grit in very deep well

Like the other fella I have a similiar problem. New well, 1 1/2yo 600' deep. Installed a house filter after "flushing" the lines for acouple hrs. We still have to replace the filter at least every month, normal house hold use for 2 people. I do have an out door hydrant for the livestock & use 200 gallons a day (not going thro the house filter).

It's not sand, its grey like the granite that was around the well when they installed it. Called co & they said only thing was to buy an $$ filter & that might not solve. Could raising my pump alittle help?

Thanks in advance for advice Mary

Raising the pump probably won't help a thing. That stuff is light and won't settle to the bottom. Probably just need to pump it hard for a few days.

When you say pump it hard for acouple days please explain? Newbie & don't want to damage anything. Thanks.

Open up enough hoses that the pressure stays low like 40 PSI. Run it like this for 12 hours. Shut the water off and let the well recover for a couple of hours, then repeat. Of course your well has to be strong enough to do this. If the well pumps dry, then pump it until it is dry, shut off the pump for a couple of hours, pump the well dry again, and repeat. If your well will pump dry, you must either watch it closely, or have some kind of dry well protection like a Cycle Sensor. Don't let the pump run after the well runs dry or you will need a new pump after about 5 minutes of dry running.

You could try installing a self-cleaning filter. It will strain out sediment and sand, and backwash when necessary. They are more pricey than throw-away filters, but require little to no maintenance. Food for thought.

valveman said:

Probably just need to pump it hard for a few days.

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this is great advice. are you north or south ga? if truly drilled 600' my guess is the well has plenty of water, and as a driller in NE FL and SE GA, the best advice would be to run it off. fastest way to do it would be to cut the pipe right out of the well before it goes to tank, and let it run full flow on the ground for however many hours are needed. just put a bucket under it every now and again and see how it looks. then put the pipe back together with a good union.

sometimes when a well is finished.. especially a deeper one like you are talking about, it take more time to develop the well.. guessing they had rods down the well blowing air down them to force the water up when developing and probably stopped as the water was most likely sparkling but still had a little rocks in it, its normal. i believe if you ran it off a while you will be fine. if it was sand or clay, i wouldnt be so optimistic. after you run it, if you still are having problems, i would call your driller.

if pumping the same rocks as around the well when it was completed, it is most likely the rock in the ground they in which your water is coming from. around here, you would set the casing however deep so that you have it on that rock. then you would go back inside the casing and drill through that rock so you can get the water out of it. a rock is like a sponge in the ground.. it literally holds the water IN it. probably still has some of those cuttings in well from drilling the rock out in the well.. in my experience, the rock is never loose down there at deep levels until you drill it, so it should clear out. if your driller tells you thats just the way it is and offers no advice other than put on a filter, i would tell him you will contact the health dept. or whoever oversees the water well construction for his district and make sure, i guarantee you he will sing a different tune. i hate to tell someone to do that but i know that wasnt a cheap well and there is no reason why any good water well, especially in the southeast, should need a filter. i cant even believe he recommended one. our company hasnt installed a filter for 25 years and we have drilled thousands of wells from 40'-800'.

btw, it is common for wells to need to be ran off good, especially at the deeper levels you have. i think you will be fine.

sorry for the book i wrote, and of course all this is jmho.