Muddy water

[Alis]

we bought a property that has a bungalow and a cottage supplied by one 80 ft deep well.
water supply was never an issue and the water was always clear.
It was recommended that we update the system since we were renovating the Barn into additional living space. ( another home)
this would give us better pressure to reach the second floor of the barn.

So we went from a 1/2 horse power submersible pump to a 1 horse variable speed pump. Dug a new well 2 ft away from the original well ( why not since everything was being upgraded) new pressure tank, and even replaced the lines to a green stripe one inch to handle the 70 psi. This was all in November 2021.

We decided to ad a filter system and UV light.

6 weeks in, and our pressure was none existent. new filter was covered in mud so we quickly replaced the filter and sediment filter.
we are having to replace the filters every 2 -3 weeks. The 3 rd house isn't even lived in yet.

how do we correct this issue?

 

[Valveman]

New wells need to be developed. You need to pump the well hard for hours or days until it cleans up. Sometimes turning off the pump for 20 minutes or so then restarting will help break the mud up as well. But if you can't pump it out, the well is not drilled properly and may never clean up. The variable speed pump is not an upgrade, but rather a Tar Baby that will need multiple replacements over a short time. I would question the advice on anything from a driller who thinks variable speed pumps are an upgrade? Looks like you have a good start on a money pit that will greatly benefit the driller, but not you.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Alis]

thanks for the feed back. I still have the 1/2 horse pump that was in my well originally. Should I have it put back in?

I still think the new pump is too strong for my 80 ft well. We raised it from 60 to 50 ft . didn't help.

I put a new filter in a week ago because we were losing pressure . By Thursday the water was getting through brown again. Then it cleared up only to be brown again 2 days later. (Still have pressure so far)

The driller will be back this week. it will be interesting to see what the plan is.

 

[Alis]

update: the well guy is back . he hooked up the 1 horse pump to a portable cistern to keep us in water.

the 1/2 horse he put down to the bottom of well to pull up all the mud . To the point that the pump got stuck!
After many attempts we managed to pull it back up. Tied it up so it sits above the bottom by maybe 2-3 feet.
It's been running since Friday morning ( 24 hours)and the water ( that started out horrible) is now fairly clean. still a bit cloudy.
Question, if we go ahead now and hook up the 1/2 horse to the system, will the walls of the well have a layer of muck just like our toilets did?
how long before that passes through and gets cleaned up?

 

[Valveman]

You need to shut the pump off for an hour or so at a time, then restart and let it run. Letting the water level rise and fall this way will help clean the casing and even stir up more mud to get rid of.

 

[Alis]

hello. So we are now in the process of turning on and off the pump that is cleaning up the well pipe.

The suggestion has been made that a holding tank before the pressure tank ( in which the variable pump will live ) may help with water supply to the 3 homes.

Our original 1/2 horse will go back to being the well pump since it does not stir up sediment and it will fill the holding tank. that fills the pressure tank.

thoughts?

we're thinking that we may wait and check the water volume and pressure before getting an additional holding tank.