Revive an old water well...need help

[Ray Skaines]

I am in need of some expert advice. I have an old water well I want to primarily use to only water my garden. The well was drilled around the 40’s and has a 2” galvanized pipe that is 8” above ground. Record shows it was drilled at 225’ deep. The water level is 9’ deep below ground. Last year I measured the depth with a weight on end of a fishing rod and it went 189’ deep. The set up I used was a 1 hp Lion pump, connected to a 60 gallon galvanized tank. For a drop line I used a 1” x 20’ pvc pipe with a foot valve on the end. First pump worked well but was pumping way too much sand. Last month I disconnected the lines and emptied about 6 gallons of sand out of the galvanized tank. I contacted and explained the situation to a local water well man and he suggested I need to run an air hose down and pump the sand out to clear the well. A few months has now gone by and today I remeasured the depth of the well. It now reads only 74’ deep. I am assuming the casing must be broken somewhere in the well and when the pump is on it’s sucking the sand near the foot valve and sand is settling on the bottom of the well. I’ve tried calling the local water well man to see if he would come blow out the well but he’s not returning my calls. I’m determined to get this well working again. Dragging my water hose across the street to water my garden everyday is getting really old.

My question is:

Could the water well casing be broken? If so, is that what is creating all the sand coming out of the well. Can the well still work once the sand is pumped out?

I'm also wondering if the 1 hp Lion pump has too much suction and is creating a pocket near the foot valve. Should I try a smaller pump (maybe a 1/2 hp) that will not create so much suction at the foot valve?

Some expert advice would be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Valveman]

The casing could be broken. But while you were pumping 6 gallons of sand into the pressure tank you were probably filling the well with sand at the same time. If the casing and screen are still good you maybe able to blow it out and make it work. But you won't know until you try. Blowing will also cost quite a bit unless you do it yourself. You might ask about the price of a new well, as sometimes that is the best money spent.

 

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[Texas Wellman]

You don’t need a large compressor. I use a small portable gasoline compressor. You might be able to rent one.

Blow the well and see how much sand you get. If it’s just loaded with sand plug the well and have a new one drilled. Galvanized wells had a life span of 20-50 years and yours is way past that.

Good luck.

 

[Reach4]

If you try to blow the sand out, have somebody take a video.

It is got to help a lot for your CFM requirements that you have a 2 inch well instead of a 4 or 5 inch well.

Texas Wellman's idea of small might be different than your idea of small.

 

[Valveman]

You don’t need a large compressor. I use a small portable gasoline compressor. You might be able to rent one.

Blow the well and see how much sand you get. If it’s just loaded with sand plug the well and have a new one drilled. Galvanized wells had a life span of 20-50 years and yours is way past that.

Good luck.

Do you use 1" sch 80 for trimmy pipe with turned down couplings?

 

[Texas Wellman]

Sch 80 with regular couplings will go right in but mostly we use small diameter poly pipe (80 psig rated).

Sometimes people pour in Hole Plug slowly.

 

[Ray Skaines]

Thanks so much for your replies. I can only guess the 2" galvanized casing is rusted and/or broken. With what water I've tried to pump I am assuming the sand has filled the bottom making it more shallow. Can't drill a new well. It's now allowed where I live. So I either have to revive it or give up. I'm not experienced enough to attempt to blow it out yet until I learn exactly how to do it. Will soon learn more to give it a try. Again, thank you so much for your suggestions.

 

[LLigetfa]

A 2 inch casing doesn't take a very large compressor to blow it out. Since you don't have a packer hung on a long string of pipe, you can't use that pipe to blow it out with so would need to buy a more than 200 feet of pipe that you probably have no future use for. I'd get a 21 foot stick of 1/2 inch pipe and a 200 foot coil of poly pipe and have at it.

 

[Texas Wellman]

All you need is an air hose and tee. 1/2” hose is best but the smaller ones will work.