DIYbanter - View Single Post

Frank[_24_]

On 1/25/2019 4:46 PM, wrote:
On Fri, 25 Jan 2019 12:48:07 -0500, Clare Snyder
wrote:

On Fri, 25 Jan 2019 08:47:22 -0500, not my real pseudonym
wrote:

On 1/24/2019 3:58 PM, Frank wrote:
Submersible pump failed on my well.Â* Plumber has worked on it in the past and installed new pump and pressure tank over 10 years ago.

He pulled the pump, put a new one on to discover that the well must have collapsed as it would only go to 3/4 previous depth. Then no matter what he did, he could not pull it out.Â* He had to cut off the top of the pipe to hook to the house.Â* We have
water but water table is up and pump surrounded with debris may not last long.Â* Plumber would not take a partial hit on his bill but I paid him anyway.Â* I should get water for transition to new well in a week or so.Â* Neighbor could supply me through a
hose but it freezes with low temperatures.Â* I had supplied the previous owner for a week a while back when they had the same problem but weather was nice.

Just hired a well digger to put in a new well since the old one is partially collapsed and new one will be needed sooner or later. His costs are also less for a new pump, plumbing and pressure tank than the plumber's.Â* My previous neighbor recommended
him after going through the same process.

My plumber who did good work in the past and will now be history has taught me the lesson of not getting a plumber to work on your well.

Just curious but how/why did the well collapse?Â* Generally wells are entirely encased in PVC with a slotted bottom section that allows the water to flow in but prevents collapse.Â* Did the slotted PVC section fail?
Perhaps an older well with a steel or transite casing?

That is what I was thinking.
In real life it doesn't even have to "Collapse" just get enough rust
on it that the new pump won't go down.
I suppose you could drop a camera down there these days and give it a
look.
You might be able to knock enough crud out to buy some time but he is
still looking at a new well soon if the casing is compromised.

As mentioned, I have contracted with a well digger. First he needs to
get a permit. He says he works in any weather but I pointed out that I
had pictures of 2 ft of snow on the ground on this date. We do have
water for now from the old well. There is water where the pump is and
when we moved in we were told we had 15 gal per minute recovery rate. I
was surprised when neighbors went dry a couple of years ago as his well
head is less than 200 ft from mine and the well digger only dug the new
one about 20 ft away.