how can i get my well to produce more water?

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hunch1784

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I just had a well company come and install a new submersible pump in my well earlyer today because my old one quit working(it was about 30years old). While they were here they did a flow test on my well and found that it is only producing about 3/4 of a gallon a minuite. Average for my area is around 5 gallons a minuite. Is there any way i can get my well to produce more water without have the company shoot my well or dig it deeper? My well is curently 64feet deep, the pump is about 58feet deep, and the water level starts at 15 feet deep.

If anyone has any suggestions for me i would greatly appreciate it.
 

Gary Slusser

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I just had a well company come and install a new submersible pump in my well earlyer today because my old one quit working(it was about 30years old). While they were here they did a flow test on my well and found that it is only producing about 3/4 of a gallon a minuite. Average for my area is around 5 gallons a minuite. Is there any way i can get my well to produce more water without have the company shoot my well or dig it deeper? My well is curently 64feet deep, the pump is about 58feet deep, and the water level starts at 15 feet deep.

If anyone has any suggestions for me i would greatly appreciate it.
Is it a rock bore well or a fully cased and screened well?

If rock bore you may be able to have it hydrofracted. If screened maybe it can be cleaned and rehabed.
 

hunch1784

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Before your old pump crapped out was it producing enough water ?

What is your area?



I am not sure if it was producing enough water or not. There were days when i would be doing laundry and i would run out of water, so i would go outside and look down the well and see water so i lowered a string with a nut tied onto the end of it down the well and i would have water about 10-15 feet below ground level. Then there were other times when i would run out of water and i would look down my well and i wouldn't be able to see any water.

My area is northeast ohio about 50 miles east of cleveland in lake county
 

hunch1784

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Is it a rock bore well or a fully cased and screened well?

If rock bore you may be able to have it hydrofracted. If screened maybe it can be cleaned and rehabed.

I have a rock bore well.

Now when you say hydrofracted is that the same thing as putting a small explosive down the well to try and fracture the wall of the well?
 

NHmaster

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we hydro-Frac up here with Compressed air or dry Ice.
I would get a reputable well driller to come out and run some tests and verify the well's production before getting too involved in things. How has the well been since the new pump was installed?
 

hunch1784

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we hydro-Frac up here with Compressed air or dry Ice.
I would get a reputable well driller to come out and run some tests and verify the well's production before getting too involved in things. How has the well been since the new pump was installed?

Well i just had it installed yesterday and i haven't really used a whole lot of water yet, but I checked the level of the water this morning and it it normal about 10 feet below ground level.
 

Gary Slusser

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Shooting a well or the use of explosives is not hydrofracturing. It is done with high pressure and requires specialized equipment that only a few drillers have.

Spreading water use out over time is a good idea so you don't run the well 'dry'. You can install a low pressure safety cutoff pressure switch for like $25 to protect the pump from running dry and ruining it.
 

Sjsmithjr

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If I've got this right, you've got a 30+ year old well that is currently putting out 3/4 gpm and you'd like to increase the yield. Couple of things I'd like to know for starters is how deep the well was when it was drilled and if the aquifer has been drawn down since that time due to development or drought. Try contacting the Lake County Health Dept to see if they have your well log on file. If not, you can try the State of Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

As I seem to recall, bedrock in your area is shale and thinly bedded sandstone overlain by dense glacial till. Sufficient groundwater and yield is usually encoutered in the upper part of the shale. Rehabbing your well to increase yield could involve anything from removing silt from the bottom of the borehole to using chemicals to clear bacterial fouling to surging or hydrofracturing to increase or restore the permeability of the aquifer. I would suggest that you check out http://www.wellowner.org to learn more.

As these sorts of problems require both regional knowledge and specific information about your well, you really need to be working with a reliable, licensed well driller in your area to find a solution that will work for you. There are several good drilling outfits in northeast Ohio that are cabable of providing the rehabbing services I just described.
 
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NHmaster

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The other thing to consider here is that though recovery is not spectacular, you do have a pretty good reserve of water in the well. Under normal conditions you probably have not had a lot of problems with it. Just avoid filling swimming pools and such activities.
 
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