Roots are stopping me from pulling my pump!

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VaderSpade

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Hello Everyone,

I have pulled and placed a few pumps in the past, so I have a little experience. But with this one I have run into a snag (literally).

The well is 160 - 180 feet deep I was present when the last pump was placed about 16 years ago. 1†schedule 80 pipe in 20 foot lengths. 3/8†rope down to the pump.

Things started off good enough I set up a pulley on my backhoe and pulled the pipe out about 5 feet. It was tough getting it started, but then things went well. At about 40 feet we ran across a wad of roots wrapped between the pipe, wire and rope. We cleared them O.K. and pulled another 60 feet of pipe. We are now at about 100 feet with 40 – 60 feet to go. At this point you think you got it whipped, but no such luck.

We came up against something that will not let the pump past. I think the pump is just about at the place where that root ball came from. We tried working it up and down for over an hour. We made a little progress at first (maybe 2 feet) but then nothing.

Dose anyone have any ideas on where to go from here???
 

VaderSpade

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I should add that the well was a pound down and is not straight. You can see down about 30 feet and then it curves. When the last guy set the last pump he tried to bail out the well with a 4” bail, but it would not go down. He put on a 3” bail and cleaned the well pulling about 4 feet of sand from the bottom.

The curve may be adding to my problems???
 

VaderSpade

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Anybody? Any experience?

So what I’m going to try is to cut a smaller heavy pipe about two feet long, sharpen the lower edge, weld some rope ties to it, and send it down the well to try and chop the roots.
This will take me a couple of days to get to as I have lots of other work to do, so if anyone has ANY experience with this kind of thing please chime in.
Thanks
 

Ballvalve

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Sounds doable. I would serrate the edge and send it down the hole on 1/4" or 3/8" steel rod so you can put some down pressure on it and be sure to get it back.

The curve could be caved and filled with roots. Maybe a ton of chemical that would dissolve roots and not kill you later. try that first
 
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Valveman

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Even if you get it out, what have you got? A 16 year old burned out pump, and a well full of tree roots. Call a well driller and get a well that will not let roots get in.
 

VaderSpade

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Even if you get it out, what have you got? A 16 year old burned out pump, and a well full of tree roots. Call a well driller and get a well that will not let roots get in.

I plan to put in a new pump; the roots are just in a small (maybe 1 foot) area 40 feet down in a 180 foot well. I think instead of spending $10,000.00+ I'll get a new pump down the hole and pump past those roots for another 16 years.

I already have a second 400 foot well on the lower part of the property, I’m pumping from there now, so I can take my time on this project.

I thought this was a do it yourself forum, not a pay someone else for something you don’t need forum???
 
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Valveman

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If there was anyway for you to DIY, I would be glad to help you. I am just trying to give you the benefit of many years of experience. I have spent many a day building grappling hooks and cutters, trying to pull roots out of wells. Even when I got the pump back down the hole, it would quickly stop up with root fragments. Pull the pump, clean it out several times, bail the well again, and put the pump back down. Then decaying roots would continue to be a problem for months.

Not only that but, anywhere roots can get in a well, so can dog crap, pesticides, and other things. So the well with the root problem can be contaminating the aquifer and all other wells in the area. Not only do you need a new well but, you need to plug the old well to prevent the aquifer from further contamination.

Ever heard of throwing good money after bad? A new well may not be cheap, but do you know how much it would cost to clean up a contaminated aquifer or haul in water? At the very least I would discontinue using this well and have it plugged, so it doesn’t ruin your other well.
 

VaderSpade

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Thanks for your concerns, but I don’t think it’s that bad.

As I stated the roots are in a very small area 40 feet down. The well is sealed to that point. That’s well below the dog crap line.
I was present when the lower well was dug. The well driller even paid me $364.00 when his worker didn’t show up for 2 days, telling me I was better help than his workers.

What I learned on that job was that this area is clay down to 600 feet. All the wells in the area have good water with a high standing water level, but the water moves so slowly through the clay they can be pumped dry in short order. An hour or two later the water is back. This along with the fact the lower well is 600 feet from the upper well makes any contamination problems unlikely. The water in these well is also quite different. The upper well has hard water, while the lower wells water is so soft it’s nearly impossible to rinse soap away in the shower.
Another 600 feet north there are year round springs with water so sweet you would swear sugar was added. I do plan to drill a well about 100 feet behind the springs at some point. I have had geologist look at the springs. They told my the gravel present was from the Tustin era. There are water bottling plants in the area bottling this water, and using the Tustin formations as a selling point. I hope to tap into the stream behind the springs.

In the mean time how about some advise on how to build those building grappling hooks and cutters???
 

Valveman

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OK? Grappling hook is just that. 1" steel pipe with hooks staggered and welded on the sides. Kind of like a treble hook only staggered instead of all at the bottom. The cutter can be a short piece of 4" pipe, sharppened at the bottom. Probably needs a joint of 3" steel pipe above it for some weight. When you have pulled and cut what you can, then go back with the bailer and clean out the well as best you can. The main problem I had was that a year latter the roots were back, and I couldn't get the pump out. I even put a cutter on top of the pump so I could cut my way back out but, it didn't help. The roots get beside the pump and wedge it as you try to come up.
 
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