New Well Water Problems

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mewest

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Type of pump?
Submersible__yes______
Two wire (no control)____x____
Three wire (control box)______
Wire Size_________ Wire Length________
or
Jet Pump (above ground)_________
One or two pipes down the well____

Size of Pump?
Motor Horsepower?___6hp_______
Pump Model #______________
Date Pump Installed___12/2012_______

Pumping from?
Cistern tank___________
Pond, lake, river________
Water Well_______x_____
Depth of well____485______
Depth to water___300______
Pump Setting__________
Pipe Size_________"
Drop Pipe Material
PVC________
Steel_______
Poly________

Well Recovery Rate__4-5_____gpm
Well Casing Diameter_______â€
Rock Well__________ Sand Well__________ Other______________
Date Well Drilled____12/2012________

Well Casing Material
PVC___x_____ Steel_________ Other_________


Pressure Tank?
Bladder or diaphragm tank (one pipe to tank)____x______
Size or model of tank____________
Air charge in top of tank, with pump off and water drained____________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 __x______
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__x_____ Number of baths__2 1/2_____ Number of People___5_____
High Flow Showers_______gpm?
Plus/Or
Irrigation with timers________
Irrigation with hoses________
Heat Pump______gpm?


Problems Experienced
No Water_________________
Water only part time________
Water at all times but weak_____
Air in water_______________
Pressure surging___________
Water Hammer (noise)______
Too Much pressure_________
Other_______dirt_____________


Pump makes clicking or buzzing sounds________
No Sounds______________
Pressure gauge reading________psi
Other____________________________________

Do you have, and know how to use
an Ampmeter and Voltmeter________no__________

Copy/Pasted above form from a previous post. Filled in what I knew about my well, which was drilled in December 2012 for a brand new house which we moved into in Jan 2013. Since day 1, my water has been cloudy and full of granite sediment. I called the well company that drilled/installed the well and was told that the well needed to develop more. I was told to run the well at the tank at half flow for 20-30 min at a time. I was also told to install a post-tank whole home water filter system to help with sediment until I developed the well fully. I did both. After running the well for 15 min on half flow, the well stopped putting out any water at all. Turning the spiket off and allowing water to build backup in the tank solved this issue, but I was too scared to allow the spiket to run again. Whole home water filter system installed and I began with 20 micron water string filters. Those 90 day 12,000 gallon filters were lasting about two weeks but there was still so much granite in my water that my washing machine would not fill up with water unless I cleaned the screen off the intake valuve about 4 times per wash. I changed my filters to 5 micron 90 day 12,000 gallon water filters but those would only last a day if I was lucky. I changed filters to 10 micron 90 day 12,000 gallon water filters and they are lasting about 3-5 days, depending on whats going on in the house. The filters come out almost black and yucky when I change them. In the filter housing, there is 1 to 1 1/2 inches of granite sediment every time I change it. I have granite sediment everywhere in my house, I dread to know what has built up in my hot water heater. As time has gone on, my water has only gotten dirtier and dirtier. If I draw up a glass of water post filter, you cannot even see through the water anymore. We have been bathing, washing clothes, and getting gallons of water for cooking from my mother in laws.

I have contacted the well company several times trying to get them to come out and check my well water because I know this is not right. They told me that their job was to find me a water supply and that the water quality was not their job. After many heated discussions, I finally got one of their guys out here who took a water sample and sent it off to their lab for testing. The results came back about three weeks later and I was told that I had hard water and could spend 3k on a water filter system. There was still no explanation for the amount of granite in my water supply. I asked them to come back out and back up my pump, deepen the well, something, but they refused. I contacted the builder that hired this well company and took them a sample of my dirty post filter water. The builder told the well company to come out and back my pump up 25 feet. The well company no showed on the builder twice. The builder called in another well company to give on estimate and the builder was advised it would cost about the same to attempt to repair the current well as it would to drill a new one with no guarantee that the repairs would work. I was told that the original well company had to be given the chance to make the well right since the builder had already paid them to do the job (although IMO they did a crappy job). The well company called me a week ago and advised they were ordering and going to install a galvanized tank that will collect the granite in my water and keep it out of my house water supply. I cannot find any information supporting what I was told and I believe the well company is attempting to pacify the builder to keep future contracts at my water quality expense. If anyone out there has any information that could help me or any insight into what this new tank is supposed to do and what it will not do, please let me know. I only want my water to be right, it is destroying my brand new house and all of my appliances. I do not have thousands of dollars lying around to just give up and hire someone to drill a new well or to install an expensive filter system. We are on a hill and our well is at 485 ft. My mother in law lives about 500 yards away at the bottom of the hill and her well is over 600 feet deep and she has perfect water. My sister in law lives about 1mile down the road and her well is at 800 foot deep and she has perfect water. NO ONE ELSE ON THIS 5 MILE ROAD HAS HAD THIS ISSUE!!!! Any insight that can be provided would be great, I feel like I am getting screwed........
 

LLigetfa

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I called the well company that drilled/installed the well and was told that the well needed to develop more. I was told to run the well at the tank at half flow for 20-30 min at a time. I was also told to install a post-tank whole home water filter system to help with sediment until I developed the well fully. I did both. After running the well for 15 min on half flow, the well stopped putting out any water at all. Turning the spiket off and allowing water to build backup in the tank solved this issue, but I was too scared to allow the spiket to run again.

It is difficult to know how endless the source of the turbidity is and the well might not have been developed enough. Developing it can be difficult if you don't have enough GPM of recovery. I had that problem where I needed to over-pump the well but was running out of water.

You could collect the water in a temporary above ground swimming pool where the sand can settle out and return some of the water back into the casing to keep the well from running dry. I did that alternately, varying how much water I returned to the well until my recovery rate improved enough to run the pump at max flow until the well ran clear.

It is possible that no amount of developing will ever result in clear water. It all depends on the formation. Another well could end up in the same formation or not.
 

Valveman

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You should not raise the pump 25’ if it is already pumping the well dry. And yes it is very hard to develop a well that doesn’t produce much water.

I have the same problem with a well that only makes about 1 GPM. I use a Cycle Sensor to help develop or pump out the well. The Cycle Sensor shuts the pump off when the well is Dry, then you can set the timer to restart the well from 1 to 500 minutes. Mine takes about 30 minutes to recharge 30 gallons. I set the Cycle Sensor timer for 30 minutes. So every 30 minutes it turns on the pump and pumps the well dry. I have to do this for about 10 days to get the well cleaned out. This way it automatically pumps the well off about 40 times per day, and I finally get the water cleaned up.
 

LLigetfa

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Good idea with the cycle sensor. It takes the worry out not only during development but afterwards as well.
 

mewest

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Honestly, the cloudy water does not bother me as much as the huge amounts of granite that is in my water. If they would get the dirt out of my water I will be happy, I dont think I am asking for too much. But getting them here to even see what the issue is has been like pulling teeth on a grizzly bear. I just need an honest opinion on if the galvanized tank they are wanting to come and install is worth it or not. It does not sound like its going to work to me, but Im desperate. I will check into the cycle sensor, so far the only ones I have found have been for bicycles.........
 

LLigetfa

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mewest

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Ehhh the well driller is installing the new tank at the contractors bill not mine, and I am grateful for that, cuz I have spent way too much money on filters as it stands now anyway. How much more time should it take for the well to develop? It has been up and running for over 6 months now. I am used to established, well developed wells, this is the first time I have ever delt with a brand new one. I looked at the twistllclean spin down filters several times, but I am not sure the filters are fine enough to trap what is causing the problem. What I have is not so much sand as it is fine granite....if I wash my hands at the spiket outside, it looks like I washed in silver glitter. I am interested in the cycle stop valves, but I would have to have someone install it for me, my DIY isnt that great......
 

Craigpump

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A settling tank or in house filter is a band aid fix at best. What really needs to done is to keep that sharp, course material from going through the pump where it will act like course sandpaper on the impellers and lead to premature pump wear.

I would suggest a Lakos seperator, the type that installs over the pump.
 

Smooky

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Do you know what type of well it is? Is it a gravel pack well? Is it a drilled well? My guess is it is a drilled well. In that case the well is 485 foot deep but the casing extends from the surface to the bed rock. After the casing is set a rock bit is let down inside the casing to the rock. A hole is drilled into the rock. You subtract the length of the casing from the total depth to know how deep in the bed rock they drilled. The water is suppose to come from cracks in the bed rock. If the casing is not set correctly there could be soil etc leaking in where the casing is set into the rock. Sometimes a PVC casing can crack when it is being pressed into the top of the rock. This could be another place soil or drillings could be getting into your well. Other times the casing may be set but the rock is not very solid and there may be another soil layer and that could also be your problem. There could be fissures in the rock that need to be sealed off. There are special packers that are used to seal off bad veins of water. I would recommend that you get someone to go down the well with a camera then you can see if there is a problem with the way the well was drilled or if the casing was not set correctly or it is cracked etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPAJC6nNU78

http://www.gaepd.org/Documents/WaterWellStandards.html

Georgia Private Wells Information

http://health.state.ga.us/programs/envservices/wellwater/wellwater.asp

http://health.state.ga.us/programs/envservices/WellWater/privatewells.asp
 
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Masterpumpman

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It's the Well Driller and Building Contractors responsibility to solve the problem, not yours! The galvanized tank (if installed right) may eliminate the granite particles in your water system but at what risk to your well pump. By the time the granite destroys your pump, the pump warranty will have run out.

You may need to contact the Georgia State driller and building contractor license bureau and file complaints. You do have some teeth there!

When I drilled wells in South Georgia we supplied the purchaser of the well system a written guarantee that we guaranteed the quality (meaning free of sand, granite and debris) but not the quantity of the water.
 

VAWellDriller

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You never mentioned what kind of well this is....a rock well or a screened well....sounds like a rock well well....if its not a rock well, there are lots of good explanantions for these problems. Smooky is right to suggest camera the well...the driller may not be at fault....then again he may be. This will tell for sure. Up here, we camera rock wells (and other problematic wells where is might be hard to see because of turbid water) with the pump in place...pumping water. You can see a lot by drawing the water down past the casing / rock interface and checking the grout job for leaks. The galvanized tank is definitely a band aid, in not at all a long term solution. Craig mentioned the in well Lakos seperater, which I've had good success with and is definiely what I would reccommend.
 
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