Water flows when pump is off

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Michago

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Hi, I winterize my dad's summer cabin each year, by using a dip tube to drain the 1" feed from his submersible pump, right where it enters his house at the floor. I've been doing this for 35 years, but this year, a couple days after doing it, there was a trickle of water coming out of the pipe, enough to fill a drink cup in about 30 seconds. He doesn't heat the house all winter, so I will soon have a problem! Even if I were to put heat tapes on the pipe, the water level this high means that the water level at the well is also this high, which is about at grade level, so the coming cold weather will damage the well pipe as well! Any ideas? Power to the pump is definitely shut off, I think maybe there's enough ground pressure to force water up, or something.
 

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The water in the lines should come up no higher than the water level in the well. Maybe your bladder tank is busted and the water from the bladder is slowly leaking out and refilling the lines.
 

Reach4

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That makes sense... probably more probable than the artesian well I was wondering about.
 

LLigetfa

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I'd buy into the busted bladder if not for the following... 2 cups per minute, days later.
a couple days after doing it, there was a trickle of water coming out of the pipe, enough to fill a drink cup in about 30 seconds.
I'd open the wellhead and try to determine the water level in relation to the end of the pipe. There could possibly be gravity flow if the water level is high enough. If there is a hydrant at the wellhead open it otherwise lift the pump off the pitless, put a schrader valve on the pipe in the house and blow the line with air.
 

Michago

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Thanks for the advice. It's not the bladder, I can look right into the pipe where it enters the house, and the water is definitely coming up from below, from the well feed. I used a dip tube to remove a few inches, and it came right back to overflowing again.
Also, looking down into the 5" well, the water level is at about the level of the house floor, so the pitless adapter is under about 6 feet of water.
I could pump this out with a hand pump, but when I did that a few days ago with the dip tube, it just came back up slowly. I'm concerned that with the coming cold weather, (we're in MI) freezing will damage not only the pipe where it enters the house, but also the 5" well pipe at about ground level. Plus the water flow needs to be piped outside or somewhere that it won't freeze and accumulate into an ice mountain.
Making it all harder, this house is 5 hours drive away from where we live, so it's difficult to check on frequently.
 

Michago

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So I talked to the Well Driller who installed the well about 30 years ago, and he says I now have an Artesian Well!
He tells me not to worry about the water in the 5" well itself, because it will freeze from the top down, and no damage will occur as the ice spreads its way down.
However, he says it will do damage at the entrance to the house, it being a smaller pipe (1" steel) with fittings where water will get trapped, due to freezing at two locations, then freezing in between, and no where for the ice to spread, so he suggested heat tapes, and let the water flow.
After I got off the phone with him, it occurs to me that I will have an ice mountain by Spring, if I just let the water flow. It currently is flowing into the earth below the house. since there is about a 6" hole in the floor where the 1" pipe enters the house. Nicely, the earth is all sand, and it soaks in quickly! But as the ground freezes, I doubt the ground will absorb the water, and it'll back up around the floor, maybe even heaving the concrete floor as it freezes. While it would be cool to see how that forms thru the winter, it is not a desirable thing to have in our basement, so now I'm thinking about piping this outside, I guess with all pipes wrapped in heat tapes. Anybody have a better idea?
 

Michago

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You could heap a lot of straw over the wellhead and water line to keep the frost from going so deep.

As for the line in the house, I would use a heat trace cable inside the pipe and raise a standpipe that would be taller than the well casing so that it doesn't flow.
http://www.heatline.com/pdfs/heatline_brochure.pdf

Thanks for the reply. But wouldn't that cause the water to flow out of the vented cap on the well? I guess maybe that would be better, but it seems the ice would build up out at the cap then, and possibly do damage to the cap?
 

LLigetfa

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That would depend on how high the water table gets. It won't necessarily rise that high. Anyway that is what the mound of straw is for. You could always put an artesian plug in the casing if you think the static level could rise above the height of the casing.

Based on the rate of flow you have now I'd say the pipe in the house is almost at the static height. The standpipe was just extra insurance. You could also put a plug on the end of the pipe.
 
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