Well started pumping large amounts of sand, now no water

[sivancic]

Hello and help. Here is my situation and I wonder what my options are.

My home in Belmont,NC has a drilled 6inch round well, unknown how old, with a 23 year old pump, and the pump resides about 100 feet down. The water started showing a lot of sand in the house then there was no pressure and no water. We called a water guy and he raised the pump, replaced a bad pressure valve, removed 5 gallons of sand, put the pump back in and tried to pump and just got sand again. So he moved the pump up 40 feet and still just sand. He indicated that the casing in the sand level was broken and filling the well with sand. He also indicated that my options were to drill a new well at a cost of between 4 and 6 grand, or to see if a neighbor was willing to let us use their well and we pay them for their water. After talking with the neighbor they were too worried about litigation to allow us to share their well it looks like we will need to have a new well drilled. By big problem is that my home and land sit under a new toll road that the state will be building in 2 to 3 years and they will be using eminent domain to purchase my home so I really don't want to invest in a new well when it will only be destroyed in less then 3 years. Do I have any other options????

 

[Ballvalve]

Buy water on a meter from the neighbors on a 2 year contract. Use liability releases to satisfy their worry. Pay a nice sum for the water, and do not "share" their well. Pay for the lawyer.

Maybe you can put the pump in a sand screen that fits within the existing casing.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[ncgeo]

When the pump was raised and parts replaced was the tank also cleaned or replaced? You could have a large amount of sand in your pressure tank that has been loosened up. A way to check for that is to run the pump temporarily disconnected from the tank, or draw a sample from a valve before the tank. If you are still seeing sand it is coming from the well now, and in quantity.

I find it hard to believe the casing broke. How could that happen after installation? More likely, the uncased part of the well partly collapsed and exposed a sand vein. I am not too far from you on the west side of Lake Norman, have had 2 wells drilled, and have had some problems with sand and grit in these uncased wells. I'm not convinced the solid granite is really that solid. But maybe there is no way to adapt a well screen to this geology.

On a side note, I predict that toll rode will go bust just like the one on the southern end of Greenville, SC did recently. I just don't see the need for it. But for your sake I hope you got a fair deal on your land.

 

[Masterpumpman]

I'm sure the driller has a down hole camera. . . most do today. With a camera he should be able to see where the sand is coming from. Either way you definately have a well and probably a pump problem now. If there's any way to come to some agreement to rent water from your neighbor, I'd do that.

Under your circumstances drilling a new well doesn't sound like a good option. By my map it looks as though you are in a rock well area and it sounds to me as though you have a hole in the casing or the casing has parted. In the event you must try to repair your existing well I suggest that you contact my son, Randall E. Cutter at Innovative Environmental Drilling; 6105 Rest Home Rd. Claremont, NC 28610 Phone: (828) 228-1695, tell him your problem and if possible I'm sure he can find you a reasonable solution without drilling a new well. It may cost you a few dollars to get him to check it out but at least you will know for sure. Most drillers only want to drill new wells but it looks to me as though you may be able to clean this well with air and possibly install a liner through the damaged area.

 

[Justwater]

it is not uncommon at all for a steel cased well to rust out and allow sand to come through. what really sucks is the hole in the casing will only get larger, allowing more and more sand to come through until enough sand plugs the well and there is no more water.

i know a trick that just might fix your problem, though the legality of it could be questionable form state to state. you would need to learn more about your well. maybe even a trip to the health dept. to pull the well log on it. the most important question is how much 6" casing is in the well? also if there is a screen in the well, not that it really matters, you really only need the well to last a couple more years.

it would also require your well man to come back out and do some more work. you would need 4" pvc pipe, and a 6x4" k-packer seal... to make a "liner pipe". first you would let the pump run on the ground full volume to clean as much sand out of the well as it could, then have the well man pull the pump, then slide the 4" pipe with the k-packer (glued between two 4" couplings) on the bottom of it down the 6" to the "bottom". the idea is to get the kpacker thats on the bottom of the 4" as close to the bottom of the 6" as you can, without going past it. The faster you get the 4" in place after you pull out the sub, the better off you are. when you have the 4" where you want it, fill up some buckets with cement and pour it between the 6" and the 4" pipe just for good measure. so now you have replaced the old rusted out 6" well casing thats letting sand through with new 4" pvc casing... assuming you have a 4" sub, reinstall it all back the way it was, but now with a 4" well seal.

i have seen this done on more than one occasion, most of the time with excellent results. maybe discuss it with your well guy and see what he thinks or if he would be willing to try. like i said this can work with great results if done correctly, and you are gonna have to drill a new well anyway.. so maybe its worth a shot.

as far as your neighbors, it wouldnt hurt their system one bit to temporarily hook a water hose to your house. thats what having neighbors is all about, helping each other out when they need it. be glad your getting away from them soon, as it seems like you live next to some real winners.

anyway i know you were looking for options so i figured i would throw in my 2c.. whatever its worth.

***i was typing when porky beat me to it.*** .. also the camera is a better option, we're couple of cheap rednecks, never had the pleasure of owning one.

looking at this again, something like this would probably need to be done by a well guy/driller. its not completely out of the question for a homeowner, but you would need 2-3 guys and a couple specialty tools.