mud pump for dug well free sample

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:

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.

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We provide advice about what to do when things go wrong, how to inspect hand dug wells for safety, safe practices for actually digging a well, and how to address hand dug well sanitation

The world wide popularity of hand dug wells is accounted for by the ease of construction without specialized equipment, the simplicity of water raising equipment (a bucket on a rope has worked for thousands of years), and the ability of the Dug well to hold a large volume of water in storage for times of peak demand.

on hand (the well"s static head) in a hand dug well depends not on the well"s overall depth, but the depth and diameter of the column of water in the well when it is at rest and fully recovered from any draw-down.

of a hand dug well depends on its standby volume or static head, the rate at which water flows into it, and the lift and pumping capacity in gallons per minute or liters per minute of the pump being used.

Depending on the well depth, flow rate, storage capacity, and usage requirements, any of a variety of devices or pumps might be used to draw water from a dug well, including

hand pumps using a lever and piston mechanism to lift water from the well, for the properties of hand pumps and the use of hand pumps to deliver water from any well, drilled or hand-dug,

we could find is the 1285 ft. deep Woodingdean Well begun in 1858 and completed in 1862 in Woodingdean, a suburb of Brighton and Howe, East Sussex, England.

More commonly hand dug water wells range from about fifteen feet (4.5 meters) in depth, to a practical depth of around 100 feet (30 meters) though 200 foot deep hand dug wells certainly exist.

Watch out: digging a well by hand is quite dangerous, risking collapse on and death to the excavators. Also, in very deep wells, there may be air quality safety hazards. [2]

Dug wells are usually constructed during dry weather when the water level is at its lowest, both for safety (less likely wet soils cause well collapse) and to determine the necessary depth of the Dug well to obtain adequate water supply.

As we show in this sketch at below left, courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates (found at page bottom, Click to Show or Hide), Usually a hand dug well is less than 20 feet deep.

wells continue into modern use, often with the installation of either an in-building jet pump draw water from the well into the building. We weren"t sure what the little cover in our

Sources for repair parts and installation instructions for hand pumps on dug wells and shallow wells are provided at our reviewers list at the end of this page.

The hazards of hand dug wells include poor sanitation (ground water and surface runoff easily enter the drinking water supply), and cave-ins during construction or injuries to tools dropped into the well during construction.

At HAND DUG WELL PROCEDURE we describe all of the detailed steps in the procedure for constructing a hand-dug well with concrete well rings in Mexico.

But do not begin a well digging project without advice from an expert and do not try digging a well without following these and any other recommended safety measures for well excavation:

The following advice is adapted from The Hand Dug Well [instruction manual,by Henk Holtslag & John deWolf, Foundation Connect International. Links to a copy of that free manual are at our references section [2].

The excavator in the bottom of the well should have a buddy at ground level above, on guard to assist if needed. While someone is working down the well there must always be someone in attendance at the top.

Watch out: Aside from the risk of a worker being buried alive, killed, or trapped during the process of digging the well, in deep well excavations a lack of oxygen can cause a worker to faint and may require an emergency rescue.

[When the well digging has been completed and it is being lined, a few well builders provide stepping stones (in a stone lined well) and handles, or steel rungs and handles to permit the well to be accessed by climbing if necessary. Usually people rely on a windlass and rope.]

Put a fence or some sort of barrier around the digging site to stop people and animals falling in; when the well is completed it should have a child-proof surrounding fence and cover.

Photo above: this looks like a hand dug well that has an above-ground protecting wall and a cover over the actual well opening (you can just see the red edges of the cover.

If there is a concern for people tossing trash or contaminants into a dug well, a screen or grate may not be enough. The solid iron cover over the dug well shown below is installed at Campo St. Maurizio, Venice, Italy. The domed top sheds rainwater and keeps out tossed or other debris and contaminants.

Dug wells and hand pumps on old water wells are an attractive nuisance, especially to small children. The cover should be secure against entry by children. Photos above: the thin cover over this dug well was easily kicked aside (after we removed the toddler who was found standing atop the well - Ed.)

Watch out:Provide a child-safe heavy, secure cover at ground levelfor dug wells with no above-ground wall or for any below-ground well pit - such as the well shown in our photos just above.

At a Connecticut home in the U.S. our clients, whose family included small children, was worried about lead paint hazards as their foremost concern. We arrived early and had already made a note of a rotting and unsafe cover over a hand-dug well.

As he began jumping up and down, pumping the lever, we ran to him and scooped him off of the well top just before the entire rotting cover fell into the Dug well.

requires that the well be protected from someone falling into the well; a smart abandonment will also protect the dug well from being used as a refuse or chemical dump - doing so risks contaminating the aquifer and is illegal in most jurisdictions.

U.S. EPA, DUG WELLS [PDF], U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, retrieved 2021/05/31 original source: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-11/documents/dugwell.pdf -

USDA, WELL DESIGN & SPRING DEVELOPMENT, Chapter 31, Part 631, [PDF] (2010) National Engineering Handbook, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation service, retrieved 2022/05/29, original source: https://directives.sc.egov.usda.gov/OpenNonWebContent.aspx?content=26985.wba

AB, TROUBLESHOOTING WATER WELL PROBLEMS [PDF] Alberta Department of Agriculture, retrieved 2022/07/16 original source: https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/ deptdocs.nsf/ba3468a2a8681f69872569d60073fde1/ b235a3f65b62081b87256a5a005f5446/ $FILE/WaterWells_module7.pdf

BC, DUG WELL BEST PRACTICES [PDF] BC, Department of Agriculture, retrieved 2022/07/16 original source: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/ assets/gov/environment/air-land-water/ water/water-wells/best_practices_for_dug_wells.pdf

Canada, Email: ECCInfo@gov.nl.ca Labrador, Canada, - retrieved 2022/07/16, original source: https://www.gov.nl.ca/ecc/waterres/cycle/groundwater/well/disinfecting/

OXFAM, REPAIRING, CLEANING & DISINFECTING HAND DUG WELLS [PDF] OXFAM-TB6, - retrieved 2022/07/16, original source: https://sswm.info & https://give.oxfamamerica.org/

Hurstader, Chris, SIX WAYS to FIX UP A WELL & GET CLEAN WATER [PDF] (2018) OXFAM, - retrieved 2022/07/16 original source: https://firstperson.oxfamamerica.org/six-ways-to-fix-up-a-well-and-get-clean-water/

Oxfam helps communities around the world fix up their wells and learn how to treat their drinking water to avoid water-borne diseases. It’s particularly important during times when people are short on food, due to bad harvests following drought, floods, or any sort of humanitarian emergency.

SCW, DUG WELL RESTORATION [PDF] South Coast Water, Hapshire, U.K., Email contact form at https://www.southcoastwater.co.uk/contact.html - retrieved 2022/07/16, original source: southcoastwater.co.uk/well-restoration.html

We can clean a well even if it is completely filled in with rubble so do not think it will never be a usable well again. All it takes is for us to remove all the rubble and debris, clean and restore the walls and the well will be good to naturally refill with water ready for use again. Please visit our well cleaning page for more information.

Swistock, Bryan & Dana Rizzo, M.S., WATER WELL MAINTENANCE & RESTORATION [PDF] PennState Extension,The Pennsylvania State University 323 Agricultural Administration Building University Park, PA 16802 USA, retrieved 2022/07/16 original source: https://extension.psu.edu/water-well-maintenance-and-rehabilitation

www.who.int/water_sanitation_health - retrieved 2022/07/16, original source: https://wedc-knowledge.lboro.ac.uk/resources/e/mn/ 031-Cleaning-and-rehabilitating-hand-dug-wells.pdf

Thank you for an interesting geothermal system design question. I don"t know a solid answer but I suspect you may need to install a small circulating pump to mix the water if you"re diagnosis is correct.

I have a dug well consisting of a 150 gal cistern with (3) 48" well tiles stacked on top of the cistern. It has a deep well pump at the bottom of the cistern. This well is for my pump and dump geothermal system. This being my ejection well and my injection well ~ 100 ft away is 12ft deep.

The system has been on line since 1996 and up until the past few years no problems, but with the decreasing snowfall rates in the NE I"ve been noticing the entering water temp dropping below 40 degrees and when this happens the system shuts down. It seems like the snow had insulated the well previously and prevented the cooling effect of the cold air and frost.

My theory is the water at the top which can be within a foot of the well cover is cooled by the frost and since it wants to sink because of it"s density there is a constant circulation of cold water dropping down to the pump where it gets picked up and fed into the geothermal system. I"m looking at putting a cover on the top of the cistern to break the circuit. Does this sound feasible.

If your dug well is normally filled with water it would be a surprise but certainly possible for the soil conditions or surrounding geology to change such that the well stops giving water and instead drains it away.

Our place has two hand dug wells on it. At this time one is dry. The other is not, but it has quite a bit of fallen-in lumber from an old cover that collapsed. What is the safest way to retrieve the lumber from the well? Would a grapple hook work or is there something better?

A hand dug well is just that: a large-diameter hole in the ground, dug by hand. There is no "well point" - a well point is used in a driven point well like those shown and discussed at

I have a hand dug well and every year it runs dry between August and October, comes back between November and January. My property is at 800ft elevation. A friend of mine keeps telling me to dig out the well point... how do I do that and what will it do?

Read through some of the dug well cleaning and restoration articles there to see the range of tricks and tips people use for a faster, more-efficient, and safer way to remove crud from the well bottom.

more-sophisticated well cleaning methods are described in procedures for drilled wells where there is less working room. There you"ll see some interesting well cleaning methods using special siphon pump arrangements that pump water down through a suction device that picks up the silt and returns the glop to the ground level through a second pipe.

Watch out: When you"ve got tree root invasion of the dug well sides, as we see in your photo, there are increased risks of both water contamination - surface runoff following tree roots into the well, and of well collapse.

Need to carefully remove 3 feet of silt from 35 feet down, water level is at 21 feet, I got a rough estimate of 65 feet from linking conduit together, air lift wouldn"t seem to work in these ranges. !00 year old well estimate of 65 feet 4 foot diameter, house and old pump house right beside.

Can"t tell if there has been collapse of wall below the root levels of two huge sycamore trees. Ground has subsided and both structures leaning into each other for mutual support. West coast drought has dropped it about 20 feet.

6 people on the property, I have replaced the configuration as seen to shallow well pump but need to return to deep well configuration, any ideas for removing silt and sediment?

Do you have any idea for hand bailers for such a need or a better procedure. I was thinking of a two stage arrangement of two sump pumps. One in the well the end of it"s hose in a bucket with another sump pump to pump it out the rest of the way.

If the concrete well rings or sections are solid, only a small volume of water enters at the sides at the seams - most water will enter at the well bottom.

Finally, as the local water table drops - as may well occur in some locations due to global warming, it may be necessary to deepen the well from time to time.

Our nonprofit African Educate has had a hand dug well constructed in rural Uganda for 2 years. The contractor now says the bore hole needs maintenance. Does this seem reasonable?

When a dug well is lined by hand-built masonry, the opening is dug large enough that the finish-opening diameter, when the masonry liner is installed, is the desired dug-well size.

Depending on where the water table is found the mason will use a combination of mortar, stone on a footing, and some dry-laid stone joints to permit water entry through the well sides.

Other than safety precautions appropriate for working in the bottom of a hole (collapse, air, safe entry/exit, not working alone, helpers to lower materials, etc) it"s standard stonemasonry.

My back yard stays saturated year round. I need a system of acquiring the water for use in my home for water only for bathroom, dishes and othe non drinking uses. I need to dig a well and set up system for use. Thank you

Keep in mind that it is just about impossible to assure that water from a dug well is sanitary - free from surface runoff and bacteria - so at the very least you"d want your well water tested, annually or more-often, at the very least for bacteria.

I have a dug well that was dug in 1980 when we purchased the property. Has been great water and very plentiful. Have not ever had a dry well. Started getting some sand in the water lines and 14 months ago cleaned out the well and added pea gravel. The well is 25ft deep.

While cleaning out the well noted some of the tiles are chipping and some sand getting in. Now water line is dirt and sand. Is there someone who can dig out the silt and replace tiles? What/who would I look for? Husband passed 13 yrs ago and unfortunately for me took his wealth of knowledge. Appreciate any info

It is not safe nor durable to use greenboard nor any plasterboard or drywall as the protective surround for a dug well. That material will not endure outdoor exposure to the weather and it also lacks adequate strength to assure a safe barrier.

It is not safe nor durable to use greenboard nor any plasterboard or drywall as the protective surround for a dug well. That material will not endure outdoor exposure to the weather and it also lacks adequate strength to assure a safe barrier.

A lot depends on whether the damage is entirely above ground or whether the sides of the dug well below ground are damaged and to caving in. Obviously above ground is easier to repair on site. Perhaps you can post photos, one per comment, so that we can see the situation there.

I don"t know for sure what"s happening but I suspect that something is temporarily draining the aquifer that is supplying your shallow well. The effect could be weather related, not just dry or wet spells that affect the groundwater level but even more-subtle changes such as in barometric pressure.

At an old well that served for years but now lacks water, we might ask what has changed. Global warming, changes in weather, may lower an aquifer such that the supply to your well is now "on edge" and is more-obviously impacted by barometric pressure or other variables.

We have a 15 ft dug well. We went to bed and the water in the well was almost overflowing. We woke up the next morning and the cut off valve had kicked in because the water level was so low. It rained all night. There was no water being used. The pump never turned on. We had a plumber come in and he said there are no leaks in your lines.

Your pump is working fine. The well still didn"t seem to want to recover. We turned off the breaker and the well recovered to full in two hours. We turned the breaker back on and turned the pump on and for the next two months no water issues.

Well always full to overflowing. Last night went to bed lots of water in well, no water used, this morning we have no water. Pump turned off because water level drained to cut off valve. What is going on? Why is our water disappearing? It is not coming in to the house.

It may be possible to make minor repairs to the surround for your well, but take great care not to enter, nor fall into the well, as obviously that would be fatal.

You should also make some diagnosis of why the existing masonry wall is failing, so that that underlying problem is corrected. Otherwise you"re wasting your effort.

If you post some photos, one per comment, I may be able to offer more specific suggestions. Without knowing the present construction and materials it does not seem useful for me to propose specific repair items or methods. For example, I don"t know if your well surround is made of stone or concrete or concrete block or something else.

MY dug well that has an above-ground protecting wall and a cover over the actual well opening is in my bard yard across a stream no equipment can get to it, the wall is splitting and cracking and falling on the ground can I repair this and how

Water in a hand dug well or even a bored well can freeze, depending on the climate, air temperature, and distance from the surface of the water to the ground surface. It"s not common but can happen, especially in very cold weather and where the well water level is close to the ground surface/.

A water well whose water rises to above the winter frost-depth is more-likely to freeze if the well is not protected from frost. That"s why people may build an insulated structure around and over the well.

To be accurate you will want to know the frost depth in the location where your fictional (or historical-fictional) well is located. That"s the typical depth at which soil can freeze in winter weather. (Snow cover, leaf cover, etc. can reduce the chances of soil freezing but that"s probably not relevant to your plot).

Then in cold weather that dug well water may freeze. The ice on the dug well water will be of course at the surface; it might be just a skim coat that your character can break through by dropping a heavy bucket down into the well (on a rope of course) to fetch water.

But in prolonged very cold weather the surface water in the dug well could freeze to inches or even more. and in unusual cases might be so thick that people would have to look elsewhere for their water.

So if the top of your well water is just 2 feet below the ground surface in New England, or just four feet below ground surface in Two Harbors Minnesota, in very cold winter weather the well top may freeze solid.

... protect all wells from freezing, mowing, livestock, etc., by enclosing the well within an insulated well house. ... https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/references/public/AL/642_Water_Well.pdf

Forgive me Sharon but it"s not both a spring and a well; If the water source is a spring, perhaps feeding water into a springhouse from which water is pumped to cisterns serving each home, it is, in almost all locations in the world, impossible to guarantee that that water remains potable - free from bacteria or other contaminants, as it"s exposed to surface waters and runoff;

We just purchased a home built in 1800 in New Hampshire. The water comes from a spring-fed well across the street. There are pipes from that well to both our house and to another house up the road. In other words, the one well across the street feeds all three houses.

Right next to the road by our house is a "well" or cistern that is filled by the well across the street. Apparently this system has worked in the past.

The neighbor suggests we reline the well and then try to blow out the pipes to unplug them. I"m wondering if this will provide us with safe drinking water. And if so, what is the best way to reline the cistern. Thanks.

have a 30 year old shallow well (15") with a 5" galvanized steel cribbing. Water depth in well is from 8" of water down to 3" of water. We came thru a very dry fall and the water table dropped about 3". recharge of the well is about 2 gal per hour.

The well I believe could be another 5-6" deeper. this would put us well into the water table and would provide better capacity during dry periods where the water table has dropped. I believe it was only made 15" deep as that was as far as the back hoe could reach when they dug the well.

It may be possible to return a dug well to service but I can"t estimate the cost because I have no idea of the conditions. You need a secure well-structure, a safe well cover, and of course you need water in your well.

I have an abandoned dug water well that was dug many years ago. I wish to get it operative with possibly a hand pump. Can it be done and at what cost?

And though it can be a costly survey, ground penetrating radar has been used for determining the depth to water, as you can read in Johnson 1992. That survey combined use of ground penetrating radar and also measurement of water levels at local ponds in the area of study. That data permitted a map of the water table. But be sure to take a look at the abstract that we quote below.

Hengari, Gideon M., Carlton R. Hall, Tim J. Kozusko, and Charles R. Bostater. "Use of ground penetrating radar for determination of water table depth and subsurface soil characteristics at Kennedy Space Center." In Earth Resources and Environmental Remote Sensing/GIS Applications IV, vol. 8893, p. 889318. International Society for Optics and Photonics, 2013.

Johnson, David G., USE OF GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR FOR WATER-TABLE MAPPING, BREWSTER AND HARWICH, MASSACHUSETTS [PDF] (1992), USGS, U.S. Geological Survey, Water-Resources Investigation Report 90-4086, Prepared In Cooperation With The

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"Comparison of large and small diameter wells", Natural Resources Management & Environment Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO Corporate Document Repository - Self-Help Wells - see http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5567E/x5567e04.htm

Australian supplier of: Greywater systems, Solar power to grid packages, Edwards solar systems, Vulcan compact solar systems, water & solar system pumps & controls, and a wide rage of above ground & under ground water storage tanks: concrete, steel, plastic, modular, and bladder storage tanks. wners

Typical Shallow Well One Line Jet Pump Installation, 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, [Copy on file as /water/Jet_Pump_Grove_Elect_Jet_Pumps.pdf ] -

This well-focused, up-to-date reference details the current medical uses of antiseptics and disinfectants -- particularly in the control of hospital-acquired infections -- presenting methods for evaluating products to obtain regulatory approval and examining chemical, physical, and microbiological properties as well as the toxicology of the most widely used commercial chemicals.

When Technology Fails, Matthew Stein, Chelsea Green Publisher, 2008,493 pages. ISBN-10: 1933392452 ISBN-13: 978-1933392455, "... how to find and sterilize water in the face of utility failure, as well as practical information for dealing with water-quality issues even when the public tap water is still flowing". Mr. Stein"s website is www.whentechfails.com/

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People living in rural or remote communities not hooked up to a centralized water system typically get their water through public or private water wells, or what some people describe as “large holes in the ground that store water.” But as you’ll soon discover in this article, there’s a lot more that goes into a water well’s construction and operation than meets the eye.

Water wells are essential to developing a sustainable society, providing a reliable water supply for drinking, cooking, showering, irrigation, etc., even in areas where surface water is scarce (think deserts). And thanks to much-needed advances in plumbing and technology, modern well systems are far more efficient and reliable than those used in ancient and even recent history.

Homeowners no longer have to dig water wells by hand, turn a hand crank to fetch water from the bottom, and transport it in buckets to wherever they need it. They can now enjoy instant access to clean running water throughout their households hands-free, all while escaping those pesky monthly water bills synonymous with city water. But how is all this possible? Where does well water come from, and how does it get to houses, apartments, farms, or businesses?”

Continue reading this ultimate guide to learn what components make up a well system, the mechanics behind how a well works, and everything else you need to know.

A water well is essentially a structure or excavation created in the ground by digging, drilling, or driving deep enough to access the groundwater for extraction. Traditionally, containers, such as buckets, were used to fetch the water mechanically or by hand. However, modern water wells generally use a pump to retrieve water from underground.

Before we discuss how a well works, you should first know where wells get their water. In a nutshell, well water comes from sources beneath the earth’s surface. When rainwater, melted snow, or water from other forms of precipitation falls on land, it soaks into the ground and moves downwards to fill all the possible cracks or spaces in the soil and rock. The water then settles and becomes groundwater, a renewable resource that makes up about 95% of the world’s freshwater supply.

Whether a well is drilled, dug, or bored, it has one purpose: to reach far enough into the aquifer to access and pump out the water. However, because an aquifer’s location and the amount of water it contains are rough estimates, it can be challenging to know where and how deep a well needs to be.

Digging water wells by hand has become outdated in many places due to automated drilling techniques and new plumbing technologies. These developments have almost eliminated the need for manual-labor methods because, let’s face it, who wants to spend all day hacking the ground with a shovel? In most cases, modern wells are drilled by a truck-mounted drill rig, but there are a few other methods to construct a well:

Dug or bored wells used to be constructed by digging a large hole into the ground with a pick, hand shovel, or backhoe below the water table until the incoming water exceeded the digger’s bailing rate. The hole was then lined (or “cased”) with stones, brick, tile, or other material to support the wall and prevent it from collapsing. This lining also blocked surface water from entering the well water supply. The hole was then covered with a cap of wood, stone, or concrete for safety purposes.

Luckily, modern dug wells are dug by power equipment and are usually lined with concrete tiles. These wells usually have large diameters to increase their exposure to the aquifer. They also can go deeper beneath the water table than hand-dug wells.

Modern dug wells can collect water from less-permeable materials, such as clay or sand. However, they are shallow (approximately 10 to 30 feet deep) and lack continuous casing, making them prone to contamination from nearby surface sources. Apart from the high risk of contamination, the low water levels in dug wells mean that if the water table drops below the well bottom, perhaps during a drought, the well may go dry.

Drilled wells are the most common among modern wells. They can be as shallow as 10-60 feet and as deep as 1,000 feet, though industrial drilled wells can exceed depths of 3,000 feet (900 meters).

Drilled wells are constructed using a cable tool (percussion) or air or hydraulic rotary drill rig typically mounted on a trailer, truck, or carriage fitted with powerful drill bits that can drill more than 1,000 feet deep.

During the drilling process, the rotary drill bits chew away at the rock while the percussion bits smash them. However, larger auger bits are used if the wells are penetrating materials consisting of granular materials like sand, clay, and gravel. Still, drilling into such materials requires a casing to prevent collapse and a screen to restrict sediment inflow. The space around the casing is sealed with grouting materials containing neat cement or bentonite clay to prevent contamination from water draining off the surface and down to the casing exterior.

Driven wells are perhaps the most straightforward and most inexpensive wells to construct. These wells are created by driving a small-diameter pipe into the shallow ground. The pipe has a screen or a filter fitted at the bottom to allow water to enter and keep out as much sediment as possible. It also helps keep the water-bearing formation in place.

Usually, driven wells can only be installed in areas with relatively loose soils, such as sand and gravel, and where there’s a shallow water table near the surface. The pipes are driven into the ground or inserted by hand until it reaches the water table. Once the well is deep enough, all the dirt is washed from inside the pipe. A pump is then installed to draw water from the aquifers.

Hand-driven wells are typically about 30 feet deep and 50 feet deep when driven by machine. That means, either way, they are effective in shallow water but can be easily contaminated as they draw water from aquifers near the surface. Worse, they aren’t usually sealed with grout materials.

A modern residential well system is relatively complex. It comprises several components that combine to pump water from underground sources and allow the water to flow to the surface and throughout your home. In case you’re wondering what these components are, we’ve outlined them and explained their functions below.

The well casing is a hollow, large-diameter plastic or steel pipe installed to provide the pathway for the water to travel up from the aquifer to the land surface. It also helps maintain the well opening, forms the well’s shape and structure, and supports the well so that loose rock fragments or unconsolidated sand and gravel through which the well has penetrated do not collapse into the well shaft.

Generally, well casings are made of carbon steel, stainless steel, or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and have a diameter of about five inches. PVC is lightweight, resistant to corrosion, and relatively easy for contractors to install. However, it’s not as resistant to heat as steel, although steel is susceptible to corrosion and scale buildup and can cost more than PVC.

In any case, the casing – along with grout – prevents dirt from entering the well and polluting the water. It also keeps excess water and contaminants from less desirable groundwater out of the well. The most common materials for well casing are concrete, fiberglass, or asbestos cement. However, the local geology often dictates what type of material can be used.

Well caps are primarily installed to prevent surface pollution, especially bacterial contamination. Bacterial contamination is a common problem that occurs in many private water wells in America. Thankfully, aluminum or thermoplastic well caps provide a water-tight seal to keep debris, insects, small animals, runoff, and other potential contaminants from entering the well system. The cap is usually placed on top of the well casing and includes a vent to control the pressure during well pumping. It also helps prevent overflows from contaminating the well when it’s extended past the flood level.

Think of the well screen as a filter that traps bits of dirt, rock, sand, and other sediments trying to get into the well. This filtering device is often attached to the bottom of the well casing to prevent excess sediment from contaminating the well while allowing water to pass. The most common well screens are continuous slots, slotted pipes, and perforated pipes.

Continuous slot screens are made of wire or plastic wrapped around a series of vertical rods. This configuration provides consistent, regular slot openings that can be engineered to the particle sizes found in the screened zone. Slotted pipe screens usually have the least open area. However, they feature machine-cut slots into steel or plastic casing at set distances. Perforated pipe screens contain holes or slots drilled into the pipe and perforated in place after the casing is installed. This well screen is usually not efficient for groundwater with lots of sand, gravel, and other sediments, due to the wide openings.

But generally, well screens are built to suit the local geography of the well’s installation site and have specified openings and holes to match the screen filtering capacity. They’re also designed to be placed within the aquifer’s saturated portion to prevent damage if the groundwater elevation drops.

Pitless adapters are connectors that provide a sanitary and frost-proof seal between the well casing and the waterline. These adapters are connected to the well casing below the frost line to divert water through the side of the adapter to prevent the water from freezing. A check valve is sometimes fitted below the adapter to prevent water from flowing back into the well.

The well pump is the central component of the well system. It’s responsible for pumping water upward from the aquifer and into the household or designated water system. The two most popular types of well pumps are jet pumps and submersible pumps. Both pumps use a centrifugal force created by spinning rotors, known as impellers, to force the water upwards. The rotors create a vacuum that forces the water upward through the well casing and into the distribution system. The type of pump required for a well system depends on how deep the well is and the amount of water the household requires.

Jet pumps are the most commonly used pumps for shallow wells 25 feet deep or less. This type of pump is mounted above ground and uses a suction pipe to draw water from the well. The suction pipe creates a vacuum with an impeller that drives water through a small nozzle. Because jet pumps use water to pump water, they first need to be primed with flowing water. Shallow well jet pumps are used for wells with a depth of 25 feet, while deep well jet pumps typically go down 150 feet. Deeper wells would require a submersible pump.

Submersible pumps can be used for private wells as deep as 400 feet or more. They are quickly replacing jet pumps because they dedicate most of their energy toward pushing water upward than drawing water from the well to the pump, as is the case with jet pumps. Jet pumps are also less efficient and noisier than submersible pumps. As the name suggests, submersible pumps are submerged deep in the well just under the water level. They have a cylindrical shape, housing the pump motor and a series of impellers that force water up the pump into the drop pipe. Most modern well systems use submersible pumps over other types because of their durability, versatility, and efficiency.

The pressure tank is a crucial component of a well system. It is used to maintain water pressure throughout the system and acts as a reservoir to allow water to be drawn from the tank without the pump cycling on and off every time the water is on. Pressure tank sizes can range from around 40 gallons for domestic use to 21,000 gallons or more for industrial use.

In standard pressure tanks, the pressure is created by pumping water into the tank until the air in the tank is compressed to 40, 50, or 60 psi (pounds per square inch). An air compressor is fitted to maintain an ideal air pressure. When the valve is opened via a faucet, the air pressure in the tank forces water out of the tank and into the pipes for distribution to your shower, kitchen faucet, water heater, dishwasher, and any other water outlet or water-using appliance in your house.

Well pumps aren’t designed for non-stop operation. This is especially true for submersible pumps because continuous usage would likely cause unnecessary wear on the pumping mechanism and hike up electricity costs. Luckily, the pressure switch and control box work together with the pressure tank to measure the well system’s water pressure. This ensures the pump only kicks in when the water pressure drops below a specific level.

Conventional well systems have a water pressure range of 60 psi. When the water pressure falls below the minimum range of 40 psi, the pressure switch signals the pump to turn on to bring the water pressure back within range. Once the water pressure is at an ideal level, the pressure switch turns the pump back off.

A well system is designed to draw water from the ground and deliver it into the household or a specific water system. Let’s use an example to depict how the system can achieve this.

Example: Your home is connected to a drilled well with a submersible pump in a pitless adapter set up with a pressure tank and pressure switch inside the house.

When you turn on any faucet or water-using appliance in the house, the water from the pressure tank is pumped to wherever the water is being used, whether the sink, dishwasher, washing machine, or shower. As the water flows throughout the house, the water pressure in the tank naturally drops.

If the water pressure drops below the minimum 40 psi (indicated by the pressure gauge), the pressure switch signals the pump to turn on. (Most pressure tanks have a pressure range of 40 psi to 60 psi.)

Impellers in the submersible pump (about 200 feet or so underground) begin to spin rapidly, forcing the water upward through the casing and the pitless adapter.

As the water is pushed through the waterline and into the house, the pressure tank fills gradually, as shown on the pressure gauge. But before the water enters the tank, there’s a check valve sitting before the pressure gauge to prevent the water from back-flowing.

Once the pressure tank reaches a maximum of 60 psi, the pressure switch signals the pump to turn off, halting the water flow into the system. The pressure remains at this level until more water is used and eventually drops. Once it drops below 40 psi, the pump kicks on again, and the cycle starts over.

If you’re thinking about constructing a well system for your home, there are a few key considerations you need to know before getting started. Following these tips will help you create a good-working well that can provide clean, refreshing water for years to come.

Whether you’re purchasing a home with a well system installed or scouting the area for a place to build, you should familiarize yourself with the land beforehand. You can start by asking well owners in the area about whether they’ve had success or trouble with their systems. The local authorities can also provide detailed information about the groundwater’s condition in the area, how deep they expect a well needs to be drilled, and whether the water level is known to be particularly low at certain times of the year. You’ll also want to ask about the climate because snow, rainfall, flooding, and other elements may cause problems. Another crucial thing to be aware of is nearby factories and other factors that may pose a contamination risk.

Choosing the best location for the well site is one of the most crucial decisions you can make before constructing a well system. This particular location not only provides the most water yield but has the least contamination risk. Although finding the location can only be achieved by estimating, a general rule is to make sure it has a high elevation. In areas with heavy rainfall, the rainwater from the higher ground level tends to leach contaminants to the lower ground floor as the water flows downhill. If the well site is in a low-basin area where rainwater collects, there is a high risk of contaminants entering the groundwater through the well.

If your home has a septic tank, ensure the well site is on a higher ground level than the septic tank and at a far distance. Septic tanks are almost always susceptible to leaks, so the contaminants should move away from the well site than towards it. Overall, try to choose a location away from objects and places that can potentially disrupt or contaminate the well, such as barns, streams or creeks, septic tanks, and livestock pens.

Well permits are almost always required before constructing all new wells and the repair, modification, and abandonment of an existing well, regardless of its size. Each state or locality has specific permits that you’ll need to acquire before the well construction can begin. So, do your research and ensure you have all of them. Typically, contractors won’t begin construction without all the necessary permits.

Every household uses different amounts of water, so there’s no one-size-fits-all for well pumps and the amount of water they can comfortably deliver within a specific time. Estimating your household’s water usage will make it easier to determine the type of set you’ll need. To provide some context, the average American family uses more than 300 gallons of water per day. Because well pumps vary in efficiency, calculating the average amount of water your household will use can help determine the best type of well pump and pressure tank for your well system.

Proper well system maintenance is crucial to ensuring a safe and reliable water source and preventing costly and inconvenient breakdowns. Well owners should keep a log that contains the details of their water well system, including the depth of the well, current water level, and equipment information. These details will come in handy if a contractor needs to respond to a service call.

We recommend an annual well maintenance check and a bacterial test to keep the well system performing at its best. The annual checkup should involve a visual inspection of the wellhead, the well system components, and other equipment to discover issues that could affect water quality. The water should also be inspected if there is a change in taste, smell, and appearance.

You may need to clean the well if the water is cloudy or contaminated with any suspended matter or if the water has developed an odor or taste problem. A positive test for biological activity or a decrease in the well’s capacity will also require the well to be cleaned.

Well water contains high quantities of healthy minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, and sodium. However, a well can be easily contaminated if it is not constructed correctly or toxic pollutants leach into it.

Harmful materials spilled or dumped near a well site can enter the aquifer and contaminate the groundwater drawn from that well. Whenever it rains or when large amounts of snow or ice melt, the water can pick up any loose liquids and contaminants it passes along the way and wash them down into aquifers containing large groundwater deposits.

Natural sources: Some substances found naturally in rocks and soils, such as arsenic, iron, chlorides, sulfates, fluoride, or radionuclides, can dissolve in groundwater. Other naturally-occurring substances, such as decaying organic matter, can move in groundwater as particles. Some of these contaminants may accumulate in excess quantities, posing a health threat if consumed. Others may produce an unpleasant odor, taste, or color. Groundwater containing these materials needs to be treated before it is used for domestic uses.

Saltwater: When aquifers near the coast are over-pumped, there’s a risk of creating a vacuum that can quickly be filled with salty seawater. Saltwater is undrinkable and unsuitable for irrigation, decreasing the availability of the already scarce freshwater. Saltwater contamination is a significant concern for many coastal communities that depend on wells for drinking water.

Improper disposal of hazardous waste: Many of us don’t realize that the way we dispose of waste can impact the quality of the same groundwater we use. When we improperly dispose of materials such as cooking and motor oils, lawn and garden chemicals, paints and paint thinners, medicines, disinfectants, etc., they usually end up in groundwater wells. Besides, many substances used in the industrial process should not be disposed of in drains at the workplace because they could contaminate a drinking water source. Pouring the wrong chemicals down the drain or neglecting to discard medication properly can harm your groundwater sources and, ultimately, your health and possibly that of the people living in your household.

Contaminated wells used to obtain drinking water are especially dangerous. Drinking contaminated groundwater can have severe health effects. Dangerous illnesses, such as cholera, dysentery, and hepatitis, may be caused by contamination from septic tank waste. Poisoning may occur from toxins that have leached into well water supplies. Often, the contaminants that cause these illnesses go unnoticed for long periods while silently affecting large communities. When congenital disabilities, various types of cancers, and other symptoms appear, the effects of contaminated groundwater are reported. Poor water quality can also harm any industry linked to groundwater use. For example, anglers suffer when their catch becomes infected with various chemicals released into groundwater or when it dies prematurely as a result.

If your water comes from a private well, you are solely responsible for ensuring its quality. That’s because the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn’t monitor or regulate private wells, nor does it provide recommended criteria or standards for them.

The most reliable way to tackle potential contaminants in your well water is to install a water filtration system. Even if your well water isn’t polluted, it’s always better to prepare for the unknown. Generally, water filtration systems are designed to eliminate various hazardous pollutants from water, including heavy metals, pesticides, organic and inorganic waste materials, microbes, and many more.

If you decide to go this route (which we highly recommend), your best filtration option is either a whole-house filtration system or reverse osmosis (RO) filter. The Springwell WS1 Whole-House Well Water System is the perfect solution for private wells.

The WS1 uses the latest and most innovative water filtration technologies to efficiently remove iron (known for causing orange hair), pesticides, sulfur (causes rotten egg odor), and manganese, all of which are contaminants often found in well water. Plus, it’s more economical and environmentally-friendly than most other well water filtering systems on the market.

But if you are looking for a smaller, more compact unit that only treats water at specific taps in your home, a reverse osmosis system would be ideal.

Reverse osmosis is one of the most effective water treatment methods for eliminating well water contaminants. Our Springwell SWRO under-counter reverse osmosis systems are robust, efficient, and highly affordable point-of-use RO systems designed to remove all kinds of contaminants from well water. Their four-stage filtering process eliminates pollutants such as sediments, arsenic, nitrates, pesticides, lead, iron, sulfur, fluoride, etc.

Contact us today to learn more about how each of these high-performance units can help protect your well system and keep you and your family safe. We’ll be more than happy to help you find the system that best suits your budget and needs.

Wells are a worthwhile investment for many homeowners, especially those living in rural and remote communities. These systems have come a long way from ancient history. They are still being used today – with newer plumbing technology and increased efficiency – to provide a reliable supply of healthy mineralized water for consumption. While setting up a well system these days can be costly, time-consuming, and will require much inquiry on the owner’s part, the long-term benefits of well ownership are undeniable. As long as you know the components of a standard well system and how they work together to supply water to a home, it becomes much easier to maintain your well system. But always remember that because wells are susceptible to contamination, you’ll need to take steps to keep out potentially harmful pollutants. Oh wait, we’ve already provided some effective methods to keep you and your family safe.

The main components of a domestic well are shown in Figure 10 and are described below. They include the well casing, well screen, a pitless adaptor (for cold climates), an annular seal, and a well cap. The primary purpose of these components is to allow the well to function properly and to prevent contaminants from entering the well. Not all components are found in all wells, and the materials and design of the components can vary depending on the well type, geologic conditions, local regulations, and local practices.

Casing – a pipe used to keep the ground open and prevent sediment and shallow groundwater from entering the well. The pipe is usually made of steel or plastic. A drive shoe (a hardened section of pipe with a beveled edge) is attached to the base of the casing to act as a cutting edge and protect the casing while it is driven into the ground. In modern dug wells, the casing is often made from several concrete rings joined together, while older dug wells may be lined with rocks or bricks instead of casing.

Figure10 – The main components of a domestic well and water system. Two possible types of pumps are shown here: a submersible pump inside the well for deep wells and a jet pump in the home for shallow wells. Only one of these pumps is needed to operate the water system (modified from USEPA, 2019).

Screen – a section of pipe at the bottom of the casing with openings that allow water to enter the well, while keeping aquifer material (sediment or broken rock) from entering the well. Common screen types include continuous slot (also called wire wrap screens) and slotted or perforated pipe with various opening designs. A screen is not usually used in domestic drilled bedrock wells unless the bedrock is unstable. Dug wells do not have screens because the water enters through the walls of the well (if the casing or lining is not sealed), and the bottom of the well, which is often filled with a layer of clean gravel. This video shows an example of what a well screen looks like and how it is installed in a water well.

Pitlessadaptor – an adaptor commonly used in cold regions to provide a frost-free, water line connection while allowing convenient access to the well. It is located below the frost line and allows the water pipe inside the well to pass through the casing and connect to the household water system. Pitless adaptors are designed to provide a watertight seal through the casing to prevent shallow, potentially contaminated groundwater, from entering the well. Historically, well pits were used instead of pitless adaptors to prevent water line connections from freezing. Well pits were constructed over the top of the well, with a typical depth of 2 to 3 m, and may have housed the pump and pressure tank. Well pits are no longer permitted in many jurisdictions because they are vulnerable to flooding which can allow surface water and contaminants to enter the well. However, they may still be in use in older wells.

Annular seal – a seal placed in the annular (ring-shaped when viewed from above) space between the casing and the sides of the borehole to prevent contaminants, surface water, and shallow groundwater from entering the well. The seal is made with grout, which is a low permeability material (such as bentonite, cement, or a bentonite-cement mixture). It is usually installed along the entire length of the casing by pumping a grout slurry through a small diameter pipe (tremie pipe) from the bottom of the casing up to ground surface. Not all jurisdictions require annu