mud pump that gives sufficient flowrate but not enough pressure price

When choosing a size and type of mud pump for your drilling project, there are several factors to consider. These would include not only cost and size of pump that best fits your drilling rig, but also the diameter, depth and hole conditions you are drilling through. I know that this sounds like a lot to consider, but if you are set up the right way before the job starts, you will thank me later.

Recommended practice is to maintain a minimum of 100 to 150 feet per minute of uphole velocity for drill cuttings. Larger diameter wells for irrigation, agriculture or municipalities may violate this rule, because it may not be economically feasible to pump this much mud for the job. Uphole velocity is determined by the flow rate of the mud system, diameter of the borehole and the diameter of the drill pipe. There are many tools, including handbooks, rule of thumb, slide rule calculators and now apps on your handheld device, to calculate velocity. It is always good to remember the time it takes to get the cuttings off the bottom of the well. If you are drilling at 200 feet, then a 100-foot-per-minute velocity means that it would take two minutes to get the cuttings out of the hole. This is always a good reminder of what you are drilling through and how long ago it was that you drilled it. Ground conditions and rock formations are ever changing as you go deeper. Wouldn’t it be nice if they all remained the same?

Centrifugal-style mud pumps are very popular in our industry due to their size and weight, as well as flow rate capacity for an affordable price. There are many models and brands out there, and most of them are very good value. How does a centrifugal mud pump work? The rotation of the impeller accelerates the fluid into the volute or diffuser chamber. The added energy from the acceleration increases the velocity and pressure of the fluid. These pumps are known to be very inefficient. This means that it takes more energy to increase the flow and pressure of the fluid when compared to a piston-style pump. However, you have a significant advantage in flow rates from a centrifugal pump versus a piston pump. If you are drilling deeper wells with heavier cuttings, you will be forced at some point to use a piston-style mud pump. They have much higher efficiencies in transferring the input energy into flow and pressure, therefore resulting in much higher pressure capabilities.

Piston-style mud pumps utilize a piston or plunger that travels back and forth in a chamber known as a cylinder. These pumps are also called “positive displacement” pumps because they literally push the fluid forward. This fluid builds up pressure and forces a spring-loaded valve to open and allow the fluid to escape into the discharge piping of the pump and then down the borehole. Since the expansion process is much smaller (almost insignificant) compared to a centrifugal pump, there is much lower energy loss. Plunger-style pumps can develop upwards of 15,000 psi for well treatments and hydraulic fracturing. Centrifugal pumps, in comparison, usually operate below 300 psi. If you are comparing most drilling pumps, centrifugal pumps operate from 60 to 125 psi and piston pumps operate around 150 to 300 psi. There are many exceptions and special applications for drilling, but these numbers should cover 80 percent of all equipment operating out there.

The restriction of putting a piston-style mud pump onto drilling rigs has always been the physical size and weight to provide adequate flow and pressure to your drilling fluid. Because of this, the industry needed a new solution to this age-old issue.

Enter Cory Miller of Centerline Manufacturing, who I recently recommended for recognition by the National Ground Water Association (NGWA) for significant contributions to the industry.

As the senior design engineer for Ingersoll-Rand’s Deephole Drilling Business Unit, I had the distinct pleasure of working with him and incorporating his Centerline Mud Pump into our drilling rig platforms.

In the late ’90s — and perhaps even earlier —  Ingersoll-Rand had tried several times to develop a hydraulic-driven mud pump that would last an acceptable life- and duty-cycle for a well drilling contractor. With all of our resources and design wisdom, we were unable to solve this problem. Not only did Miller provide a solution, thus saving the size and weight of a typical gear-driven mud pump, he also provided a new offering — a mono-cylinder mud pump. This double-acting piston pump provided as much mud flow and pressure as a standard 5 X 6 duplex pump with incredible size and weight savings.

The true innovation was providing the well driller a solution for their mud pump requirements that was the right size and weight to integrate into both existing and new drilling rigs. Regardless of drill rig manufacturer and hydraulic system design, Centerline has provided a mud pump integration on hundreds of customer’s drilling rigs. Both mono-cylinder and duplex-cylinder pumps can fit nicely on the deck, across the frame or even be configured for under-deck mounting. This would not be possible with conventional mud pump designs.

Centerline stuck with their original design through all of the typical trials and tribulations that come with a new product integration. Over the course of the first several years, Miller found out that even the best of the highest quality hydraulic cylinders, valves and seals were not truly what they were represented to be. He then set off on an endeavor to bring everything in-house and began manufacturing all of his own components, including hydraulic valves. This gave him complete control over the quality of components that go into the finished product.

The second generation design for the Centerline Mud Pump is expected later this year, and I believe it will be a true game changer for this industry. It also will open up the application to many other industries that require a heavier-duty cycle for a piston pump application.

Your water pump is primed and the liquid is flowing… kind of. One of the more common problems with water pumps is a reduced or lower than expected water flow. When you need to dewater the jobsite, low flow means more downtime for the crew, costing money and putting deadlines at risk. Often, low water flow is less about your water pump and more to do with the situation. Below are a few things to review to troubleshoot water pump problems involving low water flow.

The greater the distance a pump has to pull the water, the lower the flow rate will be. Get too far from the water source and the more power is dedicated to ‘sucking’ the water and less to discharging, reducing the flow rate.

Typically, pumps should be with 20 feet of the water source. Depending on the typography, how high the pump is relative to the water, the flow may be reduced at even shorter distances. Your pump has individual specification, so be sure you read the spec and operate within them.

Your pump is designed to operate with a certain diameter input line. In some cases, we have seen people attach a smaller than recommended hose or line (using a reduction couplings). Depending on the intake line you use, it is also possible that the line crimps, or is “sucked in” on itself.

Debri blockage is a common problem. With murky water it can be hard to see the intake hose. But, operators should check to be sure there is no debris blocking the intake. The blockage usually happens at the filter as it does it’s job to prevent damage to the water pump. Remove the debri and reposition the hose to start pumping again.

The intake filter or screen can also be the culprit even without debri . While you must ensure the filter is fine enough to prevent damaging solids from entering the pump, too fine a filter for the water pump will restrict the flow right as the water enters the intake. Be sure the filter is proper for the pump.

Centrifugal water pumps are designed to operate with the impeller going in one direction. If it is going the opposite direction, the pump will not operate properly. This can happen if the electrical connections to the electric motor is not established correctly. Review the electric motors setup and user instructions to ensure your connections are correct.

Whether you are dewatering a jobsite, irrigating a field or applying your water pump for any other purpose, low flow is an issue. In some cases, like a firefighting pump, it can be a matter of life-or-death. One way to minimize onsite issue it to check all your equipment on a regular basis, replacing worn parts and performing maintenance as needed. But when confronted with low flow rates, follow the above steps and you’ll be able to get your water pump back in action, and your crew back to work.

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Drilling in the North Sea is confronted with an ever more challenging pressure management issue due to narrow geo-pressure windows in depleted reservoirs. Further, the occurrence of pack-offs can cause serious damage to the formation and contribute to non-productive time. To address these problems, automation of mud pump management has been developed over the last four years to minimize the chance of fracturing the formation while starting the mud pumps or circulating. To account for abnormal flow restrictions in the annulus, automatic actions are also an integral part of the mud pump automation described in this paper.

Since the downhole conditions are continuously changing (depth, temperature, flow-rate, gel time, cuttings proportion, etc), the necessary safe guards to operate the mud pumps need to be updated constantly. Advanced transient temperature and hydraulic models are used to estimate, in real-time, the downhole situation. Based on the current context, evaluation of maximum pump rates and acceptable flow accelerations are performed and sent to the mud pump control system to be used as an envelope of protection. Furthermore, to assist the Driller during connections, the pump start-up procedure has been semi-automated in order to decrease connection time. Finally, an automatically triggered pump shutdown procedure is also available to minimize the consequences of a pack-off on formation fracturing.

A first version of the system has been tested during the drilling of one well in 2008 in the North Sea. Based on the initial experience, a revised version has been used during the drilling of three wells drilled on the Norwegian Continental Shelf in 2009. The feedback from the Drillers involved in the testing has been used to improve the user friendliness of the system. The automation of the mud pump management has been well accepted by the drilling crews. However, the testing has shown that additional instrumentation at the rig site is necessary before such automation can be rolled out safely.

I am often asked to visit plant sites to consult on problems regarding inadequate flow rates in two-pump systems. These plants are usually more than 10 years old, and the commissioning operators and engineers are no longer present. Plant output requirements have increased, and/or the equipment is simply old and less efficient. Either way, the desired outcome is to obtain more flow through the system.

In a typical scenario, someone observes there is an additional installed pump and decides the solution is to simply start and operate the second pump. To an untrained person who sees two pumps installed in the same system, it seems logical that operating the second pump in parallel will increase the flow. This may work in some instances but often does not. When the system is not designed for two (or more) pumps to operate at the same time (in parallel), it will not take long for both pumps to experience issues.

Two pumps set up to run individually and/or in parallel. In other words, pumps can run in parallel or separately, covering a wide range of expected flows.

To find the solution to the problem, the first thing I ask for is the system curve. The curve is often not available, so I work with plant personnel to calculate and develop the system curve. Once we overlay the system curve on the pump curves, the issue and possible solutions become readily apparent.

In many cases, the system designer may have designed the system to have one pump do all of the required work (100 percent duty pump) with a second pump (also known as the redundant pump, installed spare, 100 percent spare or backup pump) ready for operation so the first pump can be removed from service without disturbing the production process. The pumps and their associated motors and controllers are each designed for 100 percent duty.

The intersection of the single pump curve and the system curve should be near the best efficiency point (BEP) for the pump. In these types of cases, the piping system is not designed for both pumps to operate at the same time. The pipe size is typically too small to efficiently handle the higher flows and presents a huge friction loss if both pumps are operated. Another way to think of this situation is the system curve is steep—not flat—for two-pump operation.

If the system is designed for both pumps to operate at the same time, then the system curve will, by design, be flatter overall and present less friction. You can also think of undesired friction as wasted horsepower, which translates to higher electrical costs.

This column is not meant to explain in detail why one curve is steep and the other is flat. The important point to note is the steeper curves represent more friction loss as you attempt to pump more flow through the pipe. For this article, it is sufficient to say that if the system is designed for parallel pumping, the system curve will tend to be flatter.

Figure 1 depicts a properly designed system for parallel pump operations. With one pump operating (Intersection Point 1), the system curve remains relatively flat, and flow is X with corresponding head Y.

When the second pump is started (Intersection Point 2), the friction presented by the higher flows yields a slightly steeper system curve. While the flow will be more than X, please note that it will not attain magnitude 2X.

Figure 2 shows that if one of the pumps is an installed spare and both pumps are operated at the same time, then the additional flow is too much for the given pipe diameter, and the result is a high friction loss.

Looking at Operating Point 2, you can see that starting the second pump has yielded little additional flow. It could be in the range of X flow plus 10 percent, but in many cases it is even worse. This is why starting the second pump can actually kill both pumps.

In these situations, there will always be a strong pump and a weak pump. Even if the pumps were designed and manufactured to be identical, there is always some nuance in one of the pumps and in the system that will prevent the pumps from being identical.

The stronger pump will attempt to take the full load (as presented by the system). The stronger pump will run far right on its curve (a condition called runout) and have issues with vibration and cavitation (net positive suction head [NPSH] and flow angle incidence recirculation) that will manifest as damaged impellers as well as short-lived bearings and mechanical seals. At the same time, the weak pump will run at low to no flow and have similar issues because it is operating at the far left side of the curve. It is not uncommon for the stronger pump to develop sufficient pressure to close the discharge check valve on the weaker pump, consequently forcing it to operate at a shutoff head (zero flow rate).

Figure 3 shows the operation of Pump 1 (Intersection Point 1) and the subsequent parallel operation of Pump 2. A common misunderstanding is that if you start the second pump, the flow rate will double to Intersection Point 2. In reality, the actual operating point will be at Intersection Point 3. In a centrifugal pump system, the pump will always operate where the system curve dictates.

Pumps in a system that is not designed for parallel operation should not be operated at the same time except for brief intervals during switching operations. To do otherwise is likely to prematurely damage both pumps.

Often, a good system design is to have pumps in parallel because they can provide flexibility to match the flow to the load. This setup is also more reliable because it provides standby protection for a relatively high percentage of the full load in the event of one pump loss.

Different pump designs/models can operate together in parallel, but it is important that they have an identical shutoff head and similar specific speeds.

If the system is designed for parallel pumps, determine which pump is the stronger one by running one at a time and measuring the head at various flows. As a general rule, always start the weaker pump first.

You can overcome some of the mismatches in pump and system designs by using variable speed drives and carefully monitoring where each pump is on the curve, changing speeds as required to keep the load balanced.

When running one pump for small loads and then starting the second pump to pick up larger loads, do not let the first pump run out on its curve too far before the second pump is started. The first pump may be cavitating for some time before the second pump picks up. I see this happen often on systems designed to operate automatically. The designer often overlooks the NPSH margins at the right side of the curve.

Whether the pumps are in parallel or it is just two pumps in a one-pump system, I always recommend installing hour meters to track the operating hours. I have witnessed many mistakes resulting from decisions based on someone"s memory or record-keeping habits. Hour meters are inexpensive insurance. (Do you know when to change the oil in the pump?)

In a parallel pump system, whichever pump is started first must be capable of covering the full load presented by the system curve without overloading the driver or running out on its own curve.

Mud pump manufacturers frequently offer both types of pumps. In reality, the pump power end and fluid ends are identical. The difference lies with the method used by the pump to displace the mud.

In the early 1990s, it was generally accepted that the pumps used on mid-size and small boring machines should deliver fluid to the bore at a high pressure (1,800 to 2,200 psi/124 to 152 bar)) and have a low flow rate of 5 to 25 gpm (19 to 95 Lpm).

As the industry matured and operators became more experienced, it was found that a higher mud flow with lower pressures was the superior way to bore. In some formations high pressure, low flow is still preferred and provides the most success. However, in the majority of areas, higher flows are best to provide hole cleaning (removal of solids) and provide adequate bentonite for formation sealing and lubrication.

Plunger and packing technology is used when high (800 to 1,000 psi/55 to 69 bar and higher) pressures and lower flows are required. The flow pressure pushes on the front of the packing, compressing it tightly around the smooth surface of the reciprocating plunger sealing off leakage. When the pressure is below 800 to 1,000 psi (55 to 69 bar), there is insufficient flow pressure to assist in this sealing and packing leakage occurs. Leakage carries with it sand and other abrasive solids that lodge between the packing rings and plungers, causing rapid wear to the plunger surface and/or packing and making a good seal impossible.

One advantage of plungers/packing is that the packing can be adjusted by the operator to minimize leakage until the bore is complete and the pump can be serviced.

Pumps with piston/liner technology work in the opposite manner. Pistons work well to prevent leakage when flow pressures are low (below 1,200 psi/83 bar). Pistons are generally larger in diameter than plungers, allowing the pump to run slower-this is good-for the same flow rates.

Pistons have two disadvantages. First, when they fail or start leaking, the operator can do nothing to prolong operation until repairs can be made. Thus, repairs usually have to be made shortly after significant leakage starts. Second, pistons like to run cool and be lubricated. Thus, a piston cooling/lubrication system must be employed to add to piston life.

This system consists of a small centrifugal pump, spray nozzles, piping and collection tank. It sprays a mixture of water and lubricant (non-foaming soap or a small amount of liquid polymer), onto the back of the pistons.

Many boring machines are equipped with plunger pumps. These units are being applied where piston technology should be used, mainly low pressure and higher flows. These pumps frequently have leakage problems. To help operators combat leakage on these boring machines, conversion kits are being developed by some pump manufacturers to allow pumps to be changed from plunger to piston technology. Consult your boring machine or pump manufacturer for availability.

Economically, a good time to consider changing from plunger to piston technology on your pump is when the plungers are no longer serviceable and must be replaced. Conversion kits can be installed in the field and are considered bolt off bolt on upgrades.

If your mud pump has leakage problems, consider that you may be asking your pump to operate in a condition or application for which it was not originally designed.

However, even a properly installed pump can sometimes have problems, such aspriming, pressure, pulsation, noise or oil consumption problems.If you feel that the pump is not performing as it should, you must take immediate action to understand the cause of malfunctioning and restore it.

In this article we have summarized the most common problems that may occur during the normal use of a diaphragm pump and the necessary actions tofix them.

Don"t panic, before starting to dismantle your pump always check that the control regulator is in "by-pass" mode, this problem is very often due to inattention.

Problems on the suction line, i.e. pipes or fittings are sucking in air. The entire suction line must then be inspected and it must be ensured that pipes and fittings are securely fastened.

If the pressure continues to remain low or equal to zero, the problem may probably concern the nozzles; if the nozzles are worn or with a flow rate exceeding that which can be reached by the pump, they must be replaced.

The pulsation dampener may be set incorrectly. The dampener absorbs vibrations generated by the oscillating movement of the diaphragms thanks to a pressure chamber. If not set correctly, the dampener pressure can affect the pump pressure. Simply restore the correct pressure inside the dampener and the pump pressure will be regular again.

Another cause may be theincorrect configuration of the pressure regulator,check the pressure setting of the regulator (and if necessary, repair or replace it).

The diaphragms separate the pumping chamber from the transmission, preventing the pumped fluid from coming into contact with the mechanical parts and the oil; when the diaphragm breaks, the fluid filters in the oil making it milky.

Let"s now consider the damage that can occurto the diaphragms: in case of breakage of a diaphragm it is important to identify the cause and act to prevent its recurrence.

One of the most common causes is cavitation, vapor bubbles form inside the fluid which implode and ruin the diaphragm. To avoid cavitation there are several useful tips, first of all you should not suck water from excessive depths (maximum 4 meters).

all about well flow rate, well yield, and water quantity: this article series describes how we measure the amount of well water available and the well flow rate - the water delivery rate ability of various types of drinking water sources like wells, cisterns, dug wells, drilled wells, artesian wells and well and water pump equipment.

Is the well on the property being purchased? You"ll also want to know where the well equipment are located: the pump, pressure control switch, pressure tank, any reservoir tanks, and any water treatment equipment.

What we really need to know is the total quantity of water that can be drawn from the well and the quality of that water: is it potable, hard (mineral laden), smelly, dirty, requiring treatment for any aesthetic or health-concern contaminant?

There are three basic questions that must be asked about a private water supply provided from a well. It"s helpful to state them since otherwise a property buyer may receive only answers to some of these questions, all of which are critical:

WELL YIELD, SAFE LIMITS - explains the true volume of water that is available from a given well, the role of the static head, the flow rate, the pumping rate, storage tank reservoirs, and other factors that affect well life and changes in well yield.

That"s water potability. But further, are there other water contaminants that are not a health threat but which are aesthetic or even functional concerns such as color, sediment, water hardness, or water odors? You can see that a simple bacteria test to "pass" or "fail" a water well won"t address most of these questions.

The answers to this question usually describe the condition of the piping and well pump, not the condition of the well itself, though in some cases deliberate flow restrictors may have been installed at a building which is served by a well that has a very limited water quantity.

since that inflow rate ultimately sets the maximum rate at which water can be taken out of the well once any water reservoir in the well bore (the static head plus contents of any water storage tanks) has been consumed.

See WELL YIELD DEFINITION for a complete, detailed explanation of the factors that go into a true measurement of the capacity of a well to deliver water.

Watch out: If you are given a well flow rate that was measured over some shorter interval or worse, over some un-specified interval, you cannot be sure how the well will perform in actual use. For example someone may measure a pseudo-well-flow rate by just measuring the well output at the pump for a few minutes, or at a bathtub spigot or an outdoor hose bib.

Because well flow rates for many water wells are not constant but rather may diminish from an initial maximum in gallons per minute to a lower but sustainable flow rate, these short well flow tests can be misleading.

Brief water flow tests may actually just be measuring the rate that the well pump draws water out of the well bore - pumping out of the water reservoir in the well bore itself. This static head pumpout is not the well"s sustainable water delivery capacity.

This sketch, courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates (found at page bottom, Click to Show or Hide) offers a graphic explanation of well static head. The static head in a well is is not the total amount of water than can be pumped out of the well, it"s just where

Based on simple geometry & the formula for the volume of a cylinder: we calculate the area of a cross section, or top, or bottom of the cylinder, then multiply that area by the cylinder"s height.

Watch out when estimating how much water is in the well. The depth of the well from bottom to top of the ground is usually not the height of actual water in the well.

The height of water column inside the well and available to the pump is less than the total well depth. Except in artesian walls the water column does not extend from the well bottom to the top of the ground.

In this sketch, distance (h) is the height of the "static head" = static head volume - the total volume of water available to the pump when the well has rested and fully-recovered.

The static head volume in a drilled well extends from the very bottom of the pump (since water can"t jump up to the pump) upwards to the highest point that water reaches inside the well casing when the well has rested and reached its normal maximum height.

(c) well bottom clearance: our well pump or foot valve (if the pump is not in the well) was placed 5" off of the well bottom © in the sketch, a distance to avoid drawing mud into the pump

Since the "recovery rate" of a well describes the rate at which water runs into the well, a well recovery rate also defines the rate at which water can be pumped out of a well without pumping the well down so far that the pump "runs dry".

over a 24-hour period) run from a fraction of a gallon per minute (a terribly poor well recovery or flow rate) to 3 gallons a minute of water flow (not great but usable) to 5 gallons per minute (just fine for

Watch out: So you could pump water out of a well very fast pumping rate, say at 10 or even 15 gpm. But if the well recovery rate is less than the well pumping rate, you"re going to run out of water.

How soon you run out of water depends on how much water was in the well casing when you started pumping (the static head), and ultimately on the well recovery rate.

That"s about what a well driller does to determine the effective well flow rate when a new well is drilled. Pulling water out of the well (using a variable-rate pump running at a rate set by the well test professional) integrates all of the different rock fissure flow rates into a single quantity of water.

This well water flow rate calculation case provides exactly what we need to calculate the quantity of water in a well from direct measurements of the well diameter, depth, and water depth, presuming that the well, a dug well in this case, is round. We just need the depth of water and the diameter of the cylinder formed by the well.

Then we use the formula for volume of a cylinder - which in turn means we calculate the area of the circle formed by the bottom of the well (or the well"s cross-sectional area) and we just multiply that area by the height (or depth) of the water.

Now we can also obtain the well flow rate - the rate at which water is flowing in to the well - though this will change seasonally as well as change if the well is dug further or other steps are taken that affect well yield.

At the time of our reader"s observations, from 4PM on a given day to 9AM the next day (that"s a total of 17 hours on the clock) the new well collected 650 gallons of water.

The most common measure of a well"s ability to deliver water, that is the answer to "how much water can we get out of a well" is the measurement or calculation of the well flow rate per minute - the water flow rate into the well expressed in gallons of inflow per minute. WFm.

Actually we can draw water out of a well faster than WFm, because the well pump has available to it the reservoir of water already in the well when it starts pumping - the well"s "static head".

In this case that"s a weak, marginal well flow rate. In the U.S. most building or health departments who must approve a private well water supply when issuing a final certificate of occupancy for new construction want to see 3 to 5 gallons per minute or 3-5 gpm.

The property owner"s observation was that from "an empty well" at 4 PM on a given day, the well water level rises to 1.6 meters of depth by 9AM the following day.

So what was observed was a flow rate of 38 gallons per hour over a 17 hour period. Not a 24-hour period. Will the well water level continue to rise past the 17 hour period. Maybe, maybe not.

That"s because eventually the pressure exerted on the well sides by water in the well equals the pressure of water in rock fissures or passages from which water is trying to enter the well.

When the water pressure exerted on the well sides and bottom by water inside the well itself equals the water pressure exerted by water trying to enter the well, at that point water flow into the well will stop.

So the owner will want to either measure the well depth again after 24 hours, repeating our calculation from above with the well depth measured at the end of 24 hours, with water only flowing into the well, that is, no one draws any water out of the well during that period.

We prefer to simply measure the water in the well at the end of 24 hours and calculate the 24-hour flow rate. When the well is a drilled well rather than a hand-dug well, the well driller may measure the well flow rate by use of a well pump whose output is adjustable.

The well driller measures the well draw down rate in the well opening while the well pump is running, and compares that to the rate at which the pump is removing water from the well.

But a true well flow rate, whether obtained by simple observation or by use of a calibrated pump, should be measured over a 24 hour period, not a shorter interval.

You can indeed measure water flow rate in a building by running one (or more) fixtures into a bucket, knowing the volume of the bucket and just watching how long it takes to fill the bucket. But this approach is usually wrong, as we explain at

You could have a great well water flow rate - say 20 gallons per minute - but if it the water will only run at that rate for five minutes before you run out, the well has a very poor water quantity (5 minutes x 20 gpm = 100 gallons of water) and it"s not a satisfactory well.

A true well flow rate is not what we can measure in the building over five minutes, it"s the ability of a well to deliver a sustained water flow rate over a longer period, usually measured over 24-hours.

When a local health department or building department approve the flow rate of a water well, that rate should have been measured by a plumber or well driller and should represent something more than a five minute test.

Well pumps are usually intended to pump water out of a well slowly enough that the pump and well don"t run dry. Some pump systems have fittings that recycle the very last water in the well through the pump, ceasing delivery of it to the building, to protect the pump from overheating.

Watch out: For these reasons, we"ve occasionally found clients dissatisfied with their well after they install a new, more powerful water pump. The owners install a more powerful pump to increase water pressure in the home, but the effect may be also to draw water out of the well faster than ever before, thereby disclosing a marginal well flow rate that they had not understood.

Remember that water quantity (how much water we can obtain) is not the same thing as water pressure (how fast water comes out of the tap). Water quantity comes from what the well can deliver.

Higher water pressure does give us more gallons per minute flow but that"s describing a condition at the plumbing fixture. It"s not measuring how much water the well can deliver.

If our well has a huge static head, say 300 gallons of water, and considering that at most buildings, certainly at residential properties, most water usage occurs in two big surges, in the morning and in the evening (giving the well time to recover between), the well could have a terrible recovery rate, say 1/2 gallon a minute or less, but we might never notice it in the building.

But over time, as minerals and debris clog those rock fissures that feed water into our well, and if we started with just a small recovery rate of less than a gallon, our well may not continue to deliver the water quantity we need.

A well with a good recovery rate, flowing at say 5 gpm or more, is more likely to continue to give good service over time, and we might get by with a small static head if the flow rate is good enough.

These are the parameters that a well driller is considering when they decide how deep to go in drilling and how much well flow rate is going to be acceptable.

The well quantity did not change but suddenly wells along this section of roadway had red silt in their water - it has remained a problem for some home owners in the area.

Permanent water level shifts & Global Warming: Local ground water tables may drop permanently. In some areas of Florida so much water has been pumped from below ground that salt water has begun to intrude into the aquifer. Changing sea levels due to global warming can be expected to affect coastal drinking water wells by raising the level of salty water.

WATER PRESSURE MEASUREMENT - with what force does water exit at a fixture or faucet (dynamic water pressure), or what is the water pressure in a system when no water is being run (static water pressure)

There you"ll see that a 4-inch well casing -which I now read as the effective diameter of the static head in your well because of that 4" "liner" (well perhaps I"m wrong but anyway)

So in 26 minutes your 8 gpm well pump will exhaust the well. There is in my OPINION nothing at all gained by that high capacity well pump; It will run for less than 1/2 hour and then probably needs to be off for at least 3 1/2 hours to let the struggling well recover (at its 1 gpm flow rate).

I don"t know nearly as much about well pumps as your onsite well pump expert. Still it seems to me that it"s probably better for the well and the pump both to pump a little more-slowly and less dramatically.

Watch out: as I argue in this article series, because we know that a well"s flow rate usually will deteriorate over time (mineral clogging, water table dropping, global warming, pumping by neighbors tapped into the same aquifer), when we start out a new well with a really weak water flow rate, you need to be prepared for a reduced well life.

Question 1: is your well driller confident that we"re not actually losing water by having drilled the well so deep down past the point where water flows into the well? I"ve seen that happen before: digging past the water entry point led to water leaking down and out. The installer ended up plugging the over-drilled well bottom to raise it back up.

Well drillers usually say it"s better to drill deeper (too shallow, more contaminant risks), and so do other experts. But there are occasions when drilling deeper loses water that was available at a more-shallow depth.

Donors in Canada, the U.S., and Europe sponsor water projects to keep them affordable for the local villages that contribute a token amount of money plus "sweat equity." We rely on in-country teams that we have trained and equipped to drill wells and repair broken pumps. The teams also train and equip local Well Caretakers, and host Health and Hygiene workshops to enable villagers to prevent water-related diseases.

Ensure that the borehole penetrates the full thickness of the aquifer, extending as far below it as possible. Install the well screen adjacent to the entire aquifer thickness with solid casing installed above and below it.

Enough time must be allowed between introduction of the polyphosphate and development, usually overnight, so the clay masses become completely desegregated (Driscoll, 1986).

After the polyphosphate solution is surged into the screen (see Footnote #4), water should be added to the well to drive the solution farther into the formation.

One thing I read today on the Internet, so it must be true, is that it"s best to keep the water at a constant level in your well, especially when it"s steel cased. The water going below and then back up causes rust to flake off and fall to the bottom of the well.

I think you are saying that there is a well flow rate, that is the rate at which water flows into the borehole, of 1 gal per minute. I agree that is marginal.

But that 350 ft of water on top of the pump is a question. When the will has been at rest 4 hours or longer, to what height does water actually rise in the borehole?

At 8 gallons a minute that means that you"ll pump that water out in about an hour. What"s your pump doing for the rest of the time? Waiting for Godot.

And I"m a little worried that too-fast draw-down of a limited water-supply aquifer might actually damage the aquifer and reduce the well"s recovery-rate. Frankly that"s just arm-waving since it could go either way: we might help or we might harm the aquifer. We"ve no specifics about the size of your well"s aquifer, its soil composition nearby, mineral levels, seasonal variation, history, etc.

I"m not sure there"s a real advantage to putting in a high-capacity pump and such a load delivery well and there"s some risk that a control fails and you run the pump dry which of course kills your pump almost immediately.

We have a new well that was just completed - water fractures found at 350", drilled to 700" and found no other water. 1 GPM in 350" of granite (the top 350" was mostly sand), steel-cased to 420" with 6". So we"re buying a cistern for the well pump to pump water in to.

The other provider said that with 350" of water on top of the pump when it starts, limiting that pump to only 1-2 GPM puts a lot of stress on the pump and it will suffer a much short life.

He suggested a 1.5 HP pump that would support 8 GPM initially, and 2 GPM before an automatic shutoff device would detect no water and shut the pump off.

It seems like letting gravity and the pressure help the pump do its job is a good idea, but if pumping the well dry increases the risk of damage to our very limited production well, then I"d rather trade pump life for well life.

I suspect you meant 2 GPM or two gallons per minute, that would also be unacceptable (insufficient) for most mortgage lenders and not so nice to live-with.

There"s no free lunch, here; the well driller is in no position to promise you what they"re going to find when drilling into the ground, nor can they keep drilling wells for free. So I"m not sure of an equitable way for you, the homeowner, to avoid that cost.

Your well driller may be expected to know from experience what water they"ve been finding at what depths and at what flow rates for wells in your area, but they can"t guarantee any specific flow rate in advance.

Watch out: in my OPINON, if we force a contractor to guarantee what is basically an unknown, if the contractor is going to agree to do so, she will have no choice but to set a cost to you that can cover the absolute worst case and thus the most-expensive possible case. That higher cost is sometimes, but not usually, necessary.

You haven"t given, and it would be helpful to know, the country and city/province/state of location of the well. You might then also look at the geological and water data for that area.

In our OPINION these well water quantity and quality concerns are only going to get worse in many areas that are becoming much more dry as a result of climate change.

We have built a new home through a very well known builder. A well was installed and it has been found that there is over 8,000 something of sodium. The well company chlorinated the well 4 times to remove the bacteria. The county has not passed the water.

Also our GPMS was logged as 2 GPMS. Needless to say the water totally cut off after 15 minutes. Now the builder and well drilling company wants us to pay for a whole new well and they can not guarantee that they will not get the same result. We are hoping we have that there can be some resolution that will not cost us!!

It is rarely appropriate nor necessary to walk away from a home simply because we"ve discovered something that is going to need time and money to correct or make functional.

Every home needs something; If, for having discovered a probable expense, you abandon a home that you otherwise love in a location you want to be, you may simply move on to another home only to discover that the next one needs still more work or repairs.

However, it is important to have an un-biased and thorough inspection of the home and all of its systems, not just the well; IF the cost of necessary repairs would price the home out of its near term value in the marketplace would one be forced to question the economic sense of "the deal".

Get an accurate estimate of the problems at this home, including by having a competent and thorough home inspection (NOT by someone recommended by the realtor who sent the "iffy" and non-responsive well test person to you) and thus of its true cost to you.

Dan"s 3 D"s: but for things that are Dangerous, Don"t work (and are necessary, like safe electrical power or heat) or are causing rapid costly Damage, the house is in control.

I am supposed to be buying this home and my due diligence period ends Tuesday. I am in the process of asking for an extension because as I stated I don’t know what to make of this report that I paid over $700 for. Please let me know if this provides any additional details or changes your opinion. To say I’m concerned is an understatement.

Thanks again for all the information. This was not a 24 hour test. Since it is a shared well they had to notify and work with all the other home owners and this was all conducted over one afternoon. At this point I’m trying to decide if I should pay for a new inspector or walk away.

You are right. I would stir up debris. I want to find a way to remove some of the soft sediment at the bottom of the well. I will look for ways to restrict flow w/o hurting the pump. Or I could just pump out 110 gallons a day.

The minimum acceptable true well yield (properly measured as we describe herein) varies by regulations where you live, by various lenders" requirements, and of course by the anticipated need based on the type and number of water users that the well is to serve.

And another example: home buyers seeking an FHA-mortgage will have to show that their water well yield is between 3 and 5 gpm. "Each home must simultaneously be assured of at least 3 GPM, (5 for proposed construction), over a continuous 5 hour period."

And some authorities will accept lower well yields, down to 2 gpm provided that 1,500 gallons or a similar quantity of on-site water storage is also provided.

By any of these measures, your well "inspector" ought to have told you that your well"s yield was inadequateand that some significant expense will be involved in providing adequate water supply. Provided that all of the data we have on your well is correct, this case is particularly egregious considering your report that this low-yield 1.75 gpm well is serving 4, potentially 5 homes that could therefore involve having to support 20 people in daily use.

Your "well yield test" report does not describe how the test was conducted, so it"s uncertain how to interpret its results; the yield over 24 hours could be less than the (already marginal) yield reported to you .

IMO an inspector working for you, not for the realtor, owes you that sort of conclusion, that is, the inspector must tell you what the findings actually mean.

It certainly sounds crazy to have paid $700 for a useless report and for that fee it certainly seems reasonable to me that the inspector should be willing to answer questions.

It makes one question the very idea of using any service recommended by your real estate agent, who is, after all, not a neutral party but rather someone who stands to gain from the sale.

Attached is exactly what I received and I cropped out the company’s header. I am supposed to be buying this home and my due diligence period ends Tuesday. I am in the process of asking for an extension because as I stated I don’t know what to make of this report that I paid over $700 for.

I am in the process of asking for an extension because as I stated I don’t know what to make of this report that I paid over $700 for. Please let me know if this provides any additional details or changes your opinion.

Start by putting a stop payment on your check or leaving your "well inspector" a message that you will meet her or him in small claims court as s/he is doing nothing to earn the fee charged. Throwing an incomprehensible report over the wall to you is unconscionable and in my opinion worse than worthless as the person got paid for it.

1. 1.75 GPM is not adequate for most purposes, and won"t meet well flow rate minimum requirements of at least some lenders; that can be a hurdle in buying or later selling a property and more-practically it means that at normal usage levels you

The "amperage" readings are not directly useful but are intended, probably, to tell us if the pump is working normally, and in the hands of an expert, can tell us if the pump is moving water or is running dry (under less load, current drops).

Tell me: are you buying this property? If so, who recommended this inspector who, from the report, doesn"t want you know the questionable status of your well but wants to protect herself by being able to say "I gave the information in my report".

Received an inspection report which I don’t understand as I’ve never had a well and the inspector has nothing responded to calls or emails since for help.

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it. You are right. I would stir up debris. I want to find a way to remove some of the soft sediment at the bottom of the well. I will look for ways to restrict flow w/o hurting the pump. Or I could just pump out 110 gallons a day.

At 15 gpm, ***IF*** the well could really deliver that rate continuously for 12 hours straight, would let you draw 10,800 gallons of water over a 12-hour period, giving the well a rest for the next 12 hours - or some variation on that theme.

Watch out: while a true well flow rate test (described above on this page) measures the ability of a well to deliver water continuously over a 24 hour period, the majority of inspectors and consultants do not make a true 24-hour measurement. (Some well drillers have equipment to do that). Instead somebody sticks a 5 gallon pail under a spigot and sees how long it takes to fill up the pail.

But delivering water 15 gpm for just a few minutes is a horse of a different color than delivering water at that rate continuously for many hours - if you"ll forgive the mixed metaphor.

Keep in mind that the depth of your well - 175 ft - does not tell us a thing; we don"t know the actual STATIC HEAD (how much water is in the well at rest - it"ll be something less than total well depth) and we don"t know how your well"s flow rate was measured.

Watch out: also about relying on any data given to you by even the nicest and most-honest real estate agent. The agent is not a neutral party to the sale of property, and the agent, in most states and provinces, is not held legally liable for accuracy in property representations - not even for a second.

Bottom line: On the face of it 15 gpm looks great, but we can"t yet trust that number; you need to know how the flow test was done, get the original data, or have your own flow test performed by someone who is completely independent from those selling property.

I have estimated a farm/home weekly usage of 10,000 gallons, or around 1,400 per day, which I think checks out with our 175" well as long as I stagger the irrigating. That said, I am still wondering if the 15gpm is enough? Or whether I should have it retested as the flow rate was given to me by our real estate agent, not a recent record?

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it. You are right. I would stir up debris. I want to find a way to remove some of the soft sediment at the bottom of the well. I will look for ways to restrict flow w/o hurting the pump. Or I could just pump out 110 gallons a day.

You were pumping at more than 20 gallons a minute which is very likely to exceed the flow rate of many Wells. I agree with restricting the pumping rate.

However I"m not sure I want to divert water back into the well after having pumped it out because of the education impossible string up of debris from the bottom of the well. It would be better to put a flow control on your pumping system.

!975 well, new to me property. Depth 60 feet to soft sediment. Water level at 36" in a 12" bore. I pumped 110 gallons in 5 minutes. Well dry. Turned submersible off. Fresno end of dry season, no rain yet. 12 hours later level back to 36". Can I divert water, using a T, back into the well so as to reduce out put to 5 GPM, which would be fine with me. Should I try to remove sediment? Appreciate and comments.

We had the piston pump replaced on our standpoint well system and less than 48 hours later we had air in the pipes and water and loss of water (dirty water coming out - rusty and smells like iron.

Pump guy says that’s from the bottom of the pressure tank which he installed less than 18 months ago). The pump guy says it’s not his pump or installation causing this - says it’s the well source. Up to this time we have always had enough water for daily use - couple of showers a day, run the dishwasher and a load or two of laundry along with flushing toilets etc. Rarely we would “run dry” but recovery would take less than 4 hours.

We have been unable to find anyone who works with sandpoint systems or knows them well enough to advise us - and it’s winter here which doesn’t help. A quote on a drilled well is minimum $12K not including a filter system if needed; hoping we can get this system up and running instead of that option. Any advice would be welcome.

I"m disappointed, too, to hear that you bought a new property, spent all your available cash, and thus got bad advice along with failing to have basic inspections and tests performed. That exposes you to just the risk of discovering expensive surprises.

About the well: that sounds to me as if the well has poor or no water in-flow (recovery) rate. There could be a different (and less costly) problem like a bad well pump that quickly overheats and jams or shuts-down.

I"ve installed one,well pump. Piping and bladder tank before. Im stumped here. Only thing i can say is the pump i put in once before sat on top of the well pipe.

This one,seems to be in the bottom of the well pipe. Also. i do not see a pressure switch. Would this still pump if it didn"t have one? On a submergible pump is the pressure switch down there on the pump?

Please help. We"ve spent ALL our savings on the property and now mobile home. Also will i be notified if someone replies to this? Or would someone,PLEASE e-mail me an answer. Bige322002@yahoo.com. thank you to anyone who can help. Edward

Does the rate at which water flows into a well vary depending on whether the well is "full" or "empty". In other words, will lowering the pump help increase the recovery rate, or simply add to the static quantity?

In sum, water flow into at least deeper wells and even some shallow wells from a variety of water passages, typically rock fissures, that occur at various depths in relation to the well bore. The total well flow rate is the sum of all of these smaller individual flows.

Even more complex, not all of the individual flows into a well flow at the same rate, nor do they necessarily flow continuously at a fixed rate over time. For example

When the well bore is "full" - that is up to its normal static head top level, water stops flowing into the well bore because the pressure of the water in the bore is sufficient to stop inflow at the various water entry points along its height (I"m using the term "fissures" or water flow passages as usually there is more than one).

An exception are artesian wells whose aquifer feeds into the well bore at sufficient pressure to actually push water out at the well top and even to higher levels.

When a well water system periodically loses all water and then water returns there could be several problems but the most common is loss of flow rate at the well itself. I"m not certain that replacing the pressure control actually fixed the problem; rather, the delay while you got the new part and put it on could have allowed the well to recover.

On the other hand, if a well is running out of water and the pump is not shut off, the pump or controls can indeed be damaged - more likely for an above-ground pump.

We have a submersible pump in our well and have periodically been having a problem with losing water - no water coming into the house. Yesterday morning, no water, and the pressure control was not working. Replaced it and water pressure built in the tank to desired level and all was good.

Frankly I"m having trouble believing it. 80 gallons a minute is a stunning well flow rate if that can really be sustained, and doesn"t sound very credible as a sustainable well flow rate when you"also report that your well recently ran dry for 10 weeks.

Greg, it is common for a well installer to include a flow rate limiting device in the well (usually at the pump) to prevent the well pump from pumping water down low enough that the pump motor lacks water and overheats and is damaged.

My discharge rate exceeds my well"s recovery rate. This is what I have. I have a well that is 100 feet down, with a pump that will pump water at depths of 200" at 22gpm.

The line from the pump is reduced down to a 1" pipe. Can I put an angle cock on the pipe coming out of the well to reduce water flow and if so will this hurt my pump.

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John Cranor [Website: /www.house-whisperer.com ] is an ASHI member and a home inspector (The House Whisperer) is located in Glen Allen, VA 23060. He is also a contributor to InspectApedia.com in several technical areas such as plumbing and appliances (dryer vents). Contact Mr. Cranor at 804-873-8534 or by Email: johncranor@verizon.net

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Grove Electric, Typical Shallow Well One Line Jet Pump Installation [PDF], Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf

Grove Electric, Typical Deep Well Two Line Jet Pump Installation [PDF], Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf

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