Help! Water line woes...

I know this it quite O/T, but seems like lots of water discussions here lately. I'll add my tale.

I have a spring which feeds a concrete cistern through a 1500' gravity-fed line. From there a shallow-well pump in my basement draws the water to the house - about 150'. This summer due to the dry weather my spring started going low. In trying to lower my pickup line into the spring I must have drawn some silt from the bottom and it wound up in the cistern and the water line to the house. I have since made sure it's drawing only clear water.

Last Wednesday I noticed that my water filter in the house was getting cloudy too fast. Before long - no water at faucet but could still draw thrugh the pump. Water came in muddy and silty, lots of knocking inside the pump. Soon the check valve in the house failed (debris in the valve). I opened my cistern, pumped out most of the water (1000 gallons) and thoroughly cleaned it, took quite a few shovelfuls of silt out.

Last night I cleaned my pump and all the components, hooked it back up - NO WATER. Best I can tell, the line from the cistern to the house is plugged up or silted in.

Is there any way to clean 150' of 1" iron pipe line? I was thinking about flushing it with more water or putting a more powerful pump on to help draw (mine is a 1/2 HP Flotec). One plumber I asked said to use a snake to try and clean the line, otherwise have to replace. I don't even want to go there, huge $$$'s, and the water line goes under a town road.

All suggestions will be appreciated. I don't have much to lose and everything to gain at this point. Thanks.

A pressure washer with a long hose on the nozzle will clear the pipe. The only issue will be where the overflow and silt go when discharged back out the end. Jim

Back flush that line from your pressure pump. 100 years ago my great-grandfather kept 1500' of 1/2" pipeline from a spring open with a hand pressure pump and a 5 gallon bucket of water.

before you do anything,remove the aereators from your faucets and make sure you indeed have no water. then try this,remove a stop from under a sink ,and tie on,or buy a hose adapter for outside sillcock and proper fittings to put a air fitting on your COLD WATER pipe(s). remove all check valves between pump and house, disconnect pump and try blowing backwards with your air compressor. dont put any great amount of air on it but lines should handle fifty pounds or so easily enough.If that doesnt work, the next best thing is to acidize lines.youll have to rig up a tank of some sort you can pressurize and push a muratic acid solution back through lines to pump.DO NOT run this solution into your cistern.and do not have any type of check valve between tank and line. a regular hand garden sprayer works fairly good for this. just pump up some pressure,to put acid in line then release pressure and leave top loose so pressure cannot build in sprayer. its best if you dont use wand,but if you do wire or tape valve open,once you get acid flowing back to pump fittings flush with clear water back to pump then run a lot of water through lines to get rid of acid. its best also if you do not have one to put a cutoff valve in cold water feed to hot water tank and make sure its off. simply to keep acid out of tank.

I agree with jackinok but would put 65or 70 psi on the line and just tie the air hose on to a garden hose fitting that is already there, and remove any fitting from the far end of the line, leave the press. on over night if you have to. ALSO do this as soon as you can the longer the silt sets there the harder it packs down.

If You have a trencher or small back hoe or can rent one replace the old iron pipe with new plastic preferedly the grey type that screws together .
Cost is not much more than cleaning out the old pipe an cheaper if it blows out do to a rusty spot.
Walt

Shove a smaller water line through it with some water pressure on it, it will flush the silt out backwards. a pressure washer with a special end called a go-devil would work better, but I doubt if you need that, it should flush right out. If there are some elbows like my Son's water line you are screwed!

Pumps don't suck well.

They push great tho.

You need to pump water or air through your line in reverse. Water would be the better choice.

Be careful to not overdo the pressure to bust your pipe!

--->Paul

I have used 3/8 plastic air line (the brake line on semi trucks) to shove through a blocked water line. I usually rig it up to air and try to start at the lower end. If it is really silted in the you will need to push water through it. It will wash the silt out as you push it through.

Then in your cistern you need to make a silt filter. I have made them by just stacking 8 inch concrete blocks in a square. Just stacked tight with no mortar. Make sure that your suction pipe suck out of the inside of the square. They will keep the silt out of the suction pipe.