may have damaged point with Acid??

I have a point in the basement, it's an old house, and believe it's less than 25 feet deep, as a shallow well pump works. The water is excellent, but the pressure is low and I believe the point was plugged.

A plumber yesterday suggested 1 Gallon of Mauratic Acid, let it sit 3 hours, then pump it out. So I did.

Trying to prime, I found 3 holes in the main steel pipe going into the dirt floor.
Possibly from the acid.
I patched them with JB Weld, but still cannot get prime.

Could I have damaged the point?
Could I have damaged the pipe further down?
Will I need a new well? My neighbour replaced his well recently, and has had
non-drinkable water since, so I'd like to avoid that, plus the obvious cost.

The acid has been in there almost a day now, is it making it worse?

Thank You .... Rick

Your plumber is an idiot.

Muriatic acid is not only dangerous, but it eats the galvanize off the pipe. If this well is in a confined area, and you had sulphur in your well, you could be brain dead now.
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/face/stateface/mi/01mi061.html

You might try to pull the old one out and replace the pipe and point. That is what most people do with shallow wells.

Next time you want to acid treat a well, use Nu-Well tablets.

bob...

Your right, he wasn't very bright. (looked retired)

After the downpipe had holes eatin' throu it, from the acid, I spent the day digging up the 10 foot downpipe and the point, in a 5 foot basement.
(with 2 broken ribs)

Thanks for your help, hopefully all will be well tomorrow, when I purchase a new point, etc. I sure need a shower

RickyAirtime said:

I spent the day digging up the 10 foot downpipe and the point, in a 5 foot basement.
(with 2 broken ribs)

Click to expand...

Ow! It hurts to even think about that ... but such is the occasional fate of a DIYer after somebody else makes a mess and cuts out!

The acid, while it was a bad idea, and may have eaten through the pipe, but I am going to guess that the point/pipe was rusted and ready to go and all the acid did was finish the job.

I agree with Cass, it was undoubtedly in bad shape to start with.

You must be a tough dude to be digging with two broken ribs.

bob...

I agree, the point couldn't of been in the best of shape but all is well now.
New stainless steel system.

Where my shower barely got me wet before, now almost hurts from the pressure. You can flush the toilet and actually have tap water immediatly instead of 10 minutes later.
It hasn't even been close to this good, since I moved in a decade ago.

Worst part about the ribs is it's one in front, and one in the back, so it's impossible to avoid straining one, .... or laying down.

Again, thanks for everyone's help.