Dormant well now running sediment..New Well?

My brother inherited our parents house and we have an artesian well. I do not know at this time how deep the well is or anything about it, or how to figure this out since they are both deceased. The house was built in the mid 70's I believe. The problem is that he has been remodeling the house now that the estate is closed and it has been sitting for the past 3 years. Now that he got the electric back on he is in the final stages, he went to run the water and it is brown "river water" as he described it. He opened up all the faucets and let the water run for about 4 hours. He told me that when he shut it back off there was sand in the sinks. What is going on?
PS An uncle stated that maybe since the well sat for so long without being used that the sides may have collapsed and my brother was going to have to get a new well dug.
Please please help! He cannot afford a new well and cannot refinance the house to get one..there has to be something else going on ( I hope)

run it longer, all day if necessary

After reading other areas on the forum, I advised him to run it wide open 6-8 hours daily for a few weeks. Im still wondering what could be causing this and if its possible for the 'well to collapse' as suggested by a family member. He is on good land,basically penninsula shaped with creeks and streams and swamp on all sides, very near to the Patuxent River in the Chesapeake bay water shed so Im sure water isnt the issue. We are also having record snowfalls here and more rain than usual so I imagine the water table is pretty high.
Any ideas on the whole collapsing issue?

Artesan well means water comes out without a pump.... how about opening the main line at the well and spillling a few million gallons of water for clean up?

Let the water run, flow for days............ get that well to turn over and over and over.. the more the better.
With that well setting for years it might take some time to flush out build up that has taken place over the years.

I see wells that pump out iron colored water for hours after setting all winter around here.

sarn10633 said:

After reading other areas on the forum, I advised him to run it wide open 6-8 hours daily for a few weeks. Im still wondering what could be causing this and if its possible for the 'well to collapse' as suggested by a family member. He is on good land,basically penninsula shaped with creeks and streams and swamp on all sides, very near to the Patuxent River in the Chesapeake bay water shed so Im sure water isnt the issue. We are also having record snowfalls here and more rain than usual so I imagine the water table is pretty high.
Any ideas on the whole collapsing issue?

Click to expand...

It is more likely to be from iron in the water and, if there is a septic system, you really shouldn't run a lot of water into the septic system or you'll end up with problems with that.

Tell him to get a water tests for iron. pH, hardness at least and Coliform bacteria and nitrates would be good too. Have him look in tolet tanks for clear to black slimy snotty slippery stuff at or below the water line. If there is any it is iron reducing bacteria (IRB) and it is harmless but can cause odor problems. It can also cause dirty water in wells that have sat unused for a long time.

Running a lot of water out of a well is not always a good idea because you can draw the water level down far enough to cause water quality, pump and sand infiltration etc. problems.