flushing a well, anybody have experience?

Mike(NEOhio)

Well-known Member
Location
Newbury, Ohio
My well is drilled 75 ft and cased 25, to bedrock. The pump is down 30 feet and the water level is at 13 feet. Always had plenty of flow but it would pull sediment when I used a lot of water. It settles over a couple of days but it's gotten worse over the years. Now we can only do one load of clothes in a day. I put a whole-house filter on over the weekend and the 5 micron element plugged in about 90 seconds. Has anybody here ever pumped out a well? I talked to a driller who said he could bail it but would have to get his truck into the wife's landscaping. "Absolutely NOT" was the response. I've tried just running it wide open from a hose but with the pump so shallow it can't pull fast enough to really clear it. I have a pump rated 100gpm at 10' head but I don't know if it will lift that much. Any suggestions?
 
I had a friend that blew one out with air, rent a large air compressor (like they use for jackhammers) and get enough solid pipe to go all the way to the bottom. Use at least 3/4 pipe, and blow it out, let it refill with water and do it over again and again.
 
Hello Mike(NEOhio),

It sounds like the well has a lot of sediment at the pump level. This usually happens over time. Last one I was involved in had done just that. It also took the pump out!
You said water level is at 13feet and the pump is at 30 feet. So you have 17feet of water. You need to raise the pump pick up point. We raised it 5 feet and it helped. By that time the pump was done! It is obvious that your filter is much too fine. Raising the pump up is my suggestion, and using a new filter cartrige may gets you going, but not a 5micron one. You did not say if the tank has a bladder? The bladder air pressure should be 2 lb. Less then the cut off pressure, if you have one.

Guido.
 
you need to stage filters
start with a dirt/sediment filter about 150 micron with a pressure gauge in front of it
then a 30 micron with a pressure gauge in front of it
then go to the 5 micron with a pressure gauge in front and after it
this will tell you when you need to change each filter as the flow drops off
if possible only feed the washing machine, drinking water, and ice maker off of the 5 micron
this should give you usable water filtration with flow
still need to deal with the well and the landscaping
good luck
Ron
 
When I was a teenager many years ago we built a new house and the well had a lot of sand in it. It was so bad that we put in a second water tank as a sand trap. we had it set up on a stand high enough that we could put a 5 gallon bucket under a ball valve on the bottom of the tank. The tank was actually put in upside down. We would drain out about 4 gallons every 2 weeks. It cleared up some over time but was very sandy for years.

Steven
 
I have heard of wells like that where people put a small output pump in the well and limit it to about 1 gpm. That pump pumps water into a large cistern where the silt can settle out and then another pump supplies the water to the house. 1gpm is 1440 gal per day, most households can get by on that, and at a 1 gpm pumping rate out of the well the water might be cleaner.
 

We would rent a big compressor and "jet" the well out... by dropping a large pipe into the well, running the compressor, and letting it clean out a space or reservoir at the bottom... it would blow out a bunch of sand adn water,,, stop, blow some more, stop, etc... I remember running it for hours.... Afterwards you have a nice large reservoir of water. Over time the well can silt back in, especially if you dont use it. when jetting, you can see how fast the well recharges... as you blow out huge slugs of water and sand, it will usually get better and better as you clean it out and the reservoir gets bigger and the water layer starts to clean up and let the water run to the well. If a very small water zone, you will set its limit on producing the water. So a big reservoir and a small pump work better to allow recharge of the reservoir with out running it dry.
 
Thank your for all the suggestions. I will look into jetting the well but it will probably wait till spring. One question: Where does all the sand and silt go? Does it exit blow out the top of the casing or can they contain it somehow?
 
(quoted from post at 17:24:48 11/29/15) My well is drilled 75 ft and cased 25, to bedrock. The pump is down 30 feet and the water level is at 13 feet. Always had plenty of flow but it would pull sediment when I used a lot of water. It settles over a couple of days but it's gotten worse over the years. Now we can only do one load of clothes in a day. I put a whole-house filter on over the weekend and the 5 micron element plugged in about 90 seconds. Has anybody here ever pumped out a well? [b:97a96358e3] I talked to a driller who said he could bail it but would have to get his truck into the wife's landscaping. [u:97a96358e3]"Absolutely NOT" [/u:97a96358e3]was the response[/b:97a96358e3]. I've tried just running it wide open from a hose but with the pump so shallow it can't pull fast enough to really clear it. I have a pump rated 100gpm at 10' head but I don't know if it will lift that much. Any suggestions?
guess your Wife doesn't need water bad enough!.

If it were me i would tell the driller,..screw the landscaping,..get yer truck and clean it out
 
One of my neighbors drills wells down here in south jersey. He puts bronze screens on everything to keep sand out of the pumps. There are several types being different lengths. Always put the longest one possible!
 
It will come out the top, BUT you need to get a liner put in the well with a screen or it will come back.
 
It goes straight up in the air, and comes down all over everything! You could probably contain it somewhat with tarps, but if you restrict it too much it won't blow out as well.
 
Thanks for all the opinions. Maybe I should clarify a few points. The well can yield 25-30 gpm. I have very fine silt, not sand. It will go through a coffee without leaving anything behind. It does not affect the taste but collects in the toilets and water heater.
 

Since you have 17 feet of water over your pump you could go another year or two by just raising your pump as someone else said. But long term your well is not very deep and it will be silting in again, so blowing it out would be the long term fix. Blowing out doesn't work well in deep wells, but should work very well in yours.
 

I would think doing it this time of year would be the best time. The landscaping would be hurt the least and would recover in the spring. And the silt would be washed away by the winter weather.

Dusty
 
Hello Mike,

Go on you tube and do a search for well x troll. New system tank has a special agitator that minimizes silt.
This is the kind of tank we put in last year. As I said it took a new pump to finish the job. The company has 50 years on tank building.......


Guido.
 
(quoted from post at 14:30:31 12/01/15) Hire a professional to take care of the problem.

Sooooooooooooo, no professional would do anything except what is best?
 

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