Sandpoint Backout

Hi,

I've got a shallow well that is losing its prime. Once running it has good water though recently it's been pulling a bunch of air. The prime holds good in the spring but during the dry weather as we've had much of lately the well starts losing prime and pulling more air. I dropped a bolt down the pipe and found water at 11' with a depth of about four feet

I've taken all the fitting above ground apart and retaped them so it's looking like the problem is in the ground. The well consists of a 3' sandpoint, a 10' pipe, and a 2.5' pipe.

How do I back this guy out so I can check all the fittings?

I've tried a logging chain around the pipe with the other tail around a 2x8 as a fulcrum but after the first 3' I can't get it to budge any further. The pipe spins nicely in the well and, at least, the top of the pipe moves side to side really well but it just won't come up any further. What's still in the ground is the 10', sandpoint, and the driving coupling between them.

I'd appreciate any ideas.

Thanks,

-John

Consult Archimedes

Archimedes said, "Give me a lever long enough and a place to put it and I can move the world."

Until you break the pipe, you don't have a long enough or strong enough lever, or you aren't heavy enough.

You need a very solid base for your fulcrum, placed as close as possible to the pipe.

Alternatively, you could rig a tripod with a come-along to put about 2000 pounds on it.

The easiest "super duty" system would be if you have a good jack under one end of a beam that goes past the pipe, with a support on the other side. You should be able to get a 3 or 4 to 1 multiple of the jack force.

Based on the shallowness of the well: Pound the pipe back in the ground before you break it, drop a smaller pvc pipe in the pipe as your new pick-up, throttle the output of the pump with a valve until it matches the recovery of the water table. No lever, no air, no problems until the screen rots away.

You might also find a source of pressurized water and backflush the sandpoint before cutting it off and using it as a casing for a new drop pipe. Blast some water into the earth for as long as possible to backwash your drawdown zone. Your screen may be partially plugged causing low inflow of groundwater. Although the act of pulling it and redriving it might have either cleaned the screen or destroyed it anyway.

Finally.... With your depth to water I would just bring in the backhoe and dig a hole, set some 4 or 6" slotted screen casing and abandon the hole old thing [pun intended]. Use the half risen sand point pipe as a flagpole base.

John - I just did this at my camp with a 12' sand point. It has extreme sucsion. I used a 10' piece of 2" 1/4" wall steel square tubing with a 4' wrench in the end and a stack of 4x4 wood blocks. It moved a little at first but resisted as it came out so my wife and I sat on it and it came up very slowly. There was a big vacuum under it. Took about 10 minutes to get it moving good then it came right out. If that does't work get a friend with a snow plow rig and use a chain and wrench hydrolics will pull it out but be careful not to hurt anyone. If you use the plow hoist you will need to get new pipe I imagine. I would try the long tube with a friend sitting on the end first.