Well Overflow Leaking through Electrical Conduit

[Coach H]

I bought a home that has a well shared with a neighbor. Recently the pump started to short cycle so I had a plumber come out to look at it. He added air pressure to the pressure tank but once the pump kicked off, the pressure dropped rapidly. He then pulled the lid from the well and pulled the pump line up about 10' and installed a check valve. Now the pump is behaving as expected, so it seems to have done the trick.

One issue that is now occurring is that the overflow water from the well that use to flow out a pipe in the lid to an attached hose is now leaking out the electrical conduit that contains the wiring to the pump. The plumber said that it should not be a problem to leave it as is. Another plumber I contacted said that he would try to seal the conduit with Duct Seal. I also noticed that the conduit runs lower than the overflow pipe by a couple inches. If I shortened the overflow pipe below the conduit level, would the water natural flow out the lowest path?

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Valveman]

If I shortened the overflow pipe below the conduit level, would the water natural flow out the lowest path?

Yes and that is exactly what you need to do. Caulking the conduit won't hurt, but is not the fix.

 

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[Coach H]

I finally changed the piping from the overflow on the well top so that it is lower than the electrical conduit. It definitely helped in that most of the overflow water is now flowing out the pipe. But there is still some water draining through the conduit. I am not really comfortable having water flowing through the electrical conduit.

What is the best way to seal the conduit so that the overflow water does not flow through it? I am attaching a picture of my set up. The water is flowing out the conduit body on the left.

 

[Valveman]

If that black hose is your overflow, it is not below the conduit. You need a hole in the side of the steel casing to let water out below the conduit. If the hole and overflow line are large enough, water won't get into the conduit. Silicon caulk is probably best to fill around the wires.

 

[Boycedrilling]

Duct seal will not make a watertight seal.

You would have to lift the well cap and let the conduit dry completely. You need to fill the conduit from the back of the LB to at least the elbow if not the male adapter. The best material to use would be potting compound. You will not find that easily. So I use RTV silicone. Fill the conduit completely, for at lest 6”. Let it cure, then reassemble. Will hold +50 psi.

 

[Boycedrilling]

Just so that people are aware.....

Depending upon individual state regulations, it may not be legal to allow an artesian well to flow. In my state, Washington, it is not legal to allow a well to flow uncontained. It is considered a wasting of the resource.

In Washington, a driller is not allowed to remove his drill rig from the well site until the flowing well is contained. A written plan for containment and contingencies is required before drilling in areas of known or suspected flowing artesian wells. I will be presenting a class on this subject next month at our state groundwater associations convention.

I have encountered flows of as much as 300 gpm and shut in pressures of up to 20 psi. I have seen flows of over 1,000 gpm. In the last couple of years, there was a flowing well in the Vancouver, BC that cost millions dollars to control and decommission. Last I heard it was around 5 million dollars. That’s a lot of money, even in Canadian dollars

A well cap like in the picture above will contain up to 5-6 psi pressure. Above that it will be pushed off the casing, no matter how tight you tighten the bolts. This is from actual experience, not armchair reading. Above 5 psi, I weld a flange on the casing and then weld all my penetration couplers into a blind flange that is then bolted to the casing flange. One of the pump accessories companies also make an expandable packer that you place down the well 3-4 feet to control the water. It has penetrations in it for the electrical wires. It is made to be used with a pitless adapter. As I recall, they said it is good for up to 15-20 psi. You have to remember that a 6 5/8” pipe has just over 30 square inches of surface area. So 10 psi has 306.8 lbs of thrust against the cap.

Then the casing also has to be grouted into the ground so that the water doesn’t find a path to the surface outside the casing. The whole time I was growing up, the well at our shop flowed about 50 gpm up the OUTSIDE of the casing. We had a drain pipe out to the ditch by the road. About the time I graduated from high school, we hired a driller to repair the well.

A well like this also has to be protected from freezing.

 

[Coach H]

The plumber we have used for years and is the most knowledgeable on the well thinks we probably should install a watertight well cap. I have searched online and there are well caps for artesian wells. Does anyone have experience with these? Would this be a better solution than having an overflow? Before the overflow started flowing out the electrical conduit, I could run a hose from the overflow pipe to my lawn, but now I can only run it a few feet from the well before nearly all of the water comes through the electrical conduit. Freezing weather is not far off so I am concerned what will happen to the conduit when the water in it freezes.

 

[Valveman]

Make the connection to the hose lower than the conduit, and seal the conduit.