things to do, but if it's your only option, it will sometimes work, though it's by no means a guarantee of success.
 
My dad did it all the time. Only works on shallow wells with low water in pipe. You have to remove the check valve. All you are doing is putting a hole in the well point.
 
Well if your just trying to get the sand out of the well point,make a cap and use compressed air ,that might work too.
 
Where did they find 22 amo? Was in Walmart today thought I would just check while I was in there, had a big sign on the amo
case ( no 22 amo).
 
hanovertom,
Yes works good on shallow wells like the man said,another way if you have if you can find a store owner that sells dry ice, break it in small pieces drop it down the well put a pipe cap on it, pressure will build up and blow the silt away. 22 is easier finding dry ice up here is alot more difficult.
LOU
 
I truly question the lead scare. How many thousands of us are doing quite well in spite of growing up around lead, mercury and every thing else the tree huggers try to scare us with.
One little 22 bullet sure isn't gonna harm you in any way shape or form!!
 
Romans use lead extensively. Thousands of lead smelters all over Italy. They have even found a layer in the Greenland ice cap that is very "heavy" with lead, dating it to the Roman times. Traveled thru the atmosphere all the way from Italy.

Romans use lead pipes extensively for water, it help contribute to the fall of the empire.

Recall the artic expedition in the 1800's that got ice locked. Their camp and equipment was later found and it was determined that they went crazy and did things that no clear thinking person would have done, because of lead poisoning from the lead soldered tin cans that held their food.

Charles
 
That arctic expedition was also suffering from several other maladies too if were talking about the same one, Franklin I think.

Lead is a naturally occurring (Galena) mineral. Like just about everything else, too much of it does you harm. The Romans did have lead pipes, but they also had wood, clay and stone piping. They also had lead drinking ware which is a better bet on ingesting lead than pipe. An even more likely ingestion source is lead dust. I kind of doubt the Romans gave much thought to the dusts and oxides. Simple washing takes care of most of this. I wonder how much washing they did?

We know that lead alloys in the felting industry back in the 19th and 19th century too it's toll on workers, ie- "mad as a hatter". We know it's not something we want to chew on. Will one 22 bullet in your well cause you to lose your mind? I doubt it. Lots more chances you'll lose your mind from worrying about it. But it's a personal choice, there are other ways to get the same results I'm told.
 
(quoted from post at 19:05:42 04/05/14) Romans use lead extensively. Thousands of lead smelters all over Italy. They have even found a layer in the Greenland ice cap that is very "heavy" with lead, dating it to the Roman times. Traveled thru the atmosphere all the way from Italy.

Romans use lead pipes extensively for water, it help contribute to the fall of the empire.

Recall the artic expedition in the 1800's that got ice locked. Their camp and equipment was later found and it was determined that they went crazy and did things that no clear thinking person would have done, because of lead poisoning from the lead soldered tin cans that held their food.



Charles

That was a good read. They ended up on Wrangel Island north of Siberia. The lead finished them off but the main problem was idiot leader who jumped ship as soon as the going got a little tough.
 
(quoted from post at 05:53:12 04/06/14) That arctic expedition was also suffering from several other maladies too if were talking about the same one, Franklin I think.

............
We know that lead alloys in the felting industry back in the 19th and 19th century too it's toll on workers, ie- "mad as a hatter". ..........

I thought it was mercury that caused 'hatter's disease', not lead. :?
 
(quoted from post at 01:33:50 04/07/14)
(quoted from post at 05:53:12 04/06/14) That arctic expedition was also suffering from several other maladies too if were talking about the same one, Franklin I think.

............
We know that lead alloys in the felting industry back in the 19th and 19th century too it's toll on workers, ie- "mad as a hatter". ..........

I thought it was mercury that caused 'hatter's disease', not lead. :?

I thought it was a lead compound. Let me google it.....

Yup. You're right. I stand corrected. Mercury it is.
 
It sits in there a long time, unless its a flowing well the lead isn't going anywhere except the water. Lead exposure causes more problems for children than adults, so I guess how old are you.
 
Well if one lead bullet coming in contact with drinking water is going to poison us all, you better stop hunting and clean up all those bullets and slugs littering the woods from missed shots.

Where do you think drinking water comes from? You probably think it magically appears at the faucet, clean and clear.

No, drinking water starts as rain water. It percolates over all the animal feces, rotting organic matter, various chemicals both natural and man-made, mineral deposits (including lead), AND bullets, before it makes its way through the ground to your well. That's what gives water different tastes.

There are trace amounts of a LOT of bad stuff in your drinking water. Stuff that in sufficient quantity will kill you. But, you'd have to drink so much of the water for that to happen you'd die of water intoxication long before the bad stuff got you.
 
When I was a young policeman we (other young cops) used shotguns three or four times because we didn't have any money and the city bought the ammo. Worked fine on old sand point driven wells.

PS - you are not putting a hole in anything - the pressure wave just blows the silt out of the screen.
 

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