Thefixer
New Member
My family has been without water for 4 Days. I won't bore with the details that led to this, but we HAD city water and sewer. Now we have nothing.
There is an old shallow well jet system on the property, actually one old one about 30 ft from the house and one relatively new one. The newer one is about 3 ft from the outside wall of the home. And has a 1 1/4' plastic line that tees into a 2 1/2' casing about 3ft underground. There was an old 1/2 horse pump inside the house with an obvious crack in the housing, I'm assuming freeze damage. I dug down to where the suction line tees into the casing drilled out the concrete wall and replaced the suction line with a new one from the pump to the tee.
I purchased a new 1/2 horse pump (A simer cast iron jet pump) It was the best I could do with my current budget. There is a relatively new fiberglass "well mate" pressure tank. It looks like it was relatively recently put in, along with the rest of the plumbing. It is all PVC tied to galvanized pipe. I'm guessing the setup can't be more than 10 years old.
I can't get the pump primed, It gurgles and bubbles and builds up some air pressure (no gage not sure how much) but no water. I have a tee with a barbed fitting going to the supply side, and the tank, and a vertical rise of about 6" with a cap for filling and priming.
I have no access to running water, so I'm trying to prime with the manual fill method. I fill to the top of the cap till overflowing, replace cap, turn pump on, no more than 2 minutes at a time. It gurgles and builds up some pressure, but no water.
I have since disconnected the discharge side from the main house plumbing and attached a ball valve on the end, so I can eliminate possible issues with clogged pipes or a bad pressure tank. That way i can release a bit of air manually as the pump tries to prime. No luck. I've tried 2 dozen times and used 30 gallons of store bought water.
I don't know when the well was used last, but I do know it serves a 2 family residence, 2 baths 2 kitchens etc. We have a shallow water table here, It's a lagoon area near a lake, with sandy soil. I can't imagine the well is dry but how do I know?
What do I do next? I'm desperate, have to provide for a family of 4 , who haven't had a real shower in 4 days!
Type of pump?
Submersible________
Two wire (no control)________
Three wire (control box)______
Wire Size_________ Wire Length________
or
Jet Pump (above ground)__yes_______
One or two pipes down the well_one pipe___
Size of Pump?
Motor Horsepower?___1/2_______
Pump Model #______simer 2805E-02________
Date Pump Installed__yesterday________
Pumping from?
Cistern tank___________
Pond, lake, river________
Water Well______yes______
Depth of well____?______
Depth to water___?______
Pump Setting__________
Pipe Size_____1 1/4" suction pipe,plastic____"
Drop Pipe Material
PVC________
Steel_______
Poly____yes____
Well Recovery Rate____?___gpm
Well Casing Diameter__2 1/2_____â€
Rock Well__________ Sand Well__________ Other______________
Date Well Drilled____________
Well Casing Material
PVC________ Steel____yes_____ Other_________
Pressure Tank?
Bladder or diaphragm tank (one pipe to tank)____yes______
Size or model of tank____well mate 20 gallon________
Air charge in top of tank, with pump off and water drained__30__________PSI
(check with car tire gauge)
or
Plain Hydro Pneumatic tank (two pipes to tank, one in and one out)_________
Size of tank________________
Pressure Switch Setting?
On 30, off 50 ____yes____
On 40, off 60_________
Other_______________
Pump Control Method?
Cycle Stop Valve model #_________
Variable speed control #__________
Pump Start Relay (sprinkler timer, no tank)__________
Manually turned on and off____________
Pump Protection
Cycle Sensor_________
Pumptec_____________
Low pressure cutoff switch (lever on side)__________
Other_______________
Filters or Softeners______________
Before or after pressure tank_______
Type of filter___________________
Bypass available________________
Water Used For?
House Use_______ Number of baths____2___ Number of People__4______
High Flow Showers_______gpm?
Plus/Or
Irrigation with timers________
Irrigation with hoses________
Heat Pump______gpm?
Problems Experienced
No Water______yes___________
Water only part time________
Water at all times but weak_____
Air in water_______________
Pressure surging___________
Water Hammer (noise)______
Too Much pressure_________
Other____________________
Pump makes clicking or buzzing sounds________
No Sounds______________
Pressure gauge reading________psi
Other_______no pressure gage_____________________________
Do you have, and know how to use
an Ampmeter and Voltmeter__________________
Describe Problem__________________________.....
That's the best I can do.
There is an old shallow well jet system on the property, actually one old one about 30 ft from the house and one relatively new one. The newer one is about 3 ft from the outside wall of the home. And has a 1 1/4' plastic line that tees into a 2 1/2' casing about 3ft underground. There was an old 1/2 horse pump inside the house with an obvious crack in the housing, I'm assuming freeze damage. I dug down to where the suction line tees into the casing drilled out the concrete wall and replaced the suction line with a new one from the pump to the tee.
I purchased a new 1/2 horse pump (A simer cast iron jet pump) It was the best I could do with my current budget. There is a relatively new fiberglass "well mate" pressure tank. It looks like it was relatively recently put in, along with the rest of the plumbing. It is all PVC tied to galvanized pipe. I'm guessing the setup can't be more than 10 years old.
I can't get the pump primed, It gurgles and bubbles and builds up some air pressure (no gage not sure how much) but no water. I have a tee with a barbed fitting going to the supply side, and the tank, and a vertical rise of about 6" with a cap for filling and priming.
I have no access to running water, so I'm trying to prime with the manual fill method. I fill to the top of the cap till overflowing, replace cap, turn pump on, no more than 2 minutes at a time. It gurgles and builds up some pressure, but no water.
I have since disconnected the discharge side from the main house plumbing and attached a ball valve on the end, so I can eliminate possible issues with clogged pipes or a bad pressure tank. That way i can release a bit of air manually as the pump tries to prime. No luck. I've tried 2 dozen times and used 30 gallons of store bought water.
I don't know when the well was used last, but I do know it serves a 2 family residence, 2 baths 2 kitchens etc. We have a shallow water table here, It's a lagoon area near a lake, with sandy soil. I can't imagine the well is dry but how do I know?
What do I do next? I'm desperate, have to provide for a family of 4 , who haven't had a real shower in 4 days!
Type of pump?
Submersible________
Two wire (no control)________
Three wire (control box)______
Wire Size_________ Wire Length________
or
Jet Pump (above ground)__yes_______
One or two pipes down the well_one pipe___
Size of Pump?
Motor Horsepower?___1/2_______
Pump Model #______simer 2805E-02________
Date Pump Installed__yesterday________
Pumping from?
Cistern tank___________
Pond, lake, river________
Water Well______yes______
Depth of well____?______
Depth to water___?______
Pump Setting__________
Pipe Size_____1 1/4" suction pipe,plastic____"
Drop Pipe Material
PVC________
Steel_______
Poly____yes____
Well Recovery Rate____?___gpm
Well Casing Diameter__2 1/2_____â€
Rock Well__________ Sand Well__________ Other______________
Date Well Drilled____________
Well Casing Material
PVC________ Steel____yes_____ Other_________
Pressure Tank?
Bladder or diaphragm tank (one pipe to tank)____yes______
Size or model of tank____well mate 20 gallon________
Air charge in top of tank, with pump off and water drained__30__________PSI
(check with car tire gauge)
or
Plain Hydro Pneumatic tank (two pipes to tank, one in and one out)_________
Size of tank________________
Pressure Switch Setting?
On 30, off 50 ____yes____
On 40, off 60_________
Other_______________
Pump Control Method?
Cycle Stop Valve model #_________
Variable speed control #__________
Pump Start Relay (sprinkler timer, no tank)__________
Manually turned on and off____________
Pump Protection
Cycle Sensor_________
Pumptec_____________
Low pressure cutoff switch (lever on side)__________
Other_______________
Filters or Softeners______________
Before or after pressure tank_______
Type of filter___________________
Bypass available________________
Water Used For?
House Use_______ Number of baths____2___ Number of People__4______
High Flow Showers_______gpm?
Plus/Or
Irrigation with timers________
Irrigation with hoses________
Heat Pump______gpm?
Problems Experienced
No Water______yes___________
Water only part time________
Water at all times but weak_____
Air in water_______________
Pressure surging___________
Water Hammer (noise)______
Too Much pressure_________
Other____________________
Pump makes clicking or buzzing sounds________
No Sounds______________
Pressure gauge reading________psi
Other_______no pressure gage_____________________________
Do you have, and know how to use
an Ampmeter and Voltmeter__________________
Describe Problem__________________________.....
That's the best I can do.