Very fine sand shallow well

[irrigator]

This is my 3rd attempt at a shallow well at home. My location is coastal south NJ where the soil is very fine beach-like sand. There are some other irrigation wells around at similar depths to mine with geologic reports of medium or coarse sand at final depth. I jetted a casing down 27ft which "should" be deep enough as the water table is extremely high here. Normally hit water at less than 2 feet digging. I flushed the casing for a good long while with a stick of PEX but when I drop the screened well pipe the casing just keeps filling with fine sand. An 80 mesh screen seems to be filtering the sand, as the water supply is clear but runs dry after a few gallons. I am thinking either I'm clogging the outside of the well screen or the casing area is in fact running dry. I have tried the well screen at varying depths up to 27 feet and no change.

I have read you must "develop" a well by pumping hard for a long time, but when the well is dry I literally can't. My jet pump sounds like it's gonna explode once the water supply stops, and I literally cannot acuate a pitcher pump. Like it's clogged.

I don't know enough about the geology here to know whether or not it's worth sending the casing any deeper to see if I'll ever get past the seemingly never ending supply of fines.

Does anyone have any advice for me? I'm determined to get this to work as I know of other permitted wells in the area at similar depth.

 

[Valveman]

80 mesh is pretty fine. Probably clogging up. I would use something in the 0.010" or 0.020" size that would not clog as easily. Then you pump the well hard. This draws out the fines and starts accumulating larger than 0.010 particles outside the screen that works as a sand media filter. Once the fines have been drawn through and the larger grains make up a gravel pack, you should get more flow with less and less sand.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[irrigator]

80 mesh is pretty fine. Probably clogging up. I would use something in the 0.010" or 0.020" size that would not clog as easily. Then you pump the well hard. This draws out the fines and starts accumulating larger than 0.010 particles outside the screen that works as a sand media filter. Once the fines have been drawn through and the larger grains make up a gravel pack, you should get more flow with less and less sand.

Is there a type of pump recommended that won't get damaged from this process?

 

[Reach4]

1. How deep is your hole? ( less than 27 ft I guess)
2. How far down does your casing go? (27 ft)
3. How does water get into your casing?
4. What diameter is your casing?

 

[irrigator]

The casing goes to 27 ft. Water at 3 ft static depth. Have tried the well pipe at 27 ft up to 10ft and same result

 

[BradNoble]

1. How deep is your hole? ( less than 27 ft I guess)
2. How far down does your casing go? (27 ft)
3. How does water get into your casing?
4. What diameter is your casing?

Im having issues with a sandpoint in northern Illinois. I have used a post hole digger to get around 13-15 feet deep, at that point i hit really good clay. The sand was collapsing into the hole because water is rushing in. Water is visible at 4-6 feet from surface. I then pushed in a an 80 gauze sandpoint any where from 8-12 foot deep. Using a shallow well pump (electric) I cannot pull much water. I feel the sand is clogging the point. I do have a 60 on order to try. However, your questions above gave me some ideas. Can I put a casing in for a sandpoint to protect it from some of the sand? Should I push a 2" casing in to 12-15ft deep, then just use 1.25 pipe with a typical well suction fitting at the end at around 8-10feet deep? How would the water enter the casing?

 

[irrigator]

Im having issues with a sandpoint in northern Illinois. I have used a post hole digger to get around 13-15 feet deep, at that point i hit really good clay. The sand was collapsing into the hole because water is rushing in. Water is visible at 4-6 feet from surface. I then pushed in a an 80 gauze sandpoint any where from 8-12 foot deep. Using a shallow well pump (electric) I cannot pull much water. I feel the sand is clogging the point. I do have a 60 on order to try. However, your questions above gave me some ideas. Can I put a casing in for a sandpoint to protect it from some of the sand? Should I push a 2" casing in to 12-15ft deep, then just use 1.25 pipe with a typical well suction fitting at the end at around 8-10feet deep? How would the water enter the casing?

Try a shallower well. I was on a quest for deeper and deeper. A 6 foot, yes 6 foot well pumps beautifully. 8 feet seems to be the sweet spot for me

 

[Reach4]

I think you are saying that by pulling the same sand point up, you got plenty of water.

If it turns out that your water delivery is not enough, you could consider going to a bigger diameter, but with a way of lifting sand out of the casing.

 

[irrigator]

I think you are saying that by pulling the same sand point up, you got plenty of water.

If it turns out that your water delivery is not enough, you could consider going to a bigger diameter, but with a way of lifting sand out of the casing.

I get about 10 gallons per minute with a nice quiet cheap diaphragm pump which is plenty when compared to my hopes. I borrowed a 3/4hp jet pump which will run the well dry and uses a ton of electricity. So i have two wells. A 6ft on a pitcher pump and 8 ft on the diaphragm pump and couldnt be happier. The project is complete. Finally