Pitless adapter. I Think I Made a Big Mistake

[John B H]

First time putting in a pit less adapter. Dug down below grout on one side of casing ....about a quarter of the circumference of the casing is exposed. Now I'm worrying about sanitation and also longer term erosion around casing. Can anyone help me with advice on backfilling and perhaps additional grouting.

 

[Craigpump]

Cut your hole in the casing with a hole saw, properly install the piless and male X insert adapter & hook it up to the offset pipe. Cover your work with soft dirt/sand with no large rocks.

I would rather have my grout at the shoe than at the surface

 

[Sponsor]

 

[LLigetfa]

Depending on the driller and the material he bore through, the borehole should already be sealed with bentonite. They usually use a slurry to keep the borehole from collapsing before they get chase it with casing. You could put bentonite between the casing and the backfill and then top it off with more near the surface.

 

[John B H]

Thanks guys.

 

[Valveman]

If there is no cement/grout below the pitless, the well is not sealed properly. In our state there has to be 25' of cement below the pitless. Without a pitless the top 10' must be sealed.

 

[Craigpump]

I can show you lots of cable tool holes with no grout at all, is it right? No, but.....

 

[Valveman]

I wish I had some pictures of some wells like that, which I repaired. In many cases the rain water gets to running down outside the casing and it makes a hole you could drive a truck into. I would stretch long boards and pipe across the hole to stand on while pulling the pump. Then I would deepen and shape the hole as best I could with a backhoe. The casing was usually large enough I could place a couple of old tires over the casing and slide them down to the bottom of the hole, which is maybe 8-10 feet deep and about that wide as well. When the tires sorta sealed the annular space I would put a small tarp or plastic over them and pour a bag or two of cement on that. After the cement hardened, I would usually pour a yard or so of cement on that and let it harden again. Then when I was sure it would hold, I would call the cement truck back and have them pour the hole full to the surface. The job usually took several days but I saved a lot of old wells that way.

The point is, if rain water can run down the outside of the casing the "hole" problem just gets worse and worse.