My well was hurt by Katrina. Need help

[pacts]

Hey Guy's,
My house was destroyed during Katrina. My pump was snapped off the 2" casing and my suction line and foot valve must have fallen down inside the well. The motor and pump still work and I need to get my well going in order to hook up a FEMA trailer. I thought I would try this forum before calling in the pros ($$$). I know the well is 480' deep. I don't know the length of the original suction line. I have a 1hp Gould Jet Pump and as of right now there's no tank or pressure switch hooked up. I put in 70' of new 1 " suction line with my neighbors foot valve. My well will operate/pump at 40 psi for about 15 minutes. Then the water pressure drops off to 0. So I turn it off and if I let it sit for a couple hours and reprime it will do the same thing again. I was operating the pump and turned it off prior to running out of water. It read 50 psi. I went back 4 hrs later and it was holding at 50 psi. My thought is that my suction line isn't long enough and after 15 minutes I'm just running out of water. This afternoon I'm going to put another 20' of suction line and try again. Does this sound as if I'm on the right track. Also, a well guy told me not to exceed 100' of suction line with a 1hp motor. ???
Thanks a lot for your help.

[Vitaliy]

I am not sure did I get it right but looks like your pump is OUTSIDE the well somewhere
on the ground. If this is a case and water level is below 30’ your pump you will not
have ANY water at all REGARDLESS of how deep is your well, how long is your
suction line and powerful is your pump. There is no magic here, just a simple physics
(atmospheric pressure).


- Vitaliy (not a plumber at all)

[speedbump]

Vitaliy is rite. No pump can lift water more than 25 feet vertically without a jet in the well.

Do you know what your water level is?

I don't suppose you pulled any of the pipes out that fell down the well.

This could have a bearing on how this well is going to work from now on.

bob...

[Kristi]

AND... (dare I say)... are you sure your water is safe? I'd get a sample of it tested before spending any time or money.

[pacts]

My jet pump does and has sat on top of the casing for the last 9 years. My water level is 70', I checked yesterday. I now have 85' of suction line and the pump/motor can't lift the water. It did 2 days ago at 70'. A neighbor switched my motor to 110 volts when he borrowed the motor right after the storm. Perhaps I should change it back to 220 volts? Would this create more suction? My problem is I don't know the depth of the original suction line. And speed bump is probably right in the sense that the original suction line could be in the way and causing problems. I did however glue together 150' of 1/2" line ands pushed it down to see if it hit anything; it didn't. Thanks for your help!!!

[Vitaliy]

Dear pacts,



If the pump is above 25’ (30’ best case max) water line in the well you CANNOT
get even SINGLE DROP of water even if you put together ALL pumps in entire
universe! And if you will be able to get water this way then next Nobel Prize will be
yours because of you will find the way how to overcome one of the fundamental law
of physics.


- Vitaliy

[speedbump]

The big question is: Did you put an injector (deep well jet) on the end of the droppipe you installed in the well or just a footvalve?

If footvalve is the answer, you will get no water from the well with a 70 foot water level. A jet has two cup leathers, a brass or cast iron body, a nozzle and venturi. Sometimes a footvalve on the bottom. This item is an absolute must to make your pump work. The droppipe must be at least 1" and 1-1/4" works better.

Voltage has nothing to do with suction lift or pressure. However if your neighbor wired it for 115 and you are going to apply 230 volts, your going to burn up a perfectly good motor.

The water sample mentioned by Kristi is a very good idea also before drinking or bathing in this water.

bob...

[Gary Slusser]

Shock the well (find instructions on the web) and run off the chlorine and wait a few days after it is all gone before doing the Coliform bacteria test. Be prepared for dirty water. Shocking a well can cause problems for pumps, power cable, casing and water quality.

Very good instructions.
http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/water/g1255.htm

Gary
Quality Water Associates

[speedbump]

Good idea, that can be done before the jet is installed. Because it can't be done afterwards.


bob...

[neili]

These guys are all correct. Chlorinate the well. If you don’t have a convertible motor, don’t run it with low voltage. You cannot physically “suck” water more than 30 feet (might be as much as 32 feet at proper atmospheric and elevation conditions). It sounds like you would need an injector type pump.

I have had some problems with some of my customers in the past who have had small diameter wells and needed to find pumps for them. The research I did into jet pumps lead me to believe that he injectors would not fit down a well smaller than about three inches in diameter. If someone could point me to a place where I could find injectors for smaller diameter wells that would be great.

[Pumpman]

We sell ejectors (packer type) for 2" and 3" well casings. These are single pipe ejectors, such as what speedbump described, with the leathers, etc. They're good down to about 140', depending on the pump that is used.
Ron

[speedbump]

Ron is correct, and there are 2 pipe jets for 4" wells. The the 3" 2 pipe jets are getting real hard to find.

If you want to buy the 2" or 3" single pipe ejector, you can find it here (http://secure.mycart.net/catalogs/index.asp?category=231824&count=1).

bob...

[rshackleford]

You can find tech specs here:

http://www.goulds.com/pdf/BHSJ.pdf

[pacts]

Well, my well is up and running. Speedbump, you hit it right on the head. The injector and foot valve I had on the dropline was borrowed from my nieghbors well. He had a different pump/motor and his well is much more shallow. I put the proper injector and valve and increased the depth of my dropline to 120'. I shocked the well and my system is running wonderful. Thanks to all of you for your comments and help!!!