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I don't know if anyone can help but I need to know if anyone out there in Valley Stream (or Nassau county for that matter) has had a problem with their well water system (no water)?
Let me back up a little - I have an irrigation system that gets water from a well (pipe drilled into the ground) by way of an electric pump (which was replaced 2 yer ago). Last spring, I primed the system and it was working fine for about a month or so when I started noticing the system was running but no water was coming out (fyi - The pump works fine as I was able to connect my hose to the system and it worked). I was told by one company that the well might be dry and our only options are to connect the system to the house water (and pay for the water which I don't want to do) or try drilling a new well which might be a hit or miss proposition. My water bill last summer was very high and if I can avoid that again, that would be the best case scenario.
Has anyone out there ever had this problem? If so, is there any way to check the well to see if it's dry? Finally, if I need to drill a new well, does anyone know of any companies that do this in Nassau?
more than likely your well isn't dry, but the point is clogged. Over time minerals collect on the screen and eventually not enough water seeps through for the pump to catch it's prime. There are many methods to cure this but you don't say much about your well. Is it in cased in a plastic sleeve? If so you can pull the pipe out and soak the point in acid. how old is the well? the easiest way to clear a point is to latch on to the well with a pipe wrench and turn it, the scraping of sand against the point knocks the minerals off the screen, but if the well is old you risk snapping the pipe off doing this. I know an old guy who used to take the pellets out of a shotgun shell and he had a bracket that held the shell in the mouth of the well, when he flipped this board with a nail in it over the shell would go off and the concussion would clear the well. There are a thousand different ways to do it.
By the way, you asked how to tell if your well is dry, the easiest way is to tie a weight ( a nut will do) to a string and drop it down the well. Went you pull it back up note the distance that the string is wet. A perfect well should have 10 feet of water in the pipe, less than 5 is problems. but if the point is clogged the water in the well is meaningless because it could be seeping in to slowly to supply your pump
more than likely your well isn't dry, but the point is clogged. Over time minerals collect on the screen and eventually not enough water seeps through for the pump to catch it's prime. There are many methods to cure this but you don't say much about your well. Is it in cased in a plastic sleeve? If so you can pull the pipe out and soak the point in acid. how old is the well? the easiest way to clear a point is to latch on to the well with a pipe wrench and turn it, the scraping of sand against the point knocks the minerals off the screen, but if the well is old you risk snapping the pipe off doing this. I know an old guy who used to take the pellets out of a shotgun shell and he had a bracket that held the shell in the mouth of the well, when he flipped this board with a nail in it over the shell would go off and the concussion would clear the well. There are a thousand different ways to do it.
By the way, you asked how to tell if your well is dry, the easiest way is to tie a weight ( a nut will do) to a string and drop it down the well. Went you pull it back up note the distance that the string is wet. A perfect well should have 10 feet of water in the pipe, less than 5 is problems. but if the point is clogged the water in the well is meaningless because it could be seeping in to slowly to supply your pump
excellent idea to check the water level like he states above FIRST then...I will also suggest that you can take your house hose water and send it down the pipe and turn it on ,if it is clog, the water should come up the pipe or maybe it will unclog it but it is worth a try ..keep us posted on your results
Thanks guys. Those are all great suggestions. I talked to someone at a well company as well and they suggested the water test for the pipe as well as the holes in the pipe might be clogged. The well actually is just a 3inch pipe going straight into the ground and it is connected directly to a small pump which is for the lawn sprinkler system (so it might be a little difficult to get into the pipe. If I can't get into it, the guy at the company said he would do it and give me an estimate based on what he finds.
I'll keep you updated!
It seems to me that you might be able to clear the screen by using compressed air. If it were my problem, I'd consider forcing compressed air @ 90-110 psi,
into the pipe at the well head, backflushing the pipe and hopefully, clearing the screen. I don't think that the well has gone dry but most likely, (as another has suggested),
sediment has probably clogged the wellpoint screen over a period of time. I'm considering this approach only because it seems logical to me and I have seen this method to
be effective in other applications. Also, it may be the most cost economical approach, as it can be done without professional equipment. Good luck with your, well, problem.
As a follow up, I ended up having to have a new well dug (~$2200) and I now have high pressure irrigation again. They had to dig down about 33ft. (as opposed to the 17-20ft that the old well was) and they use pvc piping as opposed to the galvanized pipe that was there. Interesting process watching 2 guys basically dig a hole with a high powered air blower. Never would have guessed that was how it was done.
Nothing like basically free water to put a smile on my face!
(Especially since this summer looks like it's gonna be a scorcher! )
Status:
"Let this year be over..."
(set 19 days ago)
Location: Where my bills arrive
19,219 posts, read 17,085,392 times
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Wells <25' are usually considered shallow wells and can be affected by reduced surface moisture as well as changes in the water table. Construction, additional wells in the same area can cause the water table to drop also.
Glad you were able to get it resolved at a resonable price. They didn't try any hydro-frackin while they were there did they...
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