Sand Point Well Keani, Alaska

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Matthew

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I have a sand point well. This season I can not get the pump to pull water. After priming and even running water down the well, I am stumped? I did check the well with a weight and string. The well is a 17ft shallow well and it had about 18 in of water, I did run water down the pipe and the pipe did not hold water. As the river rises the water table may improve although I have had water before with a lower water table. I have a 1/2 horse craftsman pump and extol pressure tank. Form reading other forums could the pressure switch be bad? Any suggestion how to get the pump to pick up water?

Matthew
 
I would try to knock that screen a little further down. You might be able to get it deeper into the vein and pick up your water level as well.
 
Matthew said:
I have a sand point well. This season I can not get the pump to pull water. After priming and even running water down the well, I am stumped? I did check the well with a weight and string. The well is a 17ft shallow well and it had about 18 in of water, I did run water down the pipe and the pipe did not hold water. As the river rises the water table may improve although I have had water before with a lower water table. I have a 1/2 horse craftsman pump and extol pressure tank. Form reading other forums could the pressure switch be bad? Any suggestion how to get the pump to pick up water?

Matthew
Click to expand...
Since the pump runs, it won't be the switch. With only 18" of water in the well, which probably isn't as high as the top of the screening, you can't prime the pump/well because the water runs out through the screening and out of the well, there isn't enough water in the well.

So the choices are, put the point down farther or wait until the water table comes up.
 
I was licensed in Michigan for a lot of years until a few years ago when I decided paying the State Health Department for a license I would never use again was kind of stupid.

When did they ban 1-1/4" wells? As far as I remember they were always legal for a homeowner to put in. I don't know of any self respecting licensed driller that would put one in, but lots of homeowners and weekend warriors did. When I was a kid, I beat a few hundred of them in with a 60 lb hammer and changed more screens than I care to remember.

If I remember correctly my license # was 1173. I could have got it automatically when licensing started in the 60's but I went into the Army instead and had to take the test later on.
 
I drill about 50/50 screened and bedrock wells. A screened well to me is a 5" well with a screen. The glaciers really did a number on Michigan. I have 40 foot rock wells and 250 foot screened wells
Click to expand...

Where I lived and drilled, all the wells were screened. Deepest being around 150'. Most weren't much over 50'.

A friend of mine moved about 35 miles north east of my area and told me all the wells he was drilling were rock wells. Go figure. And the water quality all over the state varied like crazy.
 
I found 36 logs for 1173, jetted wells. Livingston, Mecosta and the rest in Oakland. Is that you??
Click to expand...

Now you've got me thinking. That's not me. I never drilled in Mecosta or Livingston. Just Oakland County. And I had a lot more logs than that.

Now I've got to figure out what my old number was. Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.

Stay tuned, I'll figure out what it was and post back.
 
Your out drilling and using a computer too? Your much more tidy than I was. That poor computer would have been trashed the first 15 minutes if it had been me doing that.:o

I just talked to Mike Gabor at the State Health Department and he's going to find out if that's my old number or not. I just gotta know, now it's killing me.
 
I just got off the phone with Mike Gabor. I think he was head of the State Health Dept when I got my license. Geeze, how long ago was that???

My old license number was 1173. He stated it as 99-1173. I guess the 99 is for the county I was in. So I'm not losing my mind, at least not yet!
 
Thanks, I'll go have a look. It will be like old home week.

He did sound like a really nice guy. And he answered the phone. I didn't get one of those snotty phone answering types that you usually get when you call a govt office. I was amazed.

So your up on the platform, drillin and compuutin. That's something I have never tried. Just be careful and don't be drilling any holes through your foot.:D
 
My son just bought a home and it has a sand point and I was wondering how you prime it. I have never been around one so need a little info. Thanks for any help
 
You have to prime the pump not the screen.

You might want to start a new thread. More people would see it that way.
 
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