Bad Well Case

[CR500]

I have a three inch well, its old, water is around 30 feet down. Replaced foot valve a couple of years ago and it still bled down so pump ran every five minutes or so. This last week or so pump was constantly cycling and finally lost prime again so I pulled drop pipe out and found lots of mud and small pebbles around packer.

Well guys wont make it a 2" for me. I want to drop 2" inside the 3" then put a new 2" packer and so on. Don't know much about wells but what I have read today. Cant find any real info on doing this.

Can I use pvc inside the 3" existing or do I need to use galvanized? Can I even do this? I don't see a good reason not to other than local codes.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Porky]

Installing a 2" liner inside of a 3" casing is a poor excuse for a band-aid.
More than likely there is a hole in the 3" casing somewhere and to install a 2" liner (pvc or galvanized) will not prevent the mud. The mud will travel down between the two pipes and come up in the bottom of the 2".

Your driller was right, best bet is a new well!

[CR500]

Talked to a different well guy and he got it done this morning. He installed packers top and bottom between the 2" and 3" and went 15' beyond where the old drop pipe stopped with the 2" pipe. Old hole in case has nothing to do with the setup now. Water was clean after an hour or so and pressure is good.

Poor excuse for a band aid? I don't have the kind of money its going to take for a new well. Could it develop another hole farther down later? Sure, but $700 is a lot easier to do than $6000. The propane guy was just here and put $935 in the tank. Didn't work for the last two weeks because of weather and holidays then had to miss more because of this. I will run it until it quits. Thanks for your help.

[johncook]

funny that the first answer from all these well pro's is 'put in a new well'

[justwater]

nothing wrong with a patch like that. especially if thats all it cost u. just needed someone who knew what they were doing and is familiar with how the wells are done in ur area, which apparently u found. Good for you!!

[ballvalve]

Good job cr500. Doctors always want to operate when a much safer and simpler solution is at hand. Shop around and ask around about drillers.