Dirty well water

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Shawn Craft

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just wanted your advise im a plumber just replaced my neighbors well pump the well is 80 feet deep i put in a 1/2 hp 203 volt 10 gal minute submersible pump the well is only 6 feet from house who ever put the original pump in had it wired in for 120 volt the pump was 25 years old it worked the origional pump was the same as what I put in 230 volt 5 gal a minute now I'm getting dirty water coming up in the house I rewired the new pump to 230 volt I let the water run it did clear up some hes running a 202 xtrol told him to keep running the water till it clears with a hose in the yard do you think this pump is 2 big for the well or if he keeps flushing it it will eventually clear its self up if not do you think I should raise the pump up a few feet in the well i think its dirt and sentiment do you think this will keep happening with the dirt in well any advise greatly appreciated also not sure how far its hanging off the bottom of the well
 

LLigetfa

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I see no mention of how deep the well is, how deep the pump is set, or whether it is cased with slotted screen. If the well was never developed and the old pump was 5 GPM and you replace it with a 10 GPM, the new pump can stir up sediment. It depends on how fine or coarse the sediment is as to whether to raise the pump. What you don't want is the motor getting buried in sediment.

If the well will not clear up after running it hard for days, then you may need to install a dole valve to reduce the GPM.
 

Valveman

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Just the act of pulling the old pump and setting a new one can stir up a well. Pump it hard for as long as it takes to clear it up. But running one faucet may not be enough. If the pump is cycling on and off while pumping out the well, that alone will stir up sediment. Open enough faucets the pump runs continuously.
 

LLigetfa

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Just the act of pulling the old pump and setting a new one can stir up a well.
I'll go one better. Just starting that 10 GPM pump from scratch will initially draw much more than 10 GPM and that alone can motivate the sediment. When I had my well drilled, the driller developed the well with a 5 GPM pump. Later when I installed my own 10 GPM pump, it sucked up so much sand that it filled the pump and locked the rotor. Raising the pump just caused the sand to fill the bottom of the well and again plugged up the pump. I had to get the driller back to clean out the well and put in some crushed stone to keep the sand down.
 
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