Wallysurfr
New Member
Type of pump?
Jet Pump (above ground): Flotech 1/2 HP Shallow Well Jet
One or two pipes down the well: 1
Pump Model # FP 4012
Date Pump Installed: 4/20/13
Pumping from?
Water Well
Depth of well: 36" screen point at 18'
Depth to water: ~10'
Pipe Size 1.25 Galv Steel"
Well Recovery Rate: 3 gpm
Well Casing Diameter: 3” down 10' to make driving easier
Sandy Soil
Date Well Drilled: October 2012
Well Casing Material
3" PVC down 10' and 1.25" galv steel down 15' with 3' stainless screen
Pressure Tank? NO
Pressure Switch Setting? NA pump shuts off at 70 psi
Pump Control Method?
Manually turned on and off
Pump Protection
Other built in shut off at 70 psi
Filters or Softeners NA
Water Used For?
Irrigation with hoses for now and would like in ground sprinklers
Problems Experienced:
Low flow
Air in water
Do you have, and know how to use
an Ampmeter and Voltmeter: yes
Describe Problem: see below:
Let me first apologize that my first post is a new thread but I have noticed that when I ask google a question about my situation this site almost always gets the top hits.
I just read the sticky by speedbump in the shallow well forum and already learned more than I had in the past 8 months.
Let me make a long story well… long…
I live 1.5 miles from the beach in NJ. My dad and older brother put a well in at his house about 30 years ago (driven galv pipe) it sat for about the past 20 years, they recently hired a sprinkler guy to tap their city water and he found the well primed it and it worked perfectly. He plumbed it to sprinkler system and free water! This prompted me to put my own well in.
So, I found a website that recommended a water jetting method so I decided to give it a try. I want a nicer lawn and my water bill gets too high in the summer because of the sprinkler. I also wanted a source of free water on my property (small at 50’ x 100’). My soil ended up being too sandy for the jet method so the water w/ clippings wouldn't come back up it would just wash down.
So I used a shop vac to get down to the water table @ 10' (I thought I was the genius who thought of this) and now I see others have been doing that for years.
I dropped a 3" casing down the 10' vacuumed hole to keep it open.
I got a 36" stainless mesh screen (water source brand), a 10' section of 1.25” galv pipe, 2 sections of 5' galv pipe, drive couplings, drive cap etc.
I made the mistake of using the sledge hammer (as I read in the sticky) plus I'm not sure (can't remember) if I drove each coupling all the way home so I’m thinking the one coupling that is above the water table may be leaking air. I may have also loosened the couplings by using the sledge although I did give the pipe a couple turns in between hits and used a sacrificial nipple with drive cap. There was no damage to the threads at the top of the pipes. Right now the point is at 17' 6" with the water table at 10' so there's 4'6" of water above the top of the screen.
Then I started plumbing to the pitcher pump for well development. I installed a vertical brass check valve, a T and valve for priming below the check valve and the pitcher pump. The problem is I hadn’t researched about reducing the number of connections so I had a total of 11-12 connections between the water table and the pitcher pump (I know)… this number goes to 17-18 once I attach the jet pump.
So last fall, I pumped the pitcher for maybe 4 hours total trying to develop it. I would always get kick back on the handle and it seemed the water wasn’t recovering fast enough and there was vacuum created in the line which would make the handle hard to push down (pulling the plunger up and water out). I figured I had to “develop” it. So I pulled the plumbing off the top and used the “drill head” that I made for the washing method to attach my hose to and flush water down the well. I also bought an oatey clog buster and put that down to try to wash sediment away from the screen. I've done this 4-6 times now.
A couple days ago I decided the water was clear enough to put the jet pump (1/2 hp) on and start pumping so I did and I got about 1.75 gpm with air bubbles in it. I shaving creamed all the above ground joints and saw the union and the connection at the pump were sucking air. I tightened them up, re-primed and got a little over 3 gpm still some bubble in it. As of right now I have pumped about 1000 gallons out.
So that’s where I am at. Currently, I am planning on pulling the prime valve, and above ground plumbing and resetting all the joints tight with pro dope (and teflone tape?).
The weird thing is the well (pre check valve) holds prime as far as I can tell. The pump (post check) holds water when turned off, no drips from where I know there were air leaks.
If I still have bubbles, I am thinking of ordering a few internal 1” slip PVC couplings and transitioning over to PVC with the most limited number of connections I can have. That number is 8 including the slip half way down (2), the priming T and plug (3), check valve (2) and pump (1).
I don’t think I would be able to pull the pipe out to reset the joints. I don’t have a “come along”.
Here are my questions:
1. Do you guys recommend Teflon tape and dope or just dope?
2. Can I put 1” PVC w/ internal couplings (assuming it will fit) down the galv pip like a straw in order to eliminate the under ground air leak?
3. Could the water just be oxygenated?
4. Will 1” PVC inlet give me enough flow to power 2-3 sprinkler heads? (Pump is 1.25” inlet 1” outlet)
5. Can I expect to get the same 3 gpm with the reduced pipe inlet size?
6. How bad is an airleak on well production? If I eliminate it can I expect 4 gpm?
7. Are 1.25” galv unions known to air leak?
8. Would you say my leak is pre or post check valve? (really hoping its above ground)
Wish I had posted here last fall when I started this project. Probably would have saved some money. Right now, I’m into it for about $400 includes the $150 pump. Not bad for a water well compared to $4,000 for a driller but I have a lot of time into it and it’s not where I want it yet.
Any input is appreciated!
Jet Pump (above ground): Flotech 1/2 HP Shallow Well Jet
One or two pipes down the well: 1
Pump Model # FP 4012
Date Pump Installed: 4/20/13
Pumping from?
Water Well
Depth of well: 36" screen point at 18'
Depth to water: ~10'
Pipe Size 1.25 Galv Steel"
Well Recovery Rate: 3 gpm
Well Casing Diameter: 3” down 10' to make driving easier
Sandy Soil
Date Well Drilled: October 2012
Well Casing Material
3" PVC down 10' and 1.25" galv steel down 15' with 3' stainless screen
Pressure Tank? NO
Pressure Switch Setting? NA pump shuts off at 70 psi
Pump Control Method?
Manually turned on and off
Pump Protection
Other built in shut off at 70 psi
Filters or Softeners NA
Water Used For?
Irrigation with hoses for now and would like in ground sprinklers
Problems Experienced:
Low flow
Air in water
Do you have, and know how to use
an Ampmeter and Voltmeter: yes
Describe Problem: see below:
Let me first apologize that my first post is a new thread but I have noticed that when I ask google a question about my situation this site almost always gets the top hits.
I just read the sticky by speedbump in the shallow well forum and already learned more than I had in the past 8 months.
Let me make a long story well… long…
I live 1.5 miles from the beach in NJ. My dad and older brother put a well in at his house about 30 years ago (driven galv pipe) it sat for about the past 20 years, they recently hired a sprinkler guy to tap their city water and he found the well primed it and it worked perfectly. He plumbed it to sprinkler system and free water! This prompted me to put my own well in.
So, I found a website that recommended a water jetting method so I decided to give it a try. I want a nicer lawn and my water bill gets too high in the summer because of the sprinkler. I also wanted a source of free water on my property (small at 50’ x 100’). My soil ended up being too sandy for the jet method so the water w/ clippings wouldn't come back up it would just wash down.
So I used a shop vac to get down to the water table @ 10' (I thought I was the genius who thought of this) and now I see others have been doing that for years.
I dropped a 3" casing down the 10' vacuumed hole to keep it open.
I got a 36" stainless mesh screen (water source brand), a 10' section of 1.25” galv pipe, 2 sections of 5' galv pipe, drive couplings, drive cap etc.
I made the mistake of using the sledge hammer (as I read in the sticky) plus I'm not sure (can't remember) if I drove each coupling all the way home so I’m thinking the one coupling that is above the water table may be leaking air. I may have also loosened the couplings by using the sledge although I did give the pipe a couple turns in between hits and used a sacrificial nipple with drive cap. There was no damage to the threads at the top of the pipes. Right now the point is at 17' 6" with the water table at 10' so there's 4'6" of water above the top of the screen.
Then I started plumbing to the pitcher pump for well development. I installed a vertical brass check valve, a T and valve for priming below the check valve and the pitcher pump. The problem is I hadn’t researched about reducing the number of connections so I had a total of 11-12 connections between the water table and the pitcher pump (I know)… this number goes to 17-18 once I attach the jet pump.
So last fall, I pumped the pitcher for maybe 4 hours total trying to develop it. I would always get kick back on the handle and it seemed the water wasn’t recovering fast enough and there was vacuum created in the line which would make the handle hard to push down (pulling the plunger up and water out). I figured I had to “develop” it. So I pulled the plumbing off the top and used the “drill head” that I made for the washing method to attach my hose to and flush water down the well. I also bought an oatey clog buster and put that down to try to wash sediment away from the screen. I've done this 4-6 times now.
A couple days ago I decided the water was clear enough to put the jet pump (1/2 hp) on and start pumping so I did and I got about 1.75 gpm with air bubbles in it. I shaving creamed all the above ground joints and saw the union and the connection at the pump were sucking air. I tightened them up, re-primed and got a little over 3 gpm still some bubble in it. As of right now I have pumped about 1000 gallons out.
So that’s where I am at. Currently, I am planning on pulling the prime valve, and above ground plumbing and resetting all the joints tight with pro dope (and teflone tape?).
The weird thing is the well (pre check valve) holds prime as far as I can tell. The pump (post check) holds water when turned off, no drips from where I know there were air leaks.
If I still have bubbles, I am thinking of ordering a few internal 1” slip PVC couplings and transitioning over to PVC with the most limited number of connections I can have. That number is 8 including the slip half way down (2), the priming T and plug (3), check valve (2) and pump (1).
I don’t think I would be able to pull the pipe out to reset the joints. I don’t have a “come along”.
Here are my questions:
1. Do you guys recommend Teflon tape and dope or just dope?
2. Can I put 1” PVC w/ internal couplings (assuming it will fit) down the galv pip like a straw in order to eliminate the under ground air leak?
3. Could the water just be oxygenated?
4. Will 1” PVC inlet give me enough flow to power 2-3 sprinkler heads? (Pump is 1.25” inlet 1” outlet)
5. Can I expect to get the same 3 gpm with the reduced pipe inlet size?
6. How bad is an airleak on well production? If I eliminate it can I expect 4 gpm?
7. Are 1.25” galv unions known to air leak?
8. Would you say my leak is pre or post check valve? (really hoping its above ground)
Wish I had posted here last fall when I started this project. Probably would have saved some money. Right now, I’m into it for about $400 includes the $150 pump. Not bad for a water well compared to $4,000 for a driller but I have a lot of time into it and it’s not where I want it yet.
Any input is appreciated!
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