Best shallow well pump?

[steve2278]

I got A LOT of helpful advice from everyone on this form and I'd like to get an opinion on a well pump.

Lately my water has been "surging" and when it does the lights in the home often dim. I spoke to my plumber about it and off the top of his head he said it sounded like the motor on the well pump is on its way out.

I currently have a Meyer 1/2 hp well pump with a 10 gallon bladder tank, 2" casing, 70ft. deep well. The pump is approx. 80 feet from the house but there's really no head pressure as it enters the house approx 20" below grade and the entire home is a single story ranch---slab on grade. In all, the system is approx. 15 years old.

I spoke to a well contractor in my area last year about drilling a new well and he gave me a GREAT price of $2,750.00 for everything. The price was contingent on drilling a new well approx. 15' from the existing well and being able to hook-up to the existing water main and electrical service. And he said he would only charge me $300.00 if he was to dig a hole and wasn't able to find any water.

The well contractor seemed to really know what he was talking about and he explained to me that the proximity of the current well (just on top of a hill that led down to a gulley) was not the ideal location, and of course if I wanted to relocate the well it would be considerably more expensive.

My reason for contemplating a new well was to increase pressure and improve my water quality, for as of now I'm only getting 3.5 gpm and most decent water filtration systems require a minimum of 5 gpm to operate the backwash feature, and my water is extremely high in iron.

My plumber just ran new PEX all through-out the home (though its not hooked-up to the main yet) and he said the existing plumbing was all caked-up with rust. My plumber also used 3/4" everywhere, and it reduces to 1/2" just before the fixtures, whereas the old plumbing came-in as 3/4" but immediately reduced to 1/2", and he feels that modification will help increase the pressure, but to what degree he's not certain. He also suggested I could install a "booster pump" to help with the pressure problem.

I feel I did the right thing as far as the plumbing goes, and since my well is still functional i'd prefer not to drill another one if I don't have to. However, it seems like my well pump is on its way out and I'd really prefer to do something BEFORE it goes on me. I'm not sure what size/make well pump to go with, but I do want one with a sediment filter/trap (I saw that type at Lowe's a few weeks ago and it was a simple screen that helped removed some of the particles), and I also prefer a well pump that I can easily remove the cap to bleach from time to time.

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks,
Steve

[justwater]

"the best shallow well pump" will not be found at home depot, lowes, etc.. they are all cheap big box pumps. your myers would be better than anything from those stores. you also dont want a pump with a screen up front. thats a pool pump, it wont make pressure, and the screen is too large to catch anything anyway. you need a regular jet pump, good quality with a cast iron head. goulds, sta-rite.. something like that.