well pumping clay sediment what to do in Seattle

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NathanY

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Hello, I have been on here in the past with great advice, since then our well situation has changed. We have owned our place for about 2 years. Just prior to moving in the well pump was replaced(I don't know why but my guess is that it stopped working from pumping so much sediment). Since we moved in that new pump has always been loud. I remodeled the house completely and the noise is not coming from loose pipes( I secured everything while the walls were torn apart). I beleive this pump is getting worn from pumping a lot of sediment as well. We pump a very fine gray silt that looks a lot like clay, if I pump about 300 gallons to fill our hot tub the sediment will cover almost the entire bottom of the tub. We get sediment in our toilet tanks, washer, dishwasher, the tub will get quite a bit etc. I know this is not normal so I started looking into possible problems. Recently I finally got a hold of the original well logs for this 31 year old well. The originall well was about 160ft deep with 10ft of screen at the bottom but never going through bedrock and ending at a layer of sand. About 6 months after the first drilling there is a second well log that deepened the well to 240ft and pulled the original screen and cased the well all the way to the bottom. No screen, no perforations and no gravel pack. I am assuming this means the water is coming into the casing through the absolute bottom of the well. The final log is for clay from about 170ft to the bottom. My question is whether this is normal or should this well have been driven further until leaving the clay layer and finding clean water or should perforations or screen have been used regardless of the high amount of clay(the log states that no screen was used due to too much clay). We need to fix this sitution but I want to have as much info as possible in order to discuss my options with drillers. The original driller is still in business and we actually had them out for a pump wiring problem that they caused when installing the last pump but I have no confidence in them based on that experience and now I am wondering if they knew what they were doing when the well was actually drilled.
Any advice would be helpful as well as any referrals for the Seattle WA area for a reputable driller.
Thanks
 

Waterwelldude

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(the log states that no screen was used due to too much clay).

This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of.

If the well was in rock, I can see not having a screen, but a well in sand has to be screened. If the well is in clay, it probably doesn't produce much water. Water runs in sand or through cracks in rock. In some cases the well is in an open aquifer/cavern.
In either case your well should have been screened.

In your post about the driller, I don't think he has any idea what he is doing.
It sounds like he set the casing and hoped for the best. (This is just my opinion)

If the log is correct, the well you have will never stop making silty/muddy water, no matter how much or little you use.




Travis
 

NHmaster

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(the log states that no screen was used due to too much clay).

This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of.

If the well was in rock, I can see not having a screen, but a well in sand has to be screened. If the well is in clay, it probably doesn't produce much water. Water runs in sand or through cracks in rock. In some cases the well is in an open aquifer/cavern.
In either case your well should have been screened.

In your post about the driller, I don't think he has any idea what he is doing.
It sounds like he set the casing and hoped for the best. (This is just my opinion)

If the log is correct, the well you have will never stop making silty/muddy water, no matter how much or little you use.




Travis

I'm in agreement. Sounds like the well casing was not set and grouted to bedrock and he's getting a ton of wash down from above. Yet another well that either needs to be re-drilled or abandoned altogether.
 

NathanY

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Just to follow up, first the filling of the hot tub is just for an example of how much sediment comes out. It does not make any difference how long or short the water is on , sediment will come at all times. We have never had a problem with running out of water. Supposedly the well has a static level at 160ft and a depth of 242 and a flow of at least 10gpm with minimal drawdown. I agree with both saying that having no screen makes no sense. In the professional drillers opinion should I find a different company to install a screen and or gravel pack, drill the well deeper hoping to hit a better layer, filter with either a sand seperator on the pump or in the house with some type of backflushing filter or just dig a new well(I really don't have the money for many of these options).

I did talk to another somewhat local driller that said he doesn't think they can offer much help with the actual well situation except installing a filter or settling tank and that if I wanted to drill deeper I would have to find someone who could cable drill it with a reduced 5" casing. I think part of his advice was due to the fact that he just didn't want to enter this situation and also didn't want to make the trip. Should I keep looking for someone local that has better advice or am I screwed?
 
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