How do get thru gravel?

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Ron in SC

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Another question is,how high are you in relation to the closest body of water?
That would be 13' above sea level. I have wetlands behind my house. House is 300 yards to Ashley River which goes into Charleston Harbor and then ocean.
 

Ron in SC

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How high are you in realtion to those wetlands?
I'd estimate about 6'. Wetlands behind my house are no longer tidal.

Edited:
Don't know if this is relevent or not but we not had any rain for 3.5 weeks.
 
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Sammyhydro11

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If you see water in that wetlands area,thats where your water level is going to be in that well as long as you dont go into another confining or perched layer.Again, I think your water bearing material or your best chance for a well is going to be between 6 and 18 feet.You should maybe consider placing your screen at 17.5' so you know your away from that 18' spot which seems like a clay layer. With the water table at 6 or 7 feet you can develop the well with a hand pump or better yet that mud hog.

SAM
 

Ron in SC

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I got the hole I was working on down to 24', that means screen was from 24' to 20'. I removed the casing too. Not enough water to pump without pump losing pressure. To remove slit in screen I put a 1/2 pipe down wellpoint pipe and rain water to until it came out clear on top. I don't think wellpoint is the problem but I'm not sure.

Does no rain for 3.5 weeks effect water for well?

I guess I need to start going up by 4' and try to run the pump and see if there's any water.
 

Sammyhydro11

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I dont 3.5 weeks of no rain is your problem there. I think your hitting layers of clay that have a small amount of water bearing material between them but not enough to make a good well. I truly think you should be working that upper zone like i said. Looking back you said you went through some yellow sand. Thats where you should be if its anywhere between 6 and 18 feet. The reason why you have the wetlands out back is because all of that water is being held there by that layer of clay at 18'. Those hard spots below that could be some marine till and usualy below that you hit bedrock.

SAM
 

Ron in SC

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Update:

Pulled wellpoint up to 22'. That means bottom of screen at 22' and top of screen at 18'. Produced measured volume of 3 gallons per minute.

Pulled wellpoint up another 9" so screen from about 21' 3" to 17' 3". Produced 6 gallons per minute.

Pulled wellpoint up to 20' 6" so screen from 20' 6" to 16' 6" and well still produced 6 gallons per minute.

Should I stop pulling it up and be happy with what I was able to find?
Should I put it back down to 21' 3"?
 

Sammyhydro11

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What is your static water level at?I think that you should pull the well back so the bottom of the screen is at 18' and see what you have. 6 Gallons per minute isn't bad but we could get more. I think a section of the screen is in some tight material and the other section could be in some more porous material.

SAM
 

Sammyhydro11

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Like i said ron i think your water bearing zone is between 6' and 18' and fom what it sounds like to me you only have 2' of that screen in that zone.

SAM
 

Ron in SC

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I pulled it up to about 19' and production was about the same to a little less.

I put it back to 20.6 and run it for a while and it does the 6 gallon per minute. Every so often I stop the pump and move the well point up and down a little to get the sand in pipe to come out. It will come out for a couple of minutes and then goes back to clear.

To develop the area where the screen is located and to remove the very small sand that gets thru the screen would it help to connect the pipe to a mudhog and run it for several hours?
 

Sammyhydro11

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Ron where is the static water level now? Yes the mud hog is the way to go. Have you tried pulling it to 18'?? What color is the sand?

SAM
 

Ron in SC

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Not sure what the static water level is, I'll check that tomorrow, since pump is connected up and running now. I did not go any shallower than 19'. When I was at 18' on another hole production was really bad, gurgling and all so I figured I need to be content with 6 gpm. The other wellpoint that was about 7' from this one was at about 20', not sure of exact depth as I did that well over 20 years ago.

I changed my mind on using the mudhog, I'm concerned that with it having a 3" intake and me reducing it to 1 1/4 that I may put to much pressure on the pvc particularly the screen; I think it may cause it to fracture.

Sand that comes out after I move the well point up and down with pump off but still connected is yellowish/tan. I also made a 1/2" pvc pipe about 23' long and I connect a hose on the top to try to flush the sand in the screen up and out. It works to a certain degree but the water I put down toward the screen also can get sucked into the well so no water comes up until a run it for a few minutes.

Edited
Ground water is at 7'
 
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Sammyhydro11

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Well if you want my advice i say pull that screen to 18' and go at it with the mud hog.If you worried about the well just idle it down or develop the well with a hand pump.In some areas just moving 7' can make a huge difference. Is it a slotted screen or a mesh screen that you have? I thinik you're cutting off 1' of that screen by having the well at 19'. Just think where your water table was at before and where its at now. The difference would tell me that you have a clay layer at that 18 foot depth and the material below that could be much finer than the material above it. I also think that that yellowish brown sand is above that 18 foot mark too and thats the material you want to be in. Below that it sounds like you were in some tight organic material becuase of the discoloration and with the shells it could be a marine silt.

SAM
 

Ron in SC

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Here's what I did today.

Measured water in well this morning and it was 7' from the top.

I am using a slotted screen.

Moved the bottom of the wellpoint up to 18' 6" and water production was down a lot from 6 gallons per minute and the pump pressure gauge would stay at zero although it was pumping water.

I moved it back to 20' 6" and it was back to a little bit over 6 gpm with the pressure gauge showing 26 psi wide open. I have the pressures set at 22 psi to come on and 42 psi to shut off.

My next door neighbor said his well is 20' deep, and he is using a pvc slotted screen.
 

Sammyhydro11

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Ron,
sounds like that is the right depth.I just wanted to be sure that hard stuff at 18' wasnt clay that was cutting off the water from up top. Who knows whats down there. Have you done any developing? 6 gallons per minute at 26 psi isnt too bad at all but you might get more from developing either with a hand pump or the mud hog. I say blast it with the mud hog!Oh and set your pressure to atleast 30/50 and make sure your tank pressure is 2lbs below the cut in of the pump.

SAM
 

Ron in SC

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SAM,

What is benefit of setting pressures at 30/50 as opposed to 20/40?

Also when I check the tank pressure do I check it with pump off and tank drained?

Thanks for all the great help.

Ron
 

Sammyhydro11

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Ron,
at a 20/40 cycle, when running a small amount of water your pump will cycle on and off.Plus if your getting 6 GPM at 26 psi and your pump turns on at 20 your are going to notice a dip in pressure until the pump kicks on.Turning the pump on at 30,with an open flow at 6 GPM you will notice only a gradual drop to 26 psi. What is the make and model of your pump? I would talk to Valveman about a cycle stop valve once you are done developing the well.

SAM
 

Sammyhydro11

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I would try the 30/50 but would recommend a cycle stop valve with your system. I'm not too sure about the model tank you have. Maybe someone else could touch on that.

SAM
 
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