Losing Pressure need help

[Leed1315]

Pressure dropping slowly I could see with the pump not having enough lifting power. If it was the pump pumping from too deep, I would think the pressure would drop smoothly as the water level dropped, and I am reading this as the pressure dropping suddenly. I am also presuming Leed1315 is saying that the flow dropped suddenly in addition to the gauge indication dropping.

I believe the sudden drop is when the pressure gets less than what the tank pressure is at. If I let the pump build up to 60psi and turn the pump off I can open the valve and once the psi drops below 38 it drops straight to 0 also.

I decide to try your idea about putting the hose in the well and I believe that has solved my problem. When i did this the pump stayed at roughly 58-60psi constant with no drop for at least 20 minutes. When i removed the hose and let the water go on the ground the pressure started dropping and within 5-7 minutes dropped below the 38psi mark and fell out. I was standing beside the well when it happened and it seemed like I could hear the pump almost run out of water. When I pulled the hose out of the well the water was a very orange/brown color. I dropped a rock down the well casing and it was clear that the water was no longer at 26'. It sounded like it was at they very bottom when it hit. When we removed the old pipes they had a lot of orange mud on them. I didn't know what to make of that and we didn't have any trouble puttin the new pump and lines in.

Assuming that with my well condition I'm only getting roughly 10 minutes of solid wide open water what can i do? Should I assume thats just all it can d sor has it got like this over time? Should I see how deep the well actually is? I just pulled the old pipe and went with the same depth assuming initialy it was et at the best depth? Thanks for all the help.

 

[Valveman]

Yeah you are pumping the well dry. But it sounds like it is recovering pretty fast. If you have to drop something down a well use an ice cube. Even a small rock could lock your pump in the well depending on the casing size. You have about 100 gallons stored in the well, but you will need a 5 or 7 GPM 1/2HP pump to be able to use all that is in the well with pressure, as that pump cannot build pressure from 90'. The orange and brown stuff sounds like iron bacteria. Need to study on how to shock treat the well. Could be the perfs are clogged with iron is the reason the well isn't making much water. If shocking doesn't bring up the well production, I would consider a cistern storage and and booster pump.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

I dropped a rock down the well casing and it was clear that the water was no longer at 26'.

Don't drop rocks. Use ice cubes, and listen harder.

When i removed the hose and let the water go on the ground the pressure started dropping and within 5-7 minutes dropped below the 38psi mark and fell out.

For testing, you could raise the air precharge to 55 or even 65. At 65, it would be like the tank was not even there. It would not hurt the tank. So you could eliminate the thought that the tank was having an effect on your testing results.

If you do that, only turn the pump on when valve is open and the hose is able to squirt water.

 

[Boycedrilling]

For testing, you could raise the air precharge to 55 or even 65. At 65, it would be like the tank was not even there.

NO! DO NOT DO THIS. Bad advice.

 

[Reach4]

NO! DO NOT DO THIS. Bad advice.

What bad thing could you see happening?

Assuming that with my well condition I'm only getting roughly 10 minutes of solid wide open water what can i do?

Another test would be to let the well sit overnight. Then put city water into at a rate almost comparable to what you were pumping out. If you can fill up the well casing, then you know there is some blockage. Otherwise the city water would be able to flow out to the aquifer as quickly as it flows in.

 

[Leed1315]

If my my well is drilled deeper would it hurt to drop my pump to 120-150' depending on how deep it is? From the manual I have and review I've read it shows it to be capable of it. This would give me some more water and maybe enough to do most of our water use. Could I expect the water flow to get better as I use the well more?

I'll check into shocking the well but was assuming the brown/orange was coming from me pumping the water in and stirring/ washing stuff off the sides of the well. The water had no brown color before this. It was a green/yellow at the very initial pump which I figured was from the water sitting up in the well.

 

[Valveman]

Probably not going to be able to drill deeper. Hard to re-drill in an old well. You have already done the test, your well is a low producer. Your pump can't even build enough pressure to shut off from a water level of 70' or so, going deeper would make it worse. But you could pump from deeper with that pump if you just fill a cistern and don't need the pressure. Well output is probably not going to get any better unless shocking helps.

 

[Leed1315]

Probably not going to be able to drill deeper. Hard to re-drill in an old well. You have already done the test, your well is a low producer. Your pump can't even build enough pressure to shut off from a water level of 70' or so, going deeper would make it worse. But you could pump from deeper with that pump if you just fill a cistern and don't need the pressure. Well output is probably not going to get any better unless shocking helps.

What I'm saying is I don't know how deep my well is currently. I didn't measure it before I put my setup in. I just went with the same depth the lines were that I pulled out. My pump doesn't have a problem building up enough pressure to shut off. It just can't do it while I'm running the hose full speed. At any point other then the last couple minutes before it cuts off I can turn the water off and it has built back up and cut off. I was just thinking if the wwll was deeper I would have more water to work wit before I started losing pressure. I think with what I'm getting now and how quick the waters coming back that I could probably be ok with most of my household needs. I also plan on shocking it to see how that helps.