Old well full of dirt

[av76]

I recently bought a property that has an older well on it. I don’t have a lot of information on the age or depth. The neighbor’s well is 16’ so I would guess mine is similar depth. Probably ~40 years old.
We were able to get the existing jet pump to work. The water was clear but the flow is slow. Trying it the next day the flow is still slow but now the water is green. I was hoping the foot valve is clogged/bad and was going to change it.
However, after clearing off the debris from the top of the well. I can’t find a cover, just more dirt. I’ve dug down about 24” and still haven’t hit a cover, just dirt. Is this normal?

 

[Valveman]

The well head is probably outside somewhere and those lines just attach out there.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[av76]

Thanks for the reply. Do you know any tricks or have any advice for locating where the lines go? The lot is only a half acre and I don’t see anything else that resembles a well. Maybe I’ll try digging down a little farther and see if there are any 90’s on the pipes. That would give us an idea which direction to start looking.

 

[Valveman]

Sometimes they just bury those well heads and make them impossible to find. Going in the same direction from t where it leaves the building is a good start. You can find a lot of stuff with a probe stick. If nothing else you could take off a fitting and feed a wire down for a locator to track.

 

[Reach4]

If you are allowed to, and this is for your house or farm, consider getting a 5 inch well drilled, a pitless and submersible pump put in. It's an investment.

 

[av76]

I dug down ~36” and found the well. Pulled the pipes up and it is 38’ deep. The rusty water mark on the pipes is at 26’. I cleaned the foot valve and the ejector (the thing above the foot valve that splits it into two pipes, not sure if my terminology is correct). Pressure is at 54 psi with the pump running. It doesn’t get the pressure high enough to shut off. When I cut the power to the pump the pressure goes down to 20 psi, with the outlet closed. Seems like the pressure should stay close to the 54 psi if the tank is functioning properly and full. Not sure where to start with troubleshooting this. Is the pump bad?

 

[Reach4]

and the ejector (the thing above the foot valve that splits it into two pipes, not sure if my terminology is correct).

Correct. Did you clean the orifice inside the ejector? I am not saying that it is partially clogged, but seems possible.

Pressure is at 54 psi with the pump running. It doesn’t get the pressure high enough to shut off.

That may be all that you can get with that ejector. You would set your pressure switch to about 29/49 psi.

Seems like the pressure should stay close to the 54 psi if the tank is functioning properly and full.

Tell us about the tank. Air precharge? Is the tank empty of water when the water pressure is zero? It should be.

What ID do you think the well is?

 

[av76]

The orifice was sprayed out with a garden hose.
The tank is precharged to 20 psi.
The casing of the well is 6” OD. The pipes appear to be 1” and 1.25”.
We have hit a bit of a snag. The pump is an older Myers HC-50. While it was turned on, one of the plastic fittings that go into the pump burst. It appears to be specific to that pump so I’ll either need to order parts or possibly just replace the pump. This is a vacation property so it might be awhile before I make it back to deal with it.

 

[Reach4]

6 inch? That's roomy. A 1/2 hp 10 gpm submersible pump will provide more water without priming. Put it in a flow inducer sleeve. Search on that term using the search box. above.

No foot valve. Then pump the water out to clear the well. If the well sucks dry while you are sucking out the old stuff, turn the pump off. After the well fills again, pump more water.

 

[LLigetfa]

The foot valve is responsible for holding the pressure when the pump is off. If the pressure drops, then either the foot valve is not holding or there is a leak. If the tank is badly waterlogged, then there may not be enough reserve pressure so that is a good place to start. You could try adding air to the tank as a test to see if the pressure rises and holds. After that test, do the standard procedure to set the precharge.

All this is moot however since you no longer have a working pump. My guess is it was the "fast connect flanges" that blew and needs replacing.