while we're talking water...

[pigdoc]

Throwing out a chance for comment from the experts.

I live near the top of the south slope of a mountain that is bristling with natural springs. Probably ranges between 5% and 20% slope, all towards the south. Terrain is solid glacial moraine (rock from the Laurentian shield). Nothing with much volume, but all that water seeping out of the slopes has created some interesting ecologies on the surface.

I found out a few years ago how SHALLOW our well is, when a pitless adapter failed. It's only about 50 feet deep. Laterally, the well is about 100 yards away from the nearest springs. Our septic tank and drainage field are downslope, about 50 yards from the well.

We've been borderline drought-stricken around here. In the last 3 months, I've measured a total of 10.5 inches of rainfall. That has seriously depleted our well-water reserve. I can tell by how often I need to change the sediment filter. Have changed it 3 times since July 15, the last time a week ago. Each time, the filter was nearly plugged with fine orange clay. We can tell that the filter needs to be changed when we detect a slight drop in line pressure. Using a 10-micron polypro filter.
Pump sucks mud when water gets that low. If we get significant rain, pump sucks less mud.

We adopt strict water conservation measures during these times. I began collecting rainwater from the downspouts to water the gardens with. I get a 55-gallon drum-full from 1/4 of the roof for each 0.1" of rain. Much more than one might expect!

So, I think a new well is in my future...

Any opportunity in raising the submersible a skosh to get it up out of the mud?

-Paul

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

Maybe. When you put a pipe on it to lift off the pitless try lowering it to see how far off the bottom it is. You might also want to lower a floater to see how high the water level is compared to the pump, and measure what the draw-down is when the pump is running as running the pump dry can wreck the seals. A GPM restrictor on the line can reduce the draw-down on the well

 

[Shawn T. W]

I've only had 8" since 1st of July ... Good thing I have a deep well, as I had a lot of watering to do on my trees, and the creek went dry where I usually draw from ...

When I lived in SE AZ I collected rain water off our roof, .1" rain would fill 3 - 55 gallon barrels! We usually got 8"-10" of rain a year ...

 

[pigdoc]

Maybe. When you put a pipe on it to lift off the pitless try lowering it to see how far off the bottom it is. You might also want to lower a floater to see how high the water level is compared to the pump, and measure what the draw-down is when the pump is running as running the pump dry can wreck the seals. A GPM restrictor on the line can reduce the draw-down on the well

Sounds like great advice!
I have not noticed a difference in how the pressure tank switch cycles the pump on and off. In other words, the pump-on cycle is not prolonged. I can measure that when wife takes her 15-minute showers.
Something to monitor, I guess...

And, we don't pull through anything larger than a single 1/2" pipe, so GPM can't be very high... I have not used a garden hose outside for any significant length of time at all this year. Last time I used a garden hose was just to rinse the suds off the honey extractor when I was cleaning it up in early September.

When that pitless adapter failed a few years ago, our first clues were the swamp quickly forming around the well-casing, and the pressure tank not being able to reach pressure. The leak kept the submersible running continuously until it burned out. [I was 500 miles away at the time, or I would have pulled the pump motor capacitors.]

THANKS!
-Paul

 

[armylifer]

Throwing out a chance for comment from the experts.

I live near the top of the south slope of a mountain that is bristling with natural springs. Probably ranges between 5% and 20% slope, all towards the south. Terrain is solid glacial moraine (rock from the Laurentian shield). Nothing with much volume, but all that water seeping out of the slopes has created some interesting ecologies on the surface.

I found out a few years ago how SHALLOW our well is, when a pitless adapter failed. It's only about 50 feet deep. Laterally, the well is about 100 yards away from the nearest springs. Our septic tank and drainage field are downslope, about 50 yards from the well.

We've been borderline drought-stricken around here. In the last 3 months, I've measured a total of 10.5 inches of rainfall. That has seriously depleted our well-water reserve. I can tell by how often I need to change the sediment filter. Have changed it 3 times since July 15, the last time a week ago. Each time, the filter was nearly plugged with fine orange clay. We can tell that the filter needs to be changed when we detect a slight drop in line pressure. Using a 10-micron polypro filter.
Pump sucks mud when water gets that low. If we get significant rain, pump sucks less mud.

We adopt strict water conservation measures during these times. I began collecting rainwater from the downspouts to water the gardens with. I get a 55-gallon drum-full from 1/4 of the roof for each 0.1" of rain. Much more than one might expect!

So, I think a new well is in my future...

Any opportunity in raising the submersible a skosh to get it up out of the mud?

-Paul

I am not sure that raising your submersible pump will stop you from drawing silt or whatever type of mud you have. I would think that the silt or mud would fill the void and you will still have the same problem. Also, I may be wrong but I would expect there to be some sort of screen at the bottom to prevent excess mud from being drawn. If you pull the submersible up even an inch would that screen still keep the majority of the mud out? I don't know but that is a question I would have.

 

[Vlach7]

Sounds like great advice!
I have not noticed a difference in how the pressure tank switch cycles the pump on and off. In other words, the pump-on cycle is not prolonged. I can measure that when wife takes her 15-minute showers.
Something to monitor, I guess...

And, we don't pull through anything larger than a single 1/2" pipe, so GPM can't be very high... I have not used a garden hose outside for any significant length of time at all this year. Last time I used a garden hose was just to rinse the suds off the honey extractor when I was cleaning it up in early September.

When that pitless adapter failed a few years ago, our first clues were the swamp quickly forming around the well-casing, and the pressure tank not being able to reach pressure. The leak kept the submersible running continuously until it burned out. [I was 500 miles away at the time, or I would have pulled the pump motor capacitors.]

THANKS!
-Paul

On wells around here that have possible issues we use "Pump Savers" it will shut down the pumping for a set amount of time when it notices higher amp use saving an expensive fix. prob. $250 DIY.

 

[Bee-Positive]

We had a 285' well drilled in 2007 when we built the house. The guy drilling said we had good water at 200' but keep drilling. All I could think of was $$$ as he got deeper and deeper. Then he said because of the type of rock we didn't need casing which saved us a lot and the extra depth would give us reserve. We've never run out of water but my neighbors have. One is 85' and the other is 175', so it was money well spent (no pun intended).

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Pump sucks mud when water gets that low. If we get significant rain, pump sucks less mud.

If you notice a difference in well output, water amount, or water quality after a rain, you have a serious problem.
Your well should never be affected by any surface water conditions.

 

[D2Cat]

I have a hand dug well at the farm. It's about 5' dia. and 28' deep, laced with rocks. Has about 3' of silt/mud at the bottom. Recently the level was low so I quit pumping into my automatic waterer.

Well has an 8" concrete slab over the top and then a 1/2" steel plate over a center portion. There is also a round plate into that large sheet so I can remove that and observe what's going on in the well.

I've looked in there after a dry spell of 6-8 weeks with little/no rain, and when we get only a 1/4 to 1/2" of rain and the rocks are dripping water in the well. I am astonished that happens. I just can't imaging how that little amount of water gets through the soil several feel deep with the volume to drip into that well.

 

[Spam Bot]

Have you ever been told that the orange mud might be iron bacteria?

 

[jaxs]

Throwing out a chance for comment from the experts.

I live near the top of the south slope of a mountain that is bristling with natural springs. Probably ranges between 5% and 20% slope, all towards the south. Terrain is solid glacial moraine (rock from the Laurentian shield). Nothing with much volume, but all that water seeping out of the slopes has created some interesting ecologies on the surface.

I found out a few years ago how SHALLOW our well is, when a pitless adapter failed. It's only about 50 feet deep. Laterally, the well is about 100 yards away from the nearest springs. Our septic tank and drainage field are downslope, about 50 yards from the well.

We've been borderline drought-stricken around here. In the last 3 months, I've measured a total of 10.5 inches of rainfall. That has seriously depleted our well-water reserve. I can tell by how often I need to change the sediment filter. Have changed it 3 times since July 15, the last time a week ago. Each time, the filter was nearly plugged with fine orange clay. We can tell that the filter needs to be changed when we detect a slight drop in line pressure. Using a 10-micron polypro filter.
Pump sucks mud when water gets that low. If we get significant rain, pump sucks less mud.

We adopt strict water conservation measures during these times. I began collecting rainwater from the downspouts to water the gardens with. I get a 55-gallon drum-full from 1/4 of the roof for each 0.1" of rain. Much more than one might expect!

So, I think a new well is in my future...

Any opportunity in raising the submersible a skosh to get it up out of the mud?

-Paul

With sloped ground seeping water I would trap surface water in a large tank,pond or other reservoir for outdoor use. That will take strain off well. People often give away above ground swimming pools. An 18'x9'x52" pool will hold close to 5k gallons. A few gallon basin 5 or more feet higher than reservoir, connected by 20-30 foot garden hose collects a bunch of water when running 24/7. If there's insufficient difference in grade, look into passive pumps like waterwheels and water ladders. For the amount of flow, a small solar powered pump will do.

 

[bearbait]

Have you ever been told that the orange mud might be iron bacteria?

We just moved here 3 years ago and put in a 100' drilled well that has iron in it. The inside of the toilet tanks are orange from the iron even though I installed a filtration system (https://www.homedepot.ca/product/is...and-iron-manganese-reducing-filter/1001201103) along with a 50 micron pre filter. It's been a very dry summer, over 3 months with no rain but so far we haven't run out of water. Just this week I had rain gutters installed on my garage with the down spout feeding into a 45 gallon tank until I find a 1000 L water tout. Good luck to you all