My well (42' drilled, 6" pipe) has been getting slower the past few months so I had a well company come look at it. The well is about 18 years old and the water would initially come out quickly but after about 5 gallons comes out it would slow down to about 2.5 GPM. They replaced the pressure tank, and that didn't fix it, so they opened up the well and found that the PVC coming up from the pump was practically filled with iron. There was probably just enough room to put a pencil through the pipe. Iron is very common in our area, and when we've tested in the past we've been at about 3 ppm (which is low compared to most people around here).
They replaced the PVC and the pump was able to sustain about 7 GPM directly from the top of the well, not connected to the house. But when they connected it back to the house it had the same problem, about 2.5 GPM.
They thought maybe the pump was too clogged with iron so that was replaced too. The replacement is a 1/2 HP 10 GPM pump, 230V 2 wire motor (I think that's the same as the old one). Unfortunately that didn't help either.
So basically all that hasn't been replaced is the underground pipe from the well to the pressure tank (goes for probably 30' underground) and then after the pressure tank it goes to 1/2" PVC for about 10' to the outside faucet we're testing off of. We're testing before it gets to the softener or anything so we've eliminated all of that.
Since water flows quickly for the first few gallons, based on the pressure from the pressure tank, it seems to me like the pipe after the pressure tank probably isn't the issue. About the only thing left is the pipe connecting the well to the house.
If its useful to know, I've left outside faucet wide open and let things run until the pressure tank gauge drops to close to 0. Then I close the valve right after the pressure tank. It is taking almost 3 minutes to get up to 60 PSI, this is on a pressure tank of 22 total gallons size.
So can anyone think of anything that either I or the well company didn't think of?
If not, does anyone know of any way of cleaning out the pipe running from the well to the house? They are talking like they may need to retrench and install a new pipe, and I'd really like to avoid that if at all possible.
They replaced the PVC and the pump was able to sustain about 7 GPM directly from the top of the well, not connected to the house. But when they connected it back to the house it had the same problem, about 2.5 GPM.
They thought maybe the pump was too clogged with iron so that was replaced too. The replacement is a 1/2 HP 10 GPM pump, 230V 2 wire motor (I think that's the same as the old one). Unfortunately that didn't help either.
So basically all that hasn't been replaced is the underground pipe from the well to the pressure tank (goes for probably 30' underground) and then after the pressure tank it goes to 1/2" PVC for about 10' to the outside faucet we're testing off of. We're testing before it gets to the softener or anything so we've eliminated all of that.
Since water flows quickly for the first few gallons, based on the pressure from the pressure tank, it seems to me like the pipe after the pressure tank probably isn't the issue. About the only thing left is the pipe connecting the well to the house.
If its useful to know, I've left outside faucet wide open and let things run until the pressure tank gauge drops to close to 0. Then I close the valve right after the pressure tank. It is taking almost 3 minutes to get up to 60 PSI, this is on a pressure tank of 22 total gallons size.
So can anyone think of anything that either I or the well company didn't think of?
If not, does anyone know of any way of cleaning out the pipe running from the well to the house? They are talking like they may need to retrench and install a new pipe, and I'd really like to avoid that if at all possible.