How to remove sand buildup from water pipes (without compressor)

[Alchemizt]

I recently moved into a house which has a well and a pump. Unfortunately sand gets pumped with the water and this sand builds up in the water tank, and ends up flowing into the water pipes. I will build a filter to solve this problem but unfortunately the water pipes are already clogged up with sand, so I will need to get the sand out . I know you can flush pipes with an air compressor but I dont have a compressor. I dont have the tools to backflow either. Is there another way to get the sand out of the pipes?

What if I use one of those fish tapes for electrical wiring, I could insert that into all the inlets and maybe break up the sand sediments then the water should flush it out. Im going to try this.

 

[Reach4]

You could maybe figure a way to backflush pipes that are actually clogged.
You also could replace sections of pipe. Plastic pipe must be protected against UV.

Not an answer to your question, but flushing the pressure tank periodically is good:

Precharged Pressure tank flush:
1. Connect a hose to the sediment drain valve, and run that to where you plan to drain the water. I suggest filtering the output through a cloth if you want to monitor the sand.
2. Turn off the pump.
3. Open the drain valve, and let it drain until the water stops. It would be possibly particularly interesting to watch the first water that comes out.
4. Close the valve, and turn the pump back on, and let pressure build.
5. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 as needed.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Alchemizt]

I live in an abandoned hotel with a well that pumps water to a tank on the roof. The piping is embedded in the concrete so is pretty inaccessible, I cant replace them. But the part on the roof that drops from the water tower, that is accessible, so I can cut that pipe to make an outlet for backflushing.

The only pump here is the well pump thats 20 feet down.

Backflushing may be the only option. To do this, would I need to cut the 1 inch tubing coming out of the tank, and attach a garden hose to the water tank, then connect the other end of the garden hose to all the water inlets throughout the hotel? The hotel is small, but I will need at least 3 20 meter garden hoses connected together to reach every room. Will this work?

 

[Reach4]

I had assumed a precharged pressure tank. If this is a tank at atmospheric pressure, that would be different.

 

[Alchemizt]

I tried to do a backflush by connecting a garden hose to the water tank, and using gravity to run water into the toilets, showers and sinks but it seems like there may not be enough pressure to flush the sand out. In some rooms, the pressure was strong, running water into the toilet inlet, it came out the sink, blocking the sink inlet, it came out the shower. But other rooms, I couldnt flush anything. I setup a whole system to do this, connected a faucet below the tank with a ball valve below that to cut off the water to the building, so I can run water from the tank into the fixtures in the building, but seems like the gravity pressure isnt enough to flush the sediments out.

For this kind of backflushing process, does it only work with a pressure pump? I suppose a power hose would work too. The only other way I know to flush sediment out is to use an air compressor, this works, I hired someone to do this before, they charged $200 to do it though so I would prefer to do it myself this time, but dont have a big air compressor

 

[Reach4]

I would be thinking of getting a 33 gallon or bigger clean trash can or tank. I would get a 1/2 hp 10 gpm submersible pump. I would fill that trash can with water, and use hoses to push water in reverse wherever you can. You need to route a low area of the supply from above to circulate back to the trash can.

I expect sand circulating back to the trash can to settle out.

I am not a pro.

I would also be looking to trap new sand before it joins the house plumbing. If you are going to get to that point, we can discuss ideas for that. Also, you might try to remove accumulated sand from the overhead tank. A scoop? An air lift pump (which would need maybe a medium compressor).

Note in compressors, look for a CFM or SCFM rating, and not just a PSI/pressure rating. They have miserable little pumps rated "250 psi" which will take a long time to inflate a tire to 30 psi.