Please help, second posting

I have converted my house to County water and now want to use my well for irrigation and filling my pond. However, I am not getting enough water from the well.
The details: Well is 15 years old, drilled 65' pump set at 54', 6" galvanized casing, 4" pvc casing inside 6" casing, 1" pvc downpipe to submersible pump inside 4" pvc, original draw 20-25 gpm per well drilling report.
Static level 29', I can draw 5.5 gpm continuously and the level will drop to 49'. when I stop the pump the well will recover to 29' within 10 minutes.
I suspect there is a restriction but I don't know the purpose of the 4" pvc inside the 6" casing. What can I do? Should I pull the 4" pvc to see if that increases the flow rate? Is the correct method of pulling the downpipe and pump, to screw a fitting with a hook into the top of the pitless adaptor and attach a cable to pull the assembly out?
Thanks for all help
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I wouldn't be pulling that 4" pipe out. Pitless adaptors are made by different manufacturers and work differently so it's hard to advise without a brand name.

If the water draws down to the level you say at that much gpm, I wouldn't expect to get any more water than you have right now.

bob...

Speedbump

The pitless adaptor is attached to the 6" steel casing and then to what appears to be a 1" polypropylene tubing that goes down through the 4" pvc. I think the well is capable of producing a lot more water because the water level in the pvc rises 20' (to static level) within ten minutes when I turn off the pump. So it seems the water is restricted from flowing into the pvc pipe. But I don't understand the purpose of the 4" pvc inside the 6" casing. Could it be for some type of additional filtering? I will try to take a picture to post,
Thanks

Inside 4" casing your refill rate from pumping level to static water level is 1.65 gpm. I wouldn't call that speedy. The 4" is obviously there for a reason. They may have put in the six inch with a rotary, cememted it in place then found a zone of sand below that had to be cased off, thus the 4". Pull it out and you will be causing further problems I'm sure.

Do you know if this is a screened well? If it is, after 15 years the screen could be plugged.

bob...

The original well report doesn't mention the 4" pvc. It says between 0-19" was red clay mud, 19-48' brownish mud w/gravel, 48-63' gravel (20-25gpm) 63-64' solid. slotted pipe, interval screened 54-64'. Casing 0-65' 6 5/8" galvanized,welded.

That 4" was probably an after thought, but trust me it's there for a reason. I don't know of any drillers who had a piece of 4" casing lying around and just put it in a well to get rid of it.

bob...

Here are the pictures of my well. One other point, I can only put my tape measure 10' down in the area between the 4" pvc and the 6" casing. It bottoms out there.
Thanks for all your help.

It may be grouted to the 6" pipe. I don't know what to tell you about it other than they must have had a reason for doing what they did.

I don't see any threads on that pitless adaptor either.

bob...

The threads are hard to see in the photo but there are internal threads on the top of the adaptor that go down about 1/2 - 3/4".

They should go about1-1/2" or so. Looks like there is some dirt in the hole.

bob...

I have a quick second and can give you some insight on what you have.DO NOT TRY TO PULL ON THAT 4" CASING! That 4" pvc probably has a jaswell seal on the end of it which is preventing sediment and groundwater above the rock from entering the well. Your steel casing most likely stops about 10 to 15 feet into the bedrock and the rest of the well is a open hole in the rock. They probably had a problem seating that casing into the rock and water above it was seaping in causing sediment issues. Thye 4" casind has a seal that hugs the inside of the hole and goes beyond the spot where the seepage is coming in sealing it off. If you want to get the submersible pump out of this well you need a length of 1" steel pipe long enough to reach the pitless. On top of the steel pipe thread a tee set up on it in case it slips so it wont shoot down the hole. Thread that length of pipe into the pitless and pull up on it, it should come up. If not, wack one side of your tee assembly while pulling up at the same time and it should loosen up. Hope this helps.Too busy right now but I'll try to respond to anymore questions about it later.

SAM

speedbump said:

Inside 4" casing your refill rate from pumping level to static water level is 1.65 gpm. I wouldn't call that speedy. The 4" is obviously there for a reason. They may have put in the six inch with a rotary, cememted it in place then found a zone of sand below that had to be cased off, thus the 4". Pull it out and you will be causing further problems I'm sure.

Do you know if this is a screened well? If it is, after 15 years the screen could be plugged.

bob...

Click to expand...

I would suspect the same. You would probably be money ahead to have a well service pull the pump and motor and test pump the well for you.

They can back flush the screens to see if you are being restricted. They also will have a chart that shows what the output of your pump / motor combo is going to be at that head.

Thanks for everyones input. I have a contractor coming out to look at my well. He is a Master ground water contractor and certified my the NGWA (National ground water association).
I will post the outcome.