Hi to all campfire buddies. I have a question about a water well thats on my property. It hasn't been used in about 25 years. Its 85 feet deep and is the drilled type 4"casting. It has 2 pipes coming out of it/ one 1" and one 1 1/4". I have no pump. How does this thing work. Does the pump push water or air down one pipe and push water out of the other? I tried connecting garden hose to one pipe but it must be blocked or corroded. Is there anything I could pour down the well to disolve whats blocking it. I thought I might be able to hook my compressor to it and have a way to water my lawn and garden in the summer. Do any of the great minds out there have any ideas on what I can do? John
It sounds like a deep-well jet pump. I wouldn't pour anything down the well, but I would try to pull the piping out. If it's like mine, the jet pump at the bottom of the piping is probably corroded to the point it can't be used.
The way it works is that a pump on the surface forces water down one pipe, and when it gets to the "jet pump" at the bottom, it picks up more water that is brought to the surface and that goes to a storage tank until it's full or reaches the shutoff pressure. I don't think compressed air will work.
Sears sells jet pump kits with a plastic jet pump so you don't get corrosion, but they can still plug up from carbonate precipitating in the jet pump.
Rather than try to "do it yourself", and take a chance on messing it up completely, I think I would call a well service company to come check it.
They can check the piping and pump (if any), and check the well for dead critters or other contaminants.
If your State is like my State, that well should have been registered when it was drilled, and the water rights assigned to whoever owned the property at that time. You might want to check on that! When I bought this property, I discovered that the water rights were still in the name of the first owner after the sub-division was established, way back in 1991.
Good luck.
By all means get a qualified well service company to check it for you,it will likely be much cheaper than messing around with it yourself.Also try to get whatever documentation you can find from whoever registers wells etc. in your area.
callista John wrote: Hi to all campfire buddies. I have a question about a water well thats on my property. It hasn't been used in about 25 years. Its 85 feet deep and is the drilled type 4"casting. It has 2 pipes coming out of it/ one 1" and one 1 1/4". I have no pump. How does this thing work. Does the pump push water or air down one pipe and push water out of the other? I tried connecting garden hose to one pipe but it must be blocked or corroded. Is there anything I could pour down the well to disolve whats blocking it. I thought I might be able to hook my compressor to it and have a way to water my lawn and garden in the summer. Do any of the great minds out there have any ideas on what I can do? John
Howdy, John;
Do you have an elecric box there by the well piping? You normally would have some 220volt relays & such electrics. Do you have a pressure storage tank there?
I'll jump in with some "assumptions". 4" casing isn't rare but not popular today in favour of the later 6" or even 8". You have the "deep well" version of the jet pump. Look at a common jet pump as mounted to a tank on a shelf at your local Home Depot or Lowes and you'll see a "snout" on the end of the pump with one of those size ports right on the end of it. That is the "shallow" well version with the venturi right on the end of the pump inside that "snout". Your well will have that "snout" assembly with probably a number 5 venturi, way down that pipe and will function as described earlier with the pump up top sending a column of water at high volume down to that venturi and the resultant increase in velocity of the water passing through the venturi back up that smaller pipe creates a vacuum and sucks water into the venturi housing creating the pressurized system with a holding tank and a head of air for compression. The secret to the system and why you can't force water down that pipe is becasue there will be a "foot valve" of either brass or later plastic at the very end of that snout that is in effect a "one way valve" it allows water to enter through vacuum created by the venturi effect but will not let the water drain back under pressure from the storage tank when the pump shuts off at peak. Without that foot valve, you would need to prime the system each and every time you wished to use it.
Suggestion: Cheapest Option 1/ buy a jet pump, at least 1/2 horse, remove the snout assembly (not further needed) to reveal two threaded ports, one occupied by the plastic venturi, remove the venturi and install two barbed fitting of the size for your exposed plastic ground piping, install a street elbow onto the side of the pump, run a hose/plastic piping from that elbow to a 10 or 20 gal, internal bladdered storage tank with a "tee' fitting on the bottom of the tank to allow for a hose bib and you are good to go with a watering sytem. Leaving the pressure control that will come with the pump set at the default 20/40 will provide you with plenty of water for a watering system and you will only need to prime the pump for it's initial start up. I would install a fitting onto one of those (larger) pipes coming out of the ground and use you garden hose connected securley to it to run some water through the system before installing anything on those pipes just to clear any debris, bugs, rust chunks, etc., out before hooking up any system to them. you'll need pressure to do that as pushing the weight of an 85' water column upwards ain't going to be easy.
Warming those plastic pipe ends with a hair dryer or heat gun slightly will ease their fitting onto those barbed fittings.
Costlier Option 2/ Buy a 4" submersible pump. Round up a couple of friends to help and undo the clamping plate on top of that 4" casing. WARNING** Do not lose control of those 2 plastic pipes, they will be HEAVY and want to fall down into the pipe. Have your friends walk away from the well slowly with those two platic lines and assist by wiggling those things to help the venturi/foot vavle assy work it's way up that rusty pipe. Lay the whole mess out on the ground and take note of the water line on those pipes.
Transfer one of the pipes to the top of your new pump and then re-install down the pipe making sure that your new pump with it's intake is well below that water line. You will need to install a torque limiter to prevent your pump from turning itself around when it starts and also a line to the top of the pump to assist future removal. All of the controls such as pressure switch and other stuff will remain above ground. With the use of a "pitless adapter" installed at the top of your casing nothing need be visible above ground at all by running the pipe & electic line from the well underground to a building containing the pressure tank and controls.
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Interesting thread. I like Bruce Starkey's option #2. You'll get more water and cheaper operating costs overall. I checked, Red Devil does indeed make a 1/2 and 3/4 residential submersible pump.
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Thanks for all the info. I think I will pull the old pipes and go with a submersible pump. This way I'll be able to make sure the well still has water and I have to purchase a pump and tank anyway. I can always depend on you guys for good info. John
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