StanleyMan
New Member
We are in a new house and the well is just under a year old. It's around 100 feet deep into decomposed granite and old moraine deposits. Our lot is situated at the base of hills that head up into the mountains. The water that's come out of the well has never been clear. At times it's tolerably cloudy (kind of a whitish, milky color), but occasionally it's been very murky. We've noticed the water quality has decreased during heavy rain and during the spring snow melt. My wife and I have lived in our house about 11 months, but we are often away for work and travel a lot, so maybe our well has probably received less than 6 months of use. I haven't talked to anyone else in our neighborhood who's had problems like this, but most wells here are much older.
Recently, the water has taken a significant turn for the worse and is now very dirty - borderline muddy. You can see a lot of sediment in the bottom of the toilet bowl. If we run the well for 12 hours or so (through a hose from a spigot at the well), then the water will become much better but only for about a day before it gets worse again. We've ordered a high capacity whole house filter, but I'm afraid that will be a band aid fix to a larger problem and that we'll constantly be replacing filter cartridges.
The well was drilled by a guy who has a good reputation and does most of the wells around here. However, he wasn't much help and said he really hadn't run into this problem before.
Any idea what is wrong with our well? Could it just be a new well cleaning itself our or is there a more significant problem? I have no idea where to start troubleshooting. I've heard of problems with the well shaft collapsing, with cracks in the casing, etc. but I'm afraid of the cost to have someone to look for a problem they may not find.
Thanks for any help you can offer! We're about at the end of our rope.
I've attempted to answer some of the questions below:
Type of pump?
Submersible___yes_____
Two wire (no control)________
Three wire (control box)___yes___
Wire Size_________ Wire Length________
or
Jet Pump (above ground)_________
One or two pipes down the well___1_
Size of Pump?
Motor Horsepower?____3/4______
Pump Model #______________
Date Pump Installed____9/2010______
Pumping from?
Cistern tank___________
Pond, lake, river________
Water Well______x______
Depth of well_____100'_____
Depth to water_____?____
Pump Setting__________
Pipe Size_________"
Drop Pipe Material
PVC____x____
Steel_______
Poly________
Well Recovery Rate_______gpm
Well Casing Diameter___8____â€
Rock Well__________ Sand Well__________ Other______________
Date Well Drilled_____9/2010_______
Well Casing Material
PVC________ Steel_____x____ Other_________
Pressure Tank?
Bladder or diaphragm tank (one pipe to tank)___x_______
Size or model of tank____________
Air charge in top of tank, with pump off and water drained_____normal_______PSI
(check with car tire gauge)
or
Plain Hydro Pneumatic tank (two pipes to tank, one in and one out)_________
Size of tank________________
Pressure Switch Setting?
On 30, off 50 ________
On 40, off 60____x_____
Other_______________
Pump Control Method?
Cycle Stop Valve model #_________
Variable speed control #__________
Pump Start Relay (sprinkler timer, no tank)__________
Manually turned on and off____________
Pump Protection
Cycle Sensor_________
Pumptec_____________
Low pressure cutoff switch (lever on side)__________
Other_______________
Filters or Softeners_____no_________
Before or after pressure tank_______
Type of filter___________________
Bypass available________________
Water Used For?
House Use____x___ Number of baths____1___ Number of People___2_____
High Flow Showers_______gpm?
Plus/Or
Irrigation with timers__no______
Irrigation with hoses____no____
Heat Pump______gpm?
Recently, the water has taken a significant turn for the worse and is now very dirty - borderline muddy. You can see a lot of sediment in the bottom of the toilet bowl. If we run the well for 12 hours or so (through a hose from a spigot at the well), then the water will become much better but only for about a day before it gets worse again. We've ordered a high capacity whole house filter, but I'm afraid that will be a band aid fix to a larger problem and that we'll constantly be replacing filter cartridges.
The well was drilled by a guy who has a good reputation and does most of the wells around here. However, he wasn't much help and said he really hadn't run into this problem before.
Any idea what is wrong with our well? Could it just be a new well cleaning itself our or is there a more significant problem? I have no idea where to start troubleshooting. I've heard of problems with the well shaft collapsing, with cracks in the casing, etc. but I'm afraid of the cost to have someone to look for a problem they may not find.
Thanks for any help you can offer! We're about at the end of our rope.
I've attempted to answer some of the questions below:
Type of pump?
Submersible___yes_____
Two wire (no control)________
Three wire (control box)___yes___
Wire Size_________ Wire Length________
or
Jet Pump (above ground)_________
One or two pipes down the well___1_
Size of Pump?
Motor Horsepower?____3/4______
Pump Model #______________
Date Pump Installed____9/2010______
Pumping from?
Cistern tank___________
Pond, lake, river________
Water Well______x______
Depth of well_____100'_____
Depth to water_____?____
Pump Setting__________
Pipe Size_________"
Drop Pipe Material
PVC____x____
Steel_______
Poly________
Well Recovery Rate_______gpm
Well Casing Diameter___8____â€
Rock Well__________ Sand Well__________ Other______________
Date Well Drilled_____9/2010_______
Well Casing Material
PVC________ Steel_____x____ Other_________
Pressure Tank?
Bladder or diaphragm tank (one pipe to tank)___x_______
Size or model of tank____________
Air charge in top of tank, with pump off and water drained_____normal_______PSI
(check with car tire gauge)
or
Plain Hydro Pneumatic tank (two pipes to tank, one in and one out)_________
Size of tank________________
Pressure Switch Setting?
On 30, off 50 ________
On 40, off 60____x_____
Other_______________
Pump Control Method?
Cycle Stop Valve model #_________
Variable speed control #__________
Pump Start Relay (sprinkler timer, no tank)__________
Manually turned on and off____________
Pump Protection
Cycle Sensor_________
Pumptec_____________
Low pressure cutoff switch (lever on side)__________
Other_______________
Filters or Softeners_____no_________
Before or after pressure tank_______
Type of filter___________________
Bypass available________________
Water Used For?
House Use____x___ Number of baths____1___ Number of People___2_____
High Flow Showers_______gpm?
Plus/Or
Irrigation with timers__no______
Irrigation with hoses____no____
Heat Pump______gpm?