submerged pump

Users who are viewing this thread

rbig

New Member
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
South-West North Carolina
We've lived in our place approx 2 yrs. It was a constructed home, built in '97.

Our well is approx 400' deep, and puts out around 1gpm. The pump is submerged.

Lately, I've become aware that MAYBE my pump is putting out more "trash" than before.

It seems it pumping lots of black sand and cliche clay. The sand is a cup or two every few weeks, and they clay cover the inside element.

In case I'm right, does this hurt the pump at all? For all I know, it could be "normal" for this well.

The filtered water is fine, and it's tasty.

I was just wondering if maybe I'm going to see shorter pump life?
 

LLigetfa

DIYer, not in the trades
Messages
7,497
Reaction score
575
Points
113
Location
NW Ontario, Canada
Yes, the sand and clay will wear away at the pump over time so maybe the wet end will wear out before the motor does. If the pump is as old as the house, its motor may already be on borrowed time depending on factors unknown to us. As the wet end of the pump wears, it will gradually produce fewer GPM and less pressure. I would budget for a replacement soon.

With a low producing well, if the well bore is used as storage and the level pumped down considerably, it can exert significant pressure differential between the aquifer and the inside of the casing. If you use less water, the level should draw down less with less pressure differential drawing in as much sediment at least in theory. A large pressure tank represents a significant load on the well as the pump runs full-out from the point it kicks in up to the point that the tank fill to kick-out. That means that despite using less water, the pump can still draw down the level considerably on each cycle depending on the size of the bore hole.

One approach to consider is a smaller tank combined with a Cycle Stop Valve. The CSV will meter the flow from the pump and stop the feast-or-famine cycle of the large tank.

Another approach is to slowly pump into a large non-pressurized tank and then have a second pump draw from the tank. Of course this is a significant undertaking.
 

bcpumpguy

New Member
Messages
70
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Langley BC
Depends on what type of pump end it is, I find that berkeley's with plastic floating stack impellers do absolutely fine with sand. did a flow test on a well once where i pumped out at least a wheel barrow full of sand out of a well in less then 4 hours. that pump was about 10 years old then it died about 3 years later. I consider that pretty good life on a pump.
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks