Water Where It Shouldn't Be...

[HighCountry]

Hey all, I am new to this forum and have done some research on this specific issue I am having, but have not found exactly what I am looking for, in the form of an answer. I also apologize that I do not have pictures (right now), but will take some when I get home and attach to this thread for illustration. I think I can explain it well enough to get a conversation started, so I appreciate any help/advice that can be given.

What it all boils down to is this, I have a well and my well house is actually in my garage. It is a "closet" that houses my pressure switch/gauge, pressure tank, and hot water heater before entering the home. In the slab are the feeds from the well itself, to include the water pipe and wiring from the pump. These are in two separate "pipes/tubes/sleeves" (not sure the correct verbiage), but they come up through the slab next to each other adjacent to where the pressure tank and switch are located. I noticed that there was a significant amount of water (a couple gallons, estimated) coming out of this "closet" into the rest of the garage. After I wet/dry vacuumed the water out, I noticed that water was slowly (but consistently) coming out of the "pipe/tube/sleeve" that houses the wiring from the pump. The wiring is encased in flexible metal conduit, so I was not extremely alarmed at first, but it still caused some alarm. The flow at which the water is coming is very low pressure, so my initial thoughts were to just spray some expanding foam in the very narrow gap (<.25") between the "pipe/tube/sleeve" and the conduit, but the engineer in me decided that I should probably figure out the root cause and fix that, if at all possible. I did some research and am trying to figure out how water would get into that passage, and how to fix it. This is not a ground water issue, as I live in New Mexico and we are not in monsoon season, and I also think ground water leaking in is unlikely due to the fact that it is a constant pressure, but I could be mistaken. I think my next step is to go out to the well cap and see if there is any water up that high, which I believe would not be a normal scenario.

So, this is where I am hoping you fine folks can come into the equation. Is my logic sound, or have any of you had a similar problem?

Thank you for any/all help/advice you can provide.

 

[HighCountry]

I have attached a diagram trying to add clarification, again the water is coming from the wiring tube.. Another note of clarification is that I do not have a check valve near the pressure tank. That was initially my first thought as to a fix, but after having read some of the threads here, I am thinking that it may be a bad idea.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Boycedrilling]

So you have water coming out of your electrical conduit. Specifically the metallic flex. We do not know if the electrical wire is I continous at the way to the well or just thru the concrete slab.

Couple of possibilities.
1. Artesian well. Water from the well is flowing into the conduit.
2. Leak in the waterline from the well and it is flowing into the conduit. Is the well higher in elevation than the utility room housing the equipment?
3.shallow ground water is collecting on the conduit until it is flowing out of the flex.

Take the cap off of your well and see how far down the water level is. Use a mirror to shine sunlight down the well. Much brighter than any flashlight

Turn the breaker to the pump off. See if the pressure drops at all, over an hour or two.

Try the easy stuff first.

 

[HighCountry]

So you have water coming out of your electrical conduit. Specifically the metallic flex. We do not know if the electrical wire is I continous at the way to the well or just thru the concrete slab.

Couple of possibilities.
1. Artesian well. Water from the well is flowing into the conduit.
2. Leak in the waterline from the well and it is flowing into the conduit. Is the well higher in elevation than the utility room housing the equipment?
3.shallow ground water is collecting on the conduit until it is flowing out of the flex.

Take the cap off of your well and see how far down the water level is. Use a mirror to shine sunlight down the well. Much brighter than any flashlight

Turn the breaker to the pump off. See if the pressure drops at all, over an hour or two.

Try the easy stuff first.

Quick clarification, there is flex conduit inside another rigid pipe. The water is coming out from in between the rigid pipe and the flex conduit. I have no reason to believe that the wiring inside the flex is compromised....yet.

1. Certainly a possibility.
2. The utility room is ~level with the well cap, so "should" be significantly higher than the well.
3. Also, certainly a possibility that the ground water table is that high, as we are <mile from the Rio Grande.

I will take the cap off and see if I can see any water. If there is water at/near the cap, is that a bad thing? I will also see if I am losing pressure when I turn off the pump. I am assuming that would indicate a leak in a pipe somewhere?

Thank you so much for the help.

 

[Valveman]

The well completely full of water and flowing out the electrical conduit just means yours static water level is high or even Artesian. That is not a problem except for needing to seal the conduit so the water doesn't flow into the house conduit. If you take the well cap off and the water is not up to the top of the well, check the underground line outside the well, which could be leaking into the conduit pipe.

Since you don't have a check valve at the pressure tank, which is good, you could also watch for a drop in pressure when no one is using any water. A drop in pressure would mean you have a leak somewhere, as Artesian flow would not cause that.

 

[Reach4]

Do you have reason to think that this sleeve comes all of the way from the well casing? It could start just outside of the foundation. Similarly, the conduit may not go all of the way.

Regarding ground water-- not snow melt?

Your idea of watching for pressure loss with the pump turned off is good.

 

[Valveman]

Turn the breaker to the pump off. See if the pressure drops at all, over an hour or two.

 

[HighCountry]

The well completely full of water and flowing out the electrical conduit just means yours static water level is high or even Artesian. That is not a problem except for needing to seal the conduit so the water doesn't flow into the house conduit. If you take the well cap off and the water is not up to the top of the well, check the underground line outside the well, which could be leaking into the conduit pipe.

Since you don't have a check valve at the pressure tank, which is good, you could also watch for a drop in pressure when no one is using any water. A drop in pressure would mean you have a leak somewhere, as Artesian flow would not cause that.

That is good to hear, and I plan on cracking the well cap open ASAP. If I just need to seal off the opening between the pipe and flex, any recommendations on a product for that? I was thinking some expanding foam, like Great Stuff, or something similar? The pressure is very low, but not sure I can ever get it to actually stop, so might need something that can cure in water.

Do you have reason to think that this sleeve comes all of the way from the well casing? It could start just outside of the foundation. Similarly, the conduit may not go all of the way.

Regarding ground water-- not snow melt?

Your idea of watching for pressure loss with the pump turned off is good.

Definitely not snow melt around here, at least on the surface. Our water table may be a lot higher now, since we are pretty mountainous. I will turn off the pump and watch for pressure loss.

Thanks for all of the great ideas!

 

[Valveman]

Foam won't work. Silicone maybe, but it would have to dry properly.

 

[Boycedrilling]

Expanding foam won’t work. Duct seal won’t work. There are fairly expensive sealing solutions that do work.

I use RTV silicone. A 6-9” plug of it will hold more that 20 psi inside of 1” conduit. But it does have to cure first

 

[HighCountry]

I am going to see if there is anything that I can do to get the flow stopped before I do any type of gap filling. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[Reach4]

In the snip below, I represented the sleeve in green. Where do you picture the water entering the sleeve? If you can access it, it is normally easier to seal the input side than the output side.

 

[HighCountry]

In the snip below, I represented the sleeve in green. Where do you picture the water entering the sleeve? If you can access it, it is normally easier to seal the input side than the output side.

View attachment 51466

At this point, it is still just assumption. My whole family was sick all weekend, so I didn't get to the well cap, like I had wanted. I am assuming that the input is where the sleeve comes off the well cap, but again, just guessing.

On a side note, the flow is getting weaker and is almost not a problem, right now, so I may see if I can get the well cap off before it goes away completely, just to verify where the water is coming from. Then, if everything works out, it may be dry for me to try and seal it up. Fingers crossed!