I have a shallow well that is used for livestock and irrigation. It isn't potable water. The well is along the shore of a pond and what comes out looks and smells like pond water, murky with a swampy smell. The soil around the pond is what the USDA calls "Swansea muck" -- dense black soil that doesn't drain well and tends toward mud. The well is about 4' diameter and I think there is about 8' of water in it, it's not very deep.
In addition to the water being smelly and murky, it has a fair bit of silt in it, which tends to clog plumbing valves. Periodically I have to clean out the pressure switch on the pump. So I'm thinking of ways to filter the water.
I'm wondering if filling the well with sand would help. I'm thinking of putting a 4" or 6" perforated pipe down the middle with the intake pipe for the pump in it, and then filling around it with sand. It would be a cheap and low-maintenance filter.
Any thoughts on whether this would work or if it's worth trying?
Thanks.
====================================================================================================================================================
Your not providing potable water for your livestock?
Sand beds and alum are used for municipal water treatment in many locations the sand has to be removed and replaced in the settling basins every couple of years.
Alum is used to kill bacteria in drinking water and also used to remove clay from potable well water by dissolving it in the well water. A chlorine injection pump is used to inject the water with the dissolved Alum in it to the water as it is pumped to the storage tank which is also a settling tank that will be partially drained weekly to remove the clay that has settled in the bottom of the storage tank.
It would be simple to treat the water with alum in an open settling tank and then deliver nearly potable water to your livestock with a small pump.
A deep well pump will run dry and burn out on you before enough water enters the pipe you are using to collect it.
You need to use a very small electric centrifugal pump to move the water to a settling tank to remove the crud with alum using a a chlorine injector set at 5 gallons per minute to inject the water with the dissolved alum into the water flow as it enters into the settling tank.
You would need to invest in a very small centrifugal pump paired with the chlorine injection pump as the amperage draw for both the pump and the chlorine injector will be coming from the same heavy amperage extension cord as the pump and the injection pump operate at the same time as the centrifugal pump wiring is also paired with the injection pump wiring using a flat octagon junction box attached to the centrifugal pumps motor case.
You would place the chlorine injector in a Tee on the discharge side of the pump piping and then it will feed the raw water through the pump and the chlorine injector would pump the alum solution in the water as it is pumped into the water line going to the settling tank.
The settling tank could be a simple small livestock watering tank that would be used to settle out the solids and a small electric pump could fill the main livestock watering tank.
The larger open livestock watering tank would allow the crud to be settled out and the clear water can be taken off the top foot of water in the tank and the water would be sterilized to some extent and be fit to drink for the livestock.
It would be very easy to clean with a hose when its emptied of water every couple of weeks as the water will be absolutely clear with the crap at the bottom and you can pull the water out using a smaller electric drainage pump and avoid pumping the crap out of the settling tank by keeping the intake hose a couple of inches off the bottom or higher as you pump.
You would not require pressure switches or valves as the long hose or black poly pipe will be carrying the treated water to the settling tank. The injection fitting and hose would be put in a T after the first long pipe nipple and a small ball valve after the injection point would be used to slow the water down a lot as it is being injected with the alum solution. The ball valve prevents the water in the settling tank from being siphoned back into the shallow well
Just keep in mind the longer the raw water stays in the settling tank the purer and clearer it will be for your livestock.
I used alum and an injection pump for 7 years until the colloidal clay was no longer a problem with my well.
