mud pump water well free sample

There are many different ways to drill a domestic water well. One is what we call the “mud rotary” method. Whether or not this is the desired and/or best method for drilling your well is something more fully explained in this brief summary.

One advantage of drilling with compressed air is that it can tell you when you have encountered groundwater and gives you an indication how much water the borehole is producing. When drilling with water using the mud rotary method, the driller must rely on his interpretation of the borehole cuttings and any changes he can observe in the recirculating fluid. Mud rotary drillers can also use borehole geophysical tools to interpret which zones might be productive enough for your water well.

The mud rotary well drilling method is considered a closed-loop system. That is, the mud is cleaned of its cuttings and then is recirculated back down the borehole. Referring to this drilling method as “mud” is a misnomer, but it is one that has stuck with the industry for many years and most people understand what the term actually means.

The water is carefully mixed with a product that should not be called mud because it is a highly refined and formulated clay product—bentonite. It is added, mixed, and carefully monitored throughout the well drilling process.

The purpose of using a bentonite additive to the water is to form a thin film on the walls of the borehole to seal it and prevent water losses while drilling. This film also helps support the borehole wall from sluffing or caving in because of the hydraulic pressure of the bentonite mixture pressing against it. The objective of the fluid mixture is to carry cuttings from the bottom of the borehole up to the surface, where they drop out or are filtered out of the fluid, so it can be pumped back down the borehole again.

When using the mud rotary method, the driller must have a sump, a tank, or a small pond to hold a few thousand gallons of recirculating fluid. If they can’t dig sumps or small ponds, they must have a mud processing piece of equipment that mechanically screens and removes the sands and gravels from the mixture. This device is called a “shale shaker.”

The driller does not want to pump fine sand through the pump and back down the borehole. To avoid that, the shale shaker uses vibrating screens of various sizes and desanding cones to drop the sand out of the fluid as it flows through the shaker—so that the fluid can be used again.

When the borehole has reached the desired depth and there is evidence that the formation it has penetrated will yield enough water, then it’s time to make the borehole into a well.

Before the well casing and screens are lowered into the borehole, the recirculating fluid is slowly thinned out by adding fresh water as the fluid no longer needs to support sand and gravel. The driller will typically circulate the drilling from the bottom up the borehole while adding clear water to thin down the viscosity or thickness of the fluid. Once the fluid is sufficiently thinned, the casing and screens are installed and the annular space is gravel packed.

Gravel pack installed between the borehole walls and the outside of the well casing acts like a filter to keep sand out and maintain the borehole walls over time. During gravel packing of the well, the thin layer of bentonite clay that kept the borehole wall from leaking drilling fluid water out of the recirculating system now keeps the formation water from entering the well.

This is where well development is performed to remove the thin bentonite layer or “wall cake” that was left behind. Various methods are used to remove the wall cake and develop the well to its maximum productivity.

Some drillers use compressed air to blow off the well, starting at the first screened interval and slowly working their way to the bottom—blowing off all the water standing above the drill pipe and allowing it to recover, and repeating this until the water blown from the well is free of sand and relatively clean. If after repeated cycles of airlift pumping and recovery the driller cannot find any sand in the water, it is time to install a well development pump.

Additional development of the well can be done with a development pump that may be of a higher capacity than what the final installation pump will be. Just as with cycles of airlift pumping of the well, the development pump will be cycled at different flow rates until the maximum capacity of the well can be determined. If the development pump can be operated briefly at a flow rate 50% greater than the permanent pump, the well should not pump sand.

Mud rotary well drillers for decades have found ways to make this particular system work to drill and construct domestic water wells. In some areas, it’s the ideal method to use because of the geologic formations there, while other areas of the country favor air rotary methods.

Some drilling rigs are equipped to drill using either method, so the contractor must make the decision as to which method works best in your area, for your well, and at your point in time.

To learn more about the difference between mud rotary drilling and air rotary drilling, click the video below. The video is part of our “NGWA: Industry Connected” YouTube series:

Gary Hix is a Registered Professional Geologist in Arizona, specializing in hydrogeology. He was the 2019 William A. McEllhiney Distinguished Lecturer for The Groundwater Foundation. He is a former licensed water well drilling contractor and remains actively involved in the National Ground Water Association and Arizona Water Well Association.

To learn more about Gary’s work, go to In2Wells.com. His eBooks, “Domestic Water Wells in Arizona: A Guide for Realtors and Mortgage Lenders” and “Shared Water Wells in Arizona,” are available on Amazon.

OK, all y’all air drillers just thumb on over to Porky’s column or something. This is for mud drillers. On second thought, I know a lot of you air guys drill about three mud wells a year, and consider it a hassle to rig up mud. So, maybe something I say will be interesting …

The mud pump is the heart of the circulating system, and mud is the blood circulating in the hole. I’ve talked about mud before and will again, but this month, let’s talk about the pump.

Historically, more wells, of every kind, have been drilled with duplex pumps than any other kind. They are simple and strong, and were designed in the days when things were meant to last. Most water well drillers use them. The drawbacks are size and weight. A pump big enough to do the job might be too big to fit on the rig, so some guys use skid-mounted pumps. They also take a fair amount of horsepower. If you were to break down the horsepower requirements of your rig, you would find out that the pump takes more power than the rotary and hoist combined. This is not a bad thing, since it does a lot of the work drilling. While duplex pumps generally make plenty of volume, one of the limiting factors is pressure. Handling the high pressures demanded by today’s oil well drilling required a pump so big and heavy as to be impractical. Some pretty smart guys came up with the triplex pump. It will pump the same — or more — volume in a smaller package, is easy to work on and will make insane pressure when needed. Some of the modern frack outfits run pumps that will pump all day long at 15,000 psi. Scary. Talk about burning some diesel.

The places that triplex pumps have in the shallow drilling market are in coring and air drilling. The volume needs are not as great. For instance, in hard rock coring, surface returns are not always even seen, and the fluid just keeps the diamonds cool. In air drilling, a small triplex is used to inject foam or other chemicals into the air line. It’s basically a glorified car wash pump. The generic name is Bean pump, but I think this just justifies a higher price. Kinda like getting the same burger at McDonald’s versus in a casino.

One of the reasons water well drillers don’t run triplex pumps, besides not needing insane pressure, is they require a positive suction head. In other words, they will not pick up out of the pit like a duplex. They require a centrifugal charging pump to feed them, and that is just another piece of equipment to haul and maintain.

This brings me to another thought: charging. I know a lot of drillers running duplex pumps that want to improve the efficiency of their pumps. Duplexes with a negative suction head generally run at about 85 percent efficiency. The easy way to improve the efficiency is to charge them, thus assuring a 100 percent efficiency. This works great, but almost every one of them, after doing all that work and rigging up a charging pump, tells me that their pump output doubled. Being the quiet, mild mannered type that I am, I don’t say “Bull,” but it is. A duplex pump is a positive displacement pump. That means that it can deliver no more than the displacement it was designed for. You can only fill the cylinder up until it is full. It won’t take any more. The one exception to this is when you are pumping at very low pressure. Then the charging pump will over run the duplex, float the valves and produce a lot more fluid. Might as well shut off the duplex and drill with the charging pump.

Another common pump used in the water well industry is the centrifugal. You see them mostly on air rigs that don’t use mud too often. They have their place, but are a different breed of cat. They are not positive displacement. Flow is a function of speed and horsepower up to the limits of the pump. After that, they just dead-head. With large diameter drill pipe they make a lot of mud, but after the hole gets deeper, friction losses — both inside and outside the drill pipe — build up. This means that the deeper you go, the less circulation you have. This slows the whole process. Positive displacement pumps don’t do this; they pump the same per stroke regardless of pressure. It just takes more horsepower. Also, displacement calculations like bottoms-up time and cement placement are just about impossible. One way to get around the limited pressure of centrifugal pumps is to run two of them in series. I’ve seen a few of these rig-ups and they work very well for large diameter drilling. They will make almost the same pressure as a big duplex for a lot less money. They are still variable displacement, but they roll so much fluid that it doesn’t seem to matter. And run at pretty reasonable depths, too: 300 to 400 psi at 400 gpm is not uncommon with two 3 x 4 centrifugal pumps in series.

I reckon there are pumps for every type of drilling. It is just a matter of using the right one correctly. I once drilled a 42-inch hole 842 feet deep with a 5½ x 8 duplex. Talk about long bottoms-up time … but we got the casing in with less than two feet of fill on bottom! Took time, but we got-er-done.

If you run a mud rig, you have probably figured out that the mud pump is the heart of the rig. Without it, drilling stops. Keeping your pump in good shape is key to productivity. There are some tricks I have learned over the years to keeping a pump running well.

First, you need a baseline to know how well your pump is doing. When it’s freshly rebuilt, it will be at the top efficiency. An easy way to establish this efficiency is to pump through an orifice at a known rate with a known fluid. When I rig up, I hook my water truck to my pump and pump through my mixing hopper at idle. My hopper has a ½-inch nozzle in it, so at idle I see about 80 psi on the pump when it’s fresh. Since I’m pumping clear water at a known rate, I do this on every job.

As time goes on and I drill more hole, and the pump wears, I start seeing a decrease in my initial pressure — 75, then 70, then 65, etc. This tells me I better order parts. Funny thing is, I don’t usually notice it when drilling. After all, I am running it a lot faster, and it’s hard to tell the difference in a few gallons a minute until it really goes south. This method has saved me quite a bit on parts over the years. When the swabs wear they start to leak. This bypass pushes mud around the swab, against the liners, greatly accelerating wear. By changing the swab at the first sign of bypass, I am able to get at least three sets of swabs before I have to change liners. This saves money.

Before I figured this out, I would sometimes have to run swabs to complete failure. (I was just a hand then, so it wasn’t my rig.) When I tore the pump down to put in swabs, lo-and-behold, the liners were cut so badly that they had to be changed too. That is false economy. Clean mud helps too. A desander will pay for itself in pump parts quicker than you think, and make a better hole to boot. Pump rods and packing last longer if they are washed and lubricated. In the oilfield, we use a petroleum-based lube, but that it not a good idea in the water well business. I generally use water and dish soap. Sometimes it tends to foam too much, so I add a few tablets of an over the counter, anti-gas product, like Di-Gel or Gas-Ex, to cut the foaming.

Maintenance on the gear end of your pump is important, too. Maintenance is WAY cheaper than repair. The first, and most important, thing is clean oil. On a duplex pump, there is a packing gland called an oil-stop on the gear end of the rod. This is often overlooked because the pump pumps just as well with a bad oil-stop. But as soon as the fluid end packing starts leaking, it pumps mud and abrasive sand into the gear end. This is a recipe for disaster. Eventually, all gear ends start knocking. The driller should notice this, and start planning. A lot of times, a driller will change the oil and go to a higher viscosity oil, thinking this will help cushion the knock. Wrong. Most smaller duplex pumps are splash lubricated. Thicker oil does not splash as well, and actually starves the bearings of lubrication and accelerates wear. I use 85W90 in my pumps. A thicker 90W140 weight wears them out a lot quicker. You can improve the “climbing” ability of the oil with an additive, like Lucas, if you want. That seems to help.

Outside the pump, but still an important part of the system, is the pop-off, or pressure relief valve. When you plug the bit, or your brother-in-law closes the discharge valve on a running pump, something has to give. Without a good, tested pop-off, the part that fails will be hard to fix, expensive and probably hurt somebody. Pop-off valve are easily overlooked. If you pump cement through your rig pump, it should be a standard part of the cleanup procedure. Remove the shear pin and wash through the valve. In the old days, these valves were made to use a common nail as the shear pin, but now nails come in so many grades that they are no longer a reliable tool. Rated shear pins are available for this. In no case should you ever run an Allen wrench! They are hardened steel and will hurt somebody or destroy your pump.

One last thing that helps pump maintenance is a good pulsation dampener. It should be close to the pump discharge, properly sized and drained after every job. Bet you never thought of that one. If your pump discharge goes straight to the standpipe, when you finish the job your standpipe is still full of fluid. Eventually the pulsation dampener will water-log and become useless. This is hard on the gear end of the pump. Open a valve that drains it at the end of every job. It’ll make your pump run smoother and longer.

The 2,200-hp mud pump for offshore applications is a single-acting reciprocating triplex mud pump designed for high fluid flow rates, even at low operating speeds, and with a long stroke design. These features reduce the number of load reversals in critical components and increase the life of fluid end parts.

The pump’s critical components are strategically placed to make maintenance and inspection far easier and safer. The two-piece, quick-release piston rod lets you remove the piston without disturbing the liner, minimizing downtime when you’re replacing fluid parts.

I’ve run into several instances of insufficient suction stabilization on rigs where a “standpipe” is installed off the suction manifold. The thought behind this design was to create a gas-over-fluid column for the reciprocating pump and eliminate cavitation.

When the standpipe is installed on the suction manifold’s deadhead side, there’s little opportunity to get fluid into all the cylinders to prevent cavitation. Also, the reciprocating pump and charge pump are not isolated.

Another benefit of installing a suction stabilizer is eliminating the negative energies in fluids caused by the water hammer effect from valves quickly closing and opening.

The suction stabilizer’s compressible feature is designed to absorb the negative energies and promote smooth fluid flow. As a result, pump isolation is achieved between the charge pump and the reciprocating pump.

The isolation eliminates pump chatter, and because the reciprocating pump’s negative energies never reach the charge pump, the pump’s expendable life is extended.

Investing in suction stabilizers will ensure your pumps operate consistently and efficiently. They can also prevent most challenges related to pressure surges or pulsations in the most difficult piping environments.

As a water well ages, the rate at which water may be pumped (commonly referred to as the well yield, flow or performance) tends to decrease, especially in wells that were not properly developed when first drilled. This fact sheet briefly describes common well problems and discusses prevention and rehabilitation measures.

Water wells require regular maintenance to ensure adequate water flow and continued drinking water safety. To ensure water quality, well water should be tested annually for total coliform bacteria and E. coli bacteria by a state accredited testing laboratory.

Every three years, additional testing is recommended for pH and total dissolved solids as well as tests related to land uses occurring or expected to occur within sight of the well. Additionally, if there are obvious stains, tastes, or odors in water, seek testing that will help identify the source of these symptoms.

Water wells should also be inspected annually for obvious signs of damage or contamination. Be sure the area within 100 feet around the well is clear of debris or items that might pollute the water supply.

Water well completion report or log (if you have it) which should include information such as water well depth, date drilled, construction (including casing specifications, grouting and screen), and water well yield or flow rate in gallons per minute (gpm)

To find some of this information you can check with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PA DCNR) Pennsylvania Groundwater Information System (PaGWIS) or contact a local well driller.

As a water well ages, the rate at which water may be pumped (commonly referred to as the well yield, flow or performance) tends to decrease, especially in wells that were not properly developed when first drilled. A drop or complete loss of water production from a well can sometimes occur even in relatively new wells due to a lowered water level from persistent drought or over-pumping of the well which can dewater the water-bearing zones. More often, reduced well yield over time can be related to changes in the water well itself including:

Measures taken to correct these problems are referred to as well rehabilitation or restoration. A successful well rehabilitation will maximize the flow of water from the well. The chances for successful rehabilitation are dependent on the cause(s) of poor well performance and the degree to which the problem has progressed.

A common measure of the delivery of water by a water well is referred to as the "specific capacity" which is defined as the pumping rate (gallons per minute) divided by the drawdown or increased depth to water during pumping (in feet).

Generally, a decrease of 25% or more in well yield indicates that rehabilitation is in order. Delaying rehabilitation procedures can significantly increase costs and in some cases make rehabilitation impossible.

To detect deterioration of well performance, you must have a point of reference. Often this reference is the original well construction and pump test data which are normally supplied to you by the well driller on a well completion report or well log when the well is installed. However, even if you do not have this information, significant changes in your well are also a warning sign. Major changes in any of the following well characteristics is an indication that your well or pump is in need of attention:

The latter three techniques all include injecting water (and sometimes chemicals) into the well under extreme pressure. Sometimes contractors will use a combination of these methods depending upon the reason(s) for the decrease in well performance.

Chemical and biological incrustation are common causes of well failure. Incrustations are physical obstructions which develop on well screens and rock fractures or openings delivering water to the well screen or borehole.

In severe cases, the obstruction to flowing water can render the well useless. Major forms of incrustations can occur from build up of calcium and magnesium salts, iron and manganese compounds, or plugging caused by slime producing iron bacteria or other similar organisms (bio-fouling).

The type of acid to be used, its form (liquid, granular, pelletized), the procedures used to introduce and agitate the acid solution, and the severity of incrustation all play a part in determining the success of acid treatment. It is common for acid-treated older wells to completely recover or even exceed the original well yield assuming any material dislodged by the acid is removed from the well.

A less common mechanical approach is the use of controlled blasting. Controlled blasting involves the use of explosives, carefully set at specific locations in the well bore, to fracture consolidated rock aquifer and incrusting materials. Experience has shown this technique, when done properly, to be useful for temporary well yield improvement. However, cracks opened by blasting often eventually become incrusted and additional rehabilitation measures are required to maintain well productivity.

The primary cause of bio-fouling, or biological clogging, of well screens and rock fractures is attributed to iron bacteria. These and other similar bacteria create a slimy, voluminous "biomat".

Rapid growth of these bacteria can quickly clog well screen pores and render a well virtually useless in a matter of months. Once iron bacteria become established in a well, they are extremely difficult to eradicate.

Treating iron bacteria colonies in water wells is often a perpetual process that seeks to maintain well performance at an acceptable level. In general, chemical means of control are most effective. However, best results are achieved when chemical bactericides are used in conjunction with physical agitation of the well bore water to remove the biological residue.

The chemical of choice for most small diameter wells is chlorine. It has the advantage of being readily available, inexpensive, and is generally accepted by health officials for use in potable water supplies. For general disinfection purposes following routine well and piping construction, repair, or pump installation, a 50 mg/L dose of free chlorine is recommended. For treatment of severe iron bacteria problems concentrations as high as 500 to 2,000 mg/L are used.

However, chlorine treatment of iron bacteria problems may not be effective without subsequent agitation of the well water. Turbulent flow causes greater surface area exposure of slime growths to the chlorine solution and assists in dislodging obstructions.

For more information on how to shock chlorinate a well, consult our fact sheet Shock Chlorination of Wells and Springsor contract with a professional well driller.

A portion of the loss in well performance over time can often be attributed to the slow migration of fine particles from the aquifer toward the borehole and into the well screen. In some cases the screen itself can become clogged. To prevent pump damage, replacement of a deteriorating screen may be a wise decision. There are several reasons for sediment plugging including:

The most important preventative measure to avoid physical plugging is proper well development. Adequate well development will stabilize the aquifer material so that subsequent pumping from the well will not result in excessive sediment removal. Removal of fine silt and clay particles introduced in some drilling fluids, or which naturally occur in certain kinds of aquifers, can only be accomplished with the use of chemical treatments.

As with other chemical rehabilitation treatments, agitation of the chemical into and out of the aquifer formation is crucial to success of the operation. This agitation may be provided by a surge plunger, compressed air, well pump, or high-velocity jet.

Use of a high-velocity jet is generally recognized as the most effective means of agitation. When water from the well is re-circulated for jetting, sediment should be removed prior to reuse. Continuous removal of dislodged sediment, as done in a re-circulating jet operation, gives the best results as the cleaning solution is able to penetrate more deeply into the aquifer medium.

Corroded and enlarged well screen holes may lead to sand pumping, which in turn results in abrasive deterioration of pump parts and enlarged screen openings leading to excessive sediment velocities.

In this case, abrasive materials carried in high velocity flows can lead to erosion of the screen openings. A screen or well casing that has undergone significant corrosive deterioration may collapse altogether. A final negative impact of well corrosion is that water from a seriously affected well may be such low quality that uses are limited.

The best way to avoid or fix corrosion problems is to select appropriate corrosion resistant casing and screening materials. Carbon steel screens are less expensive than stainless steel but are more susceptible to corrosion. Keep in mind that excessive acid-rehabilitation well treatments can also significantly accelerate general corrosion.

Excessive sediment concentrations in well water can be brought about by inadequate initial well development, absence of a well screen in a loose rock formation, oversized screen openings, excessive well screen entrance water velocities resulting from undersized openings, or well screen corrosion.

Usually a pump will show some evidence that maintenance is in order. Most major causes of pump failure are related to mechanical problems such as bearings, stuffing boxes, impellers, and pump bowl assemblies. Maintenance, repair and replacement of the pump and motor parts should be in accordance with the manufacturer"s recommendations.

Correction of recurring sand pumping problems is in some cases cost prohibitive. Total well replacement may in the long run be more economical than rehabilitation of a severely deteriorated well. This is especially true of shallow wells.

However, when drilling a new well is not feasible, it is sometimes possible to extract and replace a severely damaged well screen in the existing well. Installation of a smaller diameter screen (also known as a liner) inside the original well screen has also been used as a remedy. Various devices can also be installed to even out or reduce the flow of water entering the well and thus reduce the potential for sand pumping.

If your well begins to demonstrate the symptoms of poor performance, don"t delay in contacting a professional water well contractor. Consult the National Ground Water Association (NGWA) to find a list of member well drillers in your area. The sooner that they can inspect the well to find the problem and treat it, the more likely you are to have a successful water well rehabilitation.

Typically, well pumps can be broken down into two categories: jet pumps and submersible pumps. Each design is built to fit the needs of various well sizes and conditions.

Most shallow well pumps are found in wells that are less than 25 feet deep and in areas with a high water table. These pumps have few running parts and require little maintenance.

This type of pump is located above the ground, typically just inside the well house, and generates high pressure to pull the water from the well and into the home using an inlet pipe. A tank or well booster pump is recommended to accompany this type of well pump to increase water pressure to the home.

Unlike its shallow counterpart, a deep well jet pump is located within the well, though its motor stays in the well house. This pump uses two pipes: one for drawing water out of the well and another for directing the water to the home. Deep well jet pumps are typically used in wells that are 110 feet deep.

A deep well submersible pump sits at the bottom of the well directly in the water. Using its motor, the pump draws water from the bottom and pushes it out of the well into your home’s water lines. These pumps can be used in wells up to 300 feet deep. The pumps work similar to sump pumps, which draw water and pump it out.

Although professional well pump replacement comes with high pump installation costs, you may have no choice but to call a professional depending on the well pump you have. Certain pumps, like deep well submersible pumps, require special equipment to get them out without damaging components or wiring. In addition to the fragility of the well’s components, removing a well pump can be very labor intensive, with some pumps weighing more than 100 pounds.

Even if you’re considering replacing your well pump on your own, call a plumber to confirm that the well pump is the issue with your system before removing it. This will prevent any unneeded work or unintentional damage to your well system.

Use the tool below to find a well service contractor who can diagnose your well pump problem and help you determine whether or not you can replace it yourself: