new water well

[MDM]

I had a new well drilled a few weeks ago. I got the pump set last weekend end, and have been pumping it dry about twice a day ever since to try to get the water to clear up. How long does it generally take for the water to clear up after a new well is drilled? I'm going to give it another week, but there has been no change in clarity for the last 6 days.

 

[BTDT]

Sounds like you didn't go deep enough if your pumping it dry. May not ever clear up. (in my opinion)

 

[Jimbrown]

Pumping it dry is causing it to bring in new silt each time. Stop pumping it dry.

 

[Egon]

Don't pump it dry if you want clarity.

 

[turnkey4099]

I had a new well drilled a few weeks ago. I got the pump set last weekend end, and have been pumping it dry about twice a day ever since to try to get the water to clear up. How long does it generally take for the water to clear up after a new well is drilled? I'm going to give it another week, but there has been no change in clarity for the last 6 days.

You didn't say how you set the pump. It needs to be several feet off the bottom to give room for sediment settlement. As others have said, don't pump it dry.

Harry K

 

[MDM]

Well is 135 feet deep. 135 is deep for around here, most are not over 100ft. The pump is set 10 ft off the bottom. The stream is at 31 ft and only makes 20 gallons an hour. It's not very good, but it is what it is. The static level will rise to 25 if I give it enough time which gives me 250 gallons, and that is way more than I will use at any one time. Everyone around here including the drillers, said to keep bailing it until it clears up. Even if I let it fill over night, the water is still very coudy. There is no change in clarity from the time I start pumping until 25 minutes later when it pumps dry.

I have another well that I am using in the mean time. My old well slows way down in the summer. So I had another one drilled so I could flip back and forth between the two.

 

[MDM]

Just to be clear, I have been pumping it dry intentionally. I turn the garden hose on and leave it on until it pumps dry - about 10 gallons a minute for 25 minutes before it goes dry. I was told to keep doing this until it clears up. I was told it may take a couple of weeks.

 

[gordon21]

If you have a well with 20GPM flow, that is very very good. Most of my neighbors have 5GPM or less and never run the well dry unless they are filling a pool. If you run a hose at 10GPM, the well would NEVER run dry. The well would be refilling it faster than you can use the water. 20 is bigger than 10.

Do you really have 20GPM?? You may have 2GPM instead. Look at the data tag attached to the well casing. It could be a 2.0 on the tag, not 20. If you can empty your well in 25 minutes using one hose, you have a serious problem.

If the water is cloudy, why don't you merely add an in-line water filter. $75 should be enough to buy the filter, the fittings and an extra cartridge.

Was the well drilled or pounded? If it was drilled, it may need to be fracked.

Are you sure the bottom of the pump is really 10' off the bottom of the well? If it is too close, it will pick up crud off the bottom.

You need to get definite answers to what you really have and don't have. In the meantime, do not continue to pump the well dry. That will do no good at all, especially for the pump. Having to replace a $500 pump in less than a month is not good. Deep pumps rely on water to cool them and keep lubricated.

 

[JoeL4330]

I read 20gph not 20gpm

 

[Blackfoot]

Just to be clear, I have been pumping it dry intentionally. I turn the garden hose on and leave it on until it pumps dry - about 10 gallons a minute for 25 minutes before it goes dry. I was told to keep doing this until it clears up. I was told it may take a couple of weeks.

I have a well that pumps 40 gpm, our water has a lot of minerals in it, and when it sets a bit it turns a milky color. I had the well drilled in 1991, but just put a submersible in it last summer, as it is artesian and has a static level of25ft. But the point that I am coming to, is that after letting it set for so long without pumping it, the water had slowed down quite a bit on its out put. So what I did, is before I put the pump down, I put an air fitting in the well cap, so that I could pump air down the casing, I put a 150lbs of air in the casing which blew the bottom of the well out real good and it tripled my water flow. I have never heard of some one pumping the well dry like you are doing, but this is what I was told to do and you might want to give it a whirl. Cut your flow rate back to where you are not running it dry, and then pump it steady for a few days. Maybe with you pumping it dry like that the dirt is falling back into your blowout hole at the bottom of your casing, which in turn is giving you the muddy water.,,,,,,Good luck, BF

 

[thatguy]

there is a BIG difference between deep in OH and VA. Our well went 340 ft deep (some of the neighbors went +500 feet) and we are getting about 6.5 gal/min. The whole house water filter has not been changed since we moved in in Oct and there is absolutely no sediment/crud in the filter..

Good luck getting to clear up.. I remember a neighbor growing up that let his well run for days after the put it in.. Im guessing that was to clear it up as well, at the time I didnt understand what he was doing..

Brian

 

[MDM]

THe well was pounded. 8" hole all the way to the bottom. Pump is 10' off the bottom. Well makes 20 gallons per HOUR. So, you guys have clear water right away with a new well? Everyone around here I have to keep pumping it out until it clears up. I guess things are different depending on location. Like I said, this is a deeper than average well for the area. I had him go deeper so I would have more storage since the water vein was so small.

I have a low pressure switch, so the pump kicks off when the well is dry.

 

[gordon21]

I didn't catch the 20 per HOUR. I would definitely install an above ground storage tank to allow the well to produce water 24/7. Let's say you set a timer to run the well pump wide open for 15 mintues out of every hour. That will allow you to accumulate 400+ gallons per day. When your water needs are high, you will be drawing from the above ground reservoir. This is exactly the logic behind water towers all across America. Most municipal water systems cannot handle the water demands early in the day. If you drive by a water storage tank with the visible water level indicator on the side, you will see it full at about 5AM. Come back at 9AM and the tank is half full or less.

If you wanted to take 2 showers, run the dishwasher and the washing machine, you could do all those things in a two hour period. That would require at least 200 gallons. Your well and storage tank combo could be recovering all day long while you are gone. When you get home at night, you would have another 400 gallons in the tank ready to go.

 

[SPIKER]

at the depth you have you well, and the fact that you are pumping an 8" hole dry the water that is running/trickling in up higher may be falling down into the well splashing the sides & knocking mud down into the water. if left settle I think it might clear up faster? like suggested above I would get a larger storage tank and a pre-filter filter water into the large pressure tank. if you keep sucking it dry under the premise the water flowing in is muddy then maybe it would clear up as cleaner water ran into it but I think pumping it dry when the vein was much higher than the pump level then the falling water is mudding it's self up I think.?

Just a thought, leave it set a few days and see if it clears up... better than running it dry daily with same results as my well has a vein like yours 30 something feet with 80' well & 68' pump eight. if it run it down to pump drys out then my water is muddy for day or so. as I think the falling water splashes onto pump & sides breaking free small muddy bits. I can hear the water splashing into the well when I pull the cap after bleaching & running it for a while but I have mostly stone from 12' down to the bottom so I have less sediment to disturb along the sidewalls & a 4" casing down to 28'... I believe that they hit water at 32' with mine. I'll have to look again as they are listed on-line for OHIO.

MarkM

 

[MDM]

I think it might be starting to clear up a little. The water is not a muddy brown color, its more white. It looks like a glass of water with an once of milk in it. My well is pretty much solid rock from 28' down to the bottom. Here is a picture. Anyone need drink?

 

[turnkey4099]

I think it might be starting to clear up a little. The water is not a muddy brown color, its more white. It looks like a glass of water with an once of milk in it. My well is pretty much solid rock from 28' down to the bottom. Here is a picture. Anyone need drink?

Does that clear up if let set?

Have you had a water test done yet. If it was a professional driller, a water test should have been part of the deal.

Harry K

 

[MDM]

No, it doesn't clear up. The driller was a state certified driller. The county will come out and do a test when I am ready.

 

[Jimbrown]

Looks like small particles of limestone. You should not need to buy any tums if you drink it. I still reccommend not pumping it dry. Let it setlle out at the bottom. Pump small amounts to keep water coming in.