gdomalewski
New Member
I am trying to get an old well pump and well up and running again. I moved in into a 1960s house and the pump had been used for irrigation an unknown number of years ago. The pump is a red jacket 3/4 hp shallow well pump that was missing the shallow well plastic piece but I was able to find a replacement and got the pump working last year. I ran the pump and it was pulling sand so I shut it down. When I shut it down, there was enough sand in the system that the check valve next to the pump would no longer work because it was clogged with sand. Fast foward to this spring and I am determined to get the system going again. I took off the check valve and replaced with a new one (1-1/4" suction line). I fired it up and again, started pulling fine sand with an occasional course sand. I ran for a few hours and it eventually turned clear with no sand. At this point I shut it down again, but there was some sand preventing the check valve from closing, allowing all of the water to run back into the well. I ran it again right after and there was again sand in the water. I traced the well under the house, located where the suction line leaves the house and trenched the suction line and found the well head. At a loss as to what to do next. Any thoughts as to what to do? Picture of the well head is below.