Gunshots down a well?

[Raucina]

My Uncle chlorinated his stinky well on a Wisconsin lake house, then everything plugged up. Its a hand driven sand point. So he called the well guy out who crawled under the house and blasted a few pistol shots down the hole. That was a year ago and he still has water. Smells better too.

Is this in the tool bag of the eastern well guys? ... Probably would land you in jail in California with the lead restrictions.

 

[hj]

bullets

All shooting down the well would do would be to put holes in the sand point's screens. Maybe he used steel bullets. A driven well under a house? Good luck ever pulling or replacing that.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Wet_Boots]

The gunfire may serve the same purpose as my backwashing would, to dislodge particles from the screen. I have some well points that will lose flow, and I will force water back down the point, then pump it out, and repeat the process, until I stop seeing particles showing up in the outlet strainer.

 

[Mike Swearingen]

Lesson Learned:
Many, many years ago, I fired a 12g shotgun down my sluggish shallow well on the advice of someone whom I thought knew what he was talking about (a true country redneck like I am, but I should have known better).
It blew water all over me, put a load of lead pellets inside my well point to contaminate my water as long as I used that point, my shotgun flew up in the air and busted the stock when it hit the ground, and it didn't make any discernible difference in my well flow.
Shortly thereafter, I drove a new shallow well.
Backwash it with high pressure air or water to temporarily improve the flow, or drive a new well.
An experienced well blaster. LOL
Good luck!
Mike

 

[theelviscerator]

I would at least use brass slugs out of the shot gun...heh.

 

[Leejosepho]

All shooting down the well would do would be to put holes in the sand point's screens ...

The gunfire may serve the same purpose as my backwashing would, to dislodge particles from the screen ...

According to MythBusters, bullets do not travel very far at all in water ... and that would mean a blank would have the same, if any, effect. If backwashing includes pulsation, I would think that would be both safest and best!

Also, I have heard about some kind of shock treatment to the ground around a drywell to get it working again. As I have been told, that process uses a small perforated pipe driven into the ground to inject compressed air and fracture hardened soil.

 

[Valveman]

Bullets do not go very far in water. A blank would have the same effect. The percussion is the only thing that is doing anything. If the percussion knocks crud off the back side of the screen, it cannot go anywhere and will eventually get sucked back onto the screen.

In my many years in the well business, and at the request of the customers, I have tried shot guns, pistols, primer cord, wire brushes, surge blocks, dry ice, air jetting, water jetting, chemicals, frac jobs, high speed bailing, and many other things. Some of these things work, some of them do not, others will destroy the well itself. It all depends on what you are trying to clean, the type of casing and formation you have, and the way these methods are implemented.

Large steel casing I have had good luck with a combination of chemicals and high speed bailing. Smaller plastic casing I have had good luck with air jetting and chemicals. Well points are not my speciality but, I would think driving a new one might be the best option.

 

[Raucina]

I think it was a high velocity .22 load -Perhaps with shallow water and a steel jacket and its small diameter, it was able to penetrate the screen.

 

[Speedbump]

What does the job on the well point is the concussion. Water won't compress so the blast jolts the screen and knocks some of the sulphur, iron or hardness off the screen (or away from it) enough to let a little more water get by.

I saw a Pitless Adaptor totally destroyed by a .38 cal Police Special. And yes he was a cop trying to save a buck or two. Another guy stuck a twelve gauge into his 1-1/4" well in his basement then stuffed a rag around it with a screw driver so as to get a real good shock to the screen. After touching it off, he discovered that the 1-1/4" pipe and his 12 gauge were not part of the well anymore. The pipe was severed off at floor level. He now has a new 4" well in his backyard. He's damned lucky he has any feet left.

Have you tried Nu-Well tablets. They are made specifically for this application. They will clean your screen (if you haven't let it totally plug up where it won't tank water anymore) with ease and you won't be hospitalized in the process.

bob...

 

[Raucina]

maybe a derringer hanging on a string down the hole with a remote pull would be the OSHA approved method.

 

[Rancher]

Perhaps a M-80 with a long fuse, and then tighten a cap on the top of the well...

And run.

Rancher

 

[Speedbump]

I did that once, tied it to a lead weight, dropped it in an 1-1/4" well under a house. People had no money, (that was back when that used to bother me) the well couldn't be pulled and Nu-Well wasn't invented yet.

All that happened was a little thud, and the ground shook slightly. I used a pipe wrench to give the pipe a turn to see if I had loosened the screen any and found that the casing had been blown off at the first joint 4 feet below. Must have been where the M-80 stuck instead of going down. There was a very high water level, so it was in the water and the concussion was more than the old pipe could handle.

bob...

 

[PEW]

When I was a kid, I saw "old timers" fire shotguns down point wells. Put the old hand pump on and pump like crazy. Results? have no idea!

 

[Speedbump]

When I was a kid, I saw "old timers" fire shotguns down point wells. Put the old hand pump on and pump like crazy. Results? have no idea!

It does work sometimes. However it's a little dangerous. I have heard Dry Ice works although, I've never tried it and don't know how it could do if anything.

One thing to totally stay away from is Muriatic Acid. Especially if you have sulphur in your water. The Muriatic reacts Violently with Sulphur and gives off fumes that can kill you or give you brain damage in a big hurry. I know two such well men from years ago. They were down in a well pit, poured a gallon into the well and before they could both get out, one is dead and the other is a little smarter than a Carrot.

bob...