Concerning sand in well water

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House water comes from 130 ft well. The 1/2 horse pump went out and we replaced it with a 1 horse. Since then, we began to have sand in the house water. Well is about 14 years old. I realize all the clues point to a dry well, and money flying out the window. But, if anyone has had any experience or can shed any light, I am most appreciative. Thank you.

-- New to (therur@l.scene), March 17, 2000

Answers

Hi, the place we used to live had a lot of sand in the well to the house. It would plug up the hot water tank. There would be sand in the bath tub. Sand in the sinks etc. Finally after burning up the hot water tank and couple times. The land lord put a sand trap in at the well house. Sure did help matters. But we had to change the filters about every 2 to 3 months.

-- Linda Hess (hesscat@cot.net), March 17, 2000.

My Gosh! Thank you Linda for that tip! Maybe this situation won't cost 1K+ (Of bank borrowed money). Thank you for your voice of experience, since I have none, in this arena. Heaven's Speed!

-- New to (therur@l.scene), March 17, 2000.

The above answer is a good one, but you might also check the depth of the water in the well. If it seems deep enough, you might shorten the pipe into the well by about a foot. The extra large pump may just be stirring up the sand that is always present in the bottom of the well. By shortening the pipe, you would keep the pump from pulling water directly off the bottom of the well, and therefore not get the sand. Before shortening though, make sure you will still have enough water standing above the foot valve to meet your needs.

Sometimes sand just caves into wells from the vein of sand your water is coming from. Extra sand in the water may be caused by that and it might just be a coincidence that it happened when you got your new pump. Depends on how long ago you installed your new pump.

Our well has powdered lignite coal in the bottom of it. Sometimes we pick it up with the pump or even with the well bucket.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), March 18, 2000.


Dear Green, Thank You too, for your information. We will try all offers of information and pray that one works! Heaven's Speed to you and yours!

-- New to (therur@l.scene), March 18, 2000.

We did both. Raised the pump up about a foot & the sand trap. Inexpencive & no more trouble. going on six yrs. now.

-- Okie-Dokie (www.tommycflinstone@aol.com), March 19, 2000.


I was going thru old posts and saw yours. My neighbor had sand in his well and what he did was to have a well company come and flush the well. All the sand was flushed out in his backyard and he didn't have a problem after that. Mary

-- Mary Fraley (kmfraley@orwell.net), October 03, 2000.

There could be a few different things going on here. First, there may have been a lot of sand settled out in your pipes, which got stirred up when the water drained out of them, then started coming out when you recharged pipes.

Second, you could have had sand clinging to the well casing, which would have been broken loose when replacing pump.

Very likely, the increased horsepower is merely flushing sand out of the aquifer. A well, particularly in a sand or gravel aquifer, will run muddy, or sandy, for some time (mine took a couple or three weeks to clear up, when new). Putting in the pump with twice the flow capacity will likely require another "break in" period for the well. If this is the case, you might think about running a lot of water to your lawn or garden, until it clears up, in order to avoid all the sand in your fixtures, which can cause a hassle, especially in washerless faucets. In addition, the one horse pump will result in a deeper "pumping level" (in other words, the well will "draw down" farther with the one horse pump.)

Without more info, I'd say that your well is probably NOT drying up. If it was ok with the half horse pump, but not now, it is also possible that the full horse pump has the capacity to pump water faster than the well can recharge. For instance, if your half horse pump's pumping level were, say, one hundred feet, and pumped twelve gallons per minute (a probable amount at that depth with a half horse pump). With a one horse pump, you'd be able to pump almost twenty gallons per minute if you drew the water all the way down to the pump level, if the pump is set at 130-135 feet. Thus, you might be pumping the well "dry" even though the well is fine. You just have too big a pump on it.

You can't get twenty gallons per minute from a fifteen gallo per minute well, in other words.

If you are pumping the well all the way down to the pump with the bigger pump, you would PROBABLY be experiencing air bubbling when turning on the faucets in your sinks, if this condition persists.

CAUTION: do not allow the pump to continue running in this situation, as you'll burn it up.

I certainly recommend measuring how deep the pumping level is; measure it after five, ten, twenty, forty-five, minutes, and then every fifteen or twenty minutes, until the level stabilizes. Assuming you know how deep the pump is, you'll then know if it is pumping the water all the way down to the pump.

If you need help in how to measure the water level, I will need more information. Feel free to drop me an email.

JOJ

-- jumpoffjoe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), October 03, 2000.


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