Sand filter on well

[paulharvey]

I have a well that gets sand in the water. I also have a lot of lime in the water (8.2 pH). I have used a cheap whole house filter with compressed paper filters, but the lime clogs them in as little as two weeks; and I'm not going to buy a new $8 filter twice per month. I'm wondering if a #40 mess filter would catch the sand and let the lime deposits through? The hard water doesn't bother me, but the sand eats up the rubbers and o-rings in all the fixtures. I found this http://www.agrisupply.com/m/product...1&spJobID=300056740&spReportId=MzAwMDU2NzQwS0 at ASC, for $8 and wondered if it would work.

 

[oosik]

I don't know about your location in Florida but here if you have sand in your home well it is an indication the well was not "improved" sufficiently. Improving a well is pumping the well, usually immediately after drilling, and removing all the silt, dirt, debris and sand thereby leaving only larger gravel around the casing terminus. It may be worth your time to have a local well driller look at your situation and determine if further improvement might eliminate the sand problems. I have no advise to offer on the product you are asking about.

 

[hosspuller]

I agree with oosik .... That sand is wearing your well pump too. Better to fix the problem than bandaid it.

 

[8N Ren]

Do yourself a favor and get one with a clear plastic housing, that way you can see when it's clogged.
You can get ones that come with a plastic mesh filter which is reusable and the body has a 1/4 turn ball valve on the bottom of it if you just need to just give a quick flush. That's the style I have but I don't remember the brand.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

You can also put in a settling tank. That won't stop the wear and tear on your pump, but it should keep the sand out of your house lines.

 

[jaotguy]

first question should be ... is the well in sand or is it a drilled well in rock ? ...

if it is in sand, the screen at the bottom of the well is failing ( screen is getting large hole in it, allowing sand to be sucked up) Time to pull the head and replace the "sand point" ...

if it's in rock, time to lift the head and install a sock filter ( and raise the head a couple of feet to get it out of the sand )...

either way, the sand is destroying the system and needs to eliminated ....

 

[paulharvey]

It's in sand. It was drilled in 1996. 4 inch by ~95 feet, with submersible pump. I haven't gotten a quote on pulling the pump and redoing the sand fillter, but I assume (we all know what that means) that it would be more than a new pump would cost; hopefully years from now.

 

[Ranger Rick]

It's in sand. It was drilled in 1996. 4 inch by ~95 feet, with submersible pump. I haven't gotten a quote on pulling the pump and redoing the sand fillter, but I assume (we all know what that means) that it would be more than a new pump would cost; hopefully years from now.

Years ago one of the parks that I worked at had major sand in the water. The well like yours it was in sand. They had big 12" diameter 24" deep heavy cloth bags that were in a stainless steel tank to filter the water. We had to pull the bags out every week and wash them off so they could be reused the next week. I have no idea who made the system though. Rick

 

[SPIKER]

most of the options been posted, one that has not been mentioned real well is the settling tank. Basically adds a 2nd pump and a bigger tank that the submersible pump fills up and the sand settles in bottom. a 2nd jet/HP pump then pushed the settled water into the house thru the filters. It would need more time and room above ground & periodic maintenance as well to clean out the sand out of the settling tank... Then there is the pull the existing pump and have well cleaned (suck out the bottom of the well to remove sand/silt that has accumulated & deepens the well some. Then you would need some softener to get the lime/calcium out of the water to stop the dissolved solids from getting thru into the home...

Mark

 

[jaotguy]

the biggie here is the submersible pump in the well ... it has sand going thru it right now .... it will fail and the "second pump and settling tank" will not be able to "lift" the water ... and for the cost of the second pump and tank, the problem could already be fixed ....

or just "raise the first pump up a couple of feet" and see if the sand problem goes away , if so , lift the unit and put a fine mesh screen on the bottom of the pump.

 

[J_J]

It's in sand. It was drilled in 1996. 4 inch by ~95 feet, with submersible pump. I haven't gotten a quote on pulling the pump and redoing the sand fillter, but I assume (we all know what that means) that it would be more than a new pump would cost; hopefully years from now.

What do you mean it is in sand.

They usually drill down through the sand and into the rock and then another 10 or 20 ft.

My 2 in well in Jacksonville is about 120 ft, and was good until a year ago, when I gradually started to pump sand.

It got worse and worse, and eventually the well is barely producing.

What I figured out is the well casing has rusted through allowing sand to descend into the well and clog it up.

You could run a camera down the pipe and look at the casing.

I intend to try and blow out the sand with air through a 1/2 in pvc pipe and clean out the well.

Then I will try and drop a pipe inside the 2 in pipe and seal around the the bottom of the inside pipeand outer casing, and restore the well.

 

[Egon]

What happens if the Aquifier sand gets sealed up?

 

[Egon]

It's in sand. It was drilled in 1996. 4 inch by ~95 feet, with submersible pump. I haven't gotten a quote on pulling the pump and redoing the sand fillter, but I assume (we all know what that means) that it would be more than a new pump would cost; hopefully years from now.

A little more information on the well might help. Static water level. Drawdown water level. Pump seating depth. Sump or depth of sump. Depth of perforations. Does the pump have a sand filter? Pumping rate?

 

[jaotguy]

up here , we have 275' of sand ( straight down ) ... they drill 50 - 60 ' of casing then pound a "filter" down the casing till it extends just beyond the casing end ...

sometimes they guess wrong on the size of the sand and it seeps up thru the filter, filling the casing over time ... raising the pump gains you some time ....

the other fix is to pull the pump, pound the old filter out the bottom of the casing, then use a "fine mesh sand point" on the bottom of the pump .... ( yes, the casing fills with sand over time and the pump gets locked in place, but you'd have to drill a new well anyway ... and this buys you some time )

 

[paulharvey]

I'm approximately 150 feet above sea level on a sand hill in sand mine territory, so I don't know how far the rock is down, but it's down there a long ways. I can't say I know a whole lot about well, like depth to water, ect. I know the depth of the well cause it's scratched on a tag.

How much does it costs to have it pulled and re screened? Some guys at work said to just pull it and check it out, but with a well you can't really mess with it; it's got to be working by the next day or life becomes rather difficult.

I have priced some new submersible well pumps and they don't seem That bad; $299+. My main worry/problem with doing to much inside the well is:
A: I mess something up and have to shell a couple grand to a professional, which I don't have
B: I under estimate the time and amount of work, can't get it back together and running right, and have to call a professional.
C: I make a minor annoyance into a major ordeal, like some how getting pump wedged in casing or something stupid
D: I may have to do serious work to it years down the road, but that's hopefully years down the road.

Is there a good online "wells for idiots" to get a better idea what I'm dealing with?

 

[jaotguy]

ever thought about looking up the original well drilling company ? they should have records on what they did .....

check with the local office that issued the building permit , they should be able to tell you who drilled the well.....

GET HELP , the pump and pipes can be heavy !

as far as pulling the head / pump up, if you remove the CAP and look down about 5-6 feet ( flashlight helps ) you should see a lump in the side of the well ( pitless adapter ) a 3/4 or 1" pipe screws into the top of it to free and lift the pipes going to the pump ... there is a "rubber" o-ring between the 2 parts ... there should be a ROPE/cable for helping /holding the pipes to the pump ( so they don't fall into the well if you do something stupid ) as well as the wires going to the pump ( don't use these to lift the pump!) ... you should be able to lift the pipe and pump, if they don't move up easily, your well may already be filled with sand ( leave it alone if it is ) ...

expect about 5-6 hours to lift and replace the pump and pipes ( once you've done it once, the time drops greatly ) ... and keep a spare o-ring on hand every time you lift the pump ....

yes, one mistake ( dropped o-ring , etc ) and you will be without water and kicking yourself ..... pick a time when the inconvenience will be minimized ( she goes to visit friends and family and you are by yourself ) fill the bathtub with water and a bunch of water jugs , just "in case" .

 

[gwdixon]

When the well pump was replaced here it was much more powerful and pumped sand and silt enough to turn the water brownish and clog faucets. Even rainbirds sprinklers clogged. We pumped out the well and had a small pile of sand where the bypass pipe exited. Still sand in the water.

Anyway, we plumbed this sand separator on the water pipe after the pump and before the storage tank:

SandMaster Home Sand Removal Separators

It has to be emptied every few days (it can be done automatically with extra attachments) and a lot of sand and grit comes out on each emptying cycle. The sand and grit to the house has virtually been eliminated.

The idea of a sand filter on the bottom of the pump sounds good on first thought. However, as explained by the pump repairman, the filter draw up the sand and when the pump turns off the sand is deposited under the pump in the casing. Eventually the casing fills up and the pump has to be raised.

The repairman said that he recently worked on a well that had five 20' sections of pipe laying next to the tank. The owner lost 100' of well due to the sand screen. I'm sure it is an unusual example.

Yes, the sand will wear the impellers on the pump but they can be replaced. Not cheap, to be sure, but at less than the cost of a whole new pump.

 

[RalphVa]

Think I'd try putting two filter assemblies in series. Just leave the element out of the first one and a filter in the 2nd one. If you have the first one transparent (mine was that way when I had a filter), you'll be able to see the sand level to know when to dump it.

Another option is to put in something like a calcium carbonate bed and only fill it about half full (or empty), to allow for sand accumulation. My calcium carbonate bed is now my filter, too. Used to get a few particles and had a whole house paper filter element for those, but they said it wasn't needed once I had the calcium carbonate bed.

Ralph