well integrity question

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rbig

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I'm doing upfront work on my church's community garden thing. We have a well with pump.

Originally, this well was surface pumped, 2hp, and 2" overflo drain. I just found out it doesn't work (pump running; no water).

Our whole project probably depends on getting the well going again.

The well was originally (probably not used in 15 yrs, at least) used as a watering system for our 3 acres. Don't know why it hasn't been used over the years.

Given this, what are some things that I can test and maybe fix whatever is wrong. Don't know depth. Vertical has 2" pipe coming up to it at surface.
 

Valveman

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Might or might not be a simple problem. Find a qualified pump man to test it out. When he hands you a bill, ask if he will donate some or all of it to the church. It worked on me a few times but, I probably worked on 50 churches so, it didn't work everytime.
 

Bob NH

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It will help if we know a little more about this.

It seems like what you are saying is that there is a 2" pipe coming out of the ground. I infer that the pump is on top of the ground; not in the well.

If the well is on top and there is only a sinlge pipe to the well, then you have a shallow well pump; probably a shallow well jet pump. However, it could also be a centrifugal pump of some kind.

If the pump is in the well with wires running down the pipe and a smaller pipe coming up that carries the water, then you have a submersible pump and the main pipe (the casing) is probably at least 4" diameter.

If the pump is not in the well and there are two pipes to the well then you have a deep well jet pump.

Tell us everything you can about the pump, including any information from plates or markings on the pump. It would be good to know manufacturer and model number. That would give us some idea of what someone thought the well would produce when the pump was installed.
 

Bob NH

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That might be a vertical deep well jet pump. Does it look like one of the pumps at the link? http://www.pumpsandwells.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=VDWJP

Vertical deep well jet pumps are usually installed as a "packer" configuration where there is a smaller pipe installed in the larger 2" pipe. They are probably the most difficult to work on because the inside pipe is sealed to the outer pipe down in the well. The configuration is virtually obsolete for new wells because they are inefficient; so new wells are drilled to at least 4" diameter to accommodate a submersible pump.

Assuming that the deep well jet was required when it was installed, that is probably the only solution if the pump must be replaced.

The next link shows shallow well jet pumps.
http://www.pumpsandwells.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=SWJ

I have seen one vertical pump that was configured as a shallow well jet pump but they are rare. You can usually tell the difference because a deep well jet pump has a regulator device somewhere on the pump. The regulator device has an adjustment screw in the top of it.

There should be a model number on the pump somewhere. It may be separate from the nameplate that is usually on the motor.
 

Speedbump

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If this is a deep well jet pump, you won't be doing much irrigation with it. The most that can be expected from one is 20 gallons per minute or so, and that is with ideal conditions.

bob...
 
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