Dug well cleaned and now dirty water

[jmw]

We have a shallow dug well - about 12 feet deep with 6 feet of water in it. It is about 3 feet in diameter. It has served us well, giving good clean water.
A couple of weeks ago, we were getting dirty water coming into the house. Our well guy came, and said the well was filling in with sand/silt and the pump was getting buried. We had it cleaned out (they dug out the silt, cleaned the walls, and patched the joints between the cement casings, as well as around the pipe going out the well). They shocked the well with chlorine.

So we have been running the water to clear out the chlorine, which is now long gone. We're doing this via the spigot at the pressure tank in the house, down the drain in the basement. Our well guy says to run the water until the pump stops (i.e. it runs out of water in the well), let it sit overnight to replenish and repeat the next day. Keep doing this til we get clear water. It takes about 40 minutes til the pump stops.

We have done this six times now, and still the water is dirty. I can't help but think this is ruining the pump to run it down like this? Do we just have to keep doing this?

 

[Reach4]

Don't send all of that water to the septic. Send it to the ditch etc.

If the well replenishes pretty fast, maybe you could rent a big pump to suck out the sediment faster. Dump the water to the yard or ditch.

You could lower a more powerful basement sump pump or cheap few-stage submersible in there, or rent a "trash pump" if your well replenishes really fast.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/rental/Wacker-Neuson-Sales-Americas-Gas-Trash-Pump-2-0009098/309392540

If the well does not replenish fast, perhaps you could recirculate water through a filter.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[jmw]

That drain doesn't go to the septic. It takes about 12 hours for the well to replenish. Is it OK to run the pump 'til the well is drained? Will this wreck the pump?

 

[Reach4]

That drain doesn't go to the septic. It takes about 12 hours for the well to replenish. Is it OK to run the pump 'til the well is drained? Will this wreck the pump?

I would like to see a flow inducer on the pump. If you had that, you should be good to pump to just starting to suck air. Without a flow inducer you are probably still ok with a 1/2 hp pump.

So how would you know the well is ready to run down? Go look periodically? They have gadgets that will detect the condition, but given your easy visibility, you can just watch the water level.

 

[Bannerman]

Pumping out the water is OK, but you need to stop the pump once it starts sucking air. There are devices that will shut off the pump automatically when they detect the current consumed by the pump is reduced when air is beginning to be drawn in. One such device is shown at this link:. https://cyclestopvalves.com/pages/cycle-sensor-pump-monitor

To best clear sediment and debris from the well, it would be preferable to disconnect the supply line at the wellhead, so the pump can pump out the well including sediment at the highest flow rate possible with the least amount of restriction. The water and sediment may discharge onto the surrounding lawn, or into a nearby ditch or gravel area so as to reduce the amount of sediment onto the lawn.

 

[jmw]

@Reach4 experience tells us it's replenished overnight, but yes I could go look. The pump just shuts itself off once it's drawing air.

@Bannerman There is no sensor, but the pump just shuts itself off when it's drawing air. This is the pump we have
https://www.aquascience.net/goulds-...-wire-4-stainless-steel-submersible-well-pump
It's not practical for us to disconnect the supply line in the well (I'm not going down there).

I think we just need to keep flushing the system and be patient.
Thanks for your advice.

 

[Reach4]

I would set up a way to gauge the water depth, and try to turn off the pump before it shuts off due to thermal overload. Maybe set up an alarm clock.

 

[Valveman]

Unless you have a QD, Pumtec, Symcom, or Cycle Sensor that pump should not be shutting itself off when the well is dry. If it is, it is probably tripping the thermal overload, which isn't good. By using a Cycle Sensor the pump will be shut off when the well runs dry. then the timer on the Cycle Sensor can be set to restart the pump is 3-5 hours. This can pump the well out 6-8 times a day, which is what you need to get it cleaned out.

 

[jmw]

This is the control box
https://thepumpwarehouse.com/shop/centripro-qd-control-box-12-hp-230v/
It was the tech that installed the pump that told us to just run it til it shuts off. I assume it's this box that shuts off the pump?
Sorry, I know very little about this stuff.

 

[Valveman]

Yep. That has the "QD" which is to shut the pump off when the well is dry.

 

[jmw]

So I'm back. Still getting dirty water.

Incoming water from the right. Is this arrow in this picture pointing at a check valve, or just a connector? There’s no arrow on it (which I would expect if a check valve). It’s about 1 inch long.

Long version: We are still getting dirty water from the well. We’ve run it down about 9 times now. We’ll have clean water for a day or two, then dirty water. Looking in the well, the water looks clean. We thought there might be a break in the line from the well to the house. However the pressure doesn’t appear to go down. But then if that’s a check valve in the picture, then the pressure wouldn’t go down. So is it?

I don’t know what else to check. Watching the water coming out the valve at the pressure tank, the water is fairly clear at 40, on up to 60. At 60, when the pump shuts off, we’ll get dirty water, that gradually gets cleaner as the pressure drops to 40.

 

[Valveman]

That could be a check valve, they make them that short. If it has a flow arrow on the side it is a check valve. If not, probably just a female barb adapter. You are not getting any sand when the pressure is dropping from 60 to 40 because that is just water coming from the tank. 9 times is still nothing. May have to do it 90 times. If you can't get it pumped clean an extra long flow inducers or a Lakos SubK on the pump maybe the next option.

 

[Reach4]

However the pressure doesn’t appear to go down. But then if that’s a check valve in the picture, then the pressure wouldn’t go down.

If there is no top side check valve, the lines are pressurized. No sediment could enter. With a topside check valve a leak could suck stuff in.

I think it is a connector. You could check the far side for arrows to make sure.
This Boshart FA-100NL