Trying to recover old shallow well for irrigation

[rookie177]

Hi everyone, long time first time.

I am in the process of attempting to resurrect an old shallow well to use for irrigation. My guess is the well was abandoned when the house was converted to city water about 50 years ago. So far I have been able to trace from the pump to the well head, but I’m not able to pull any water from the galvanized main line with an external pump. The line was full of water, but I can’t get it to move.

I’m assuming there is a frozen check valve in the system, possibly right next to the well head. What would be your next steps in evaluating the likelihood this well still flows water?

I included a photo of the well head/point. There is a tee which has a plug on one end then continues into a large brass fitting(appears to be a check valve), a few inches of galvanized, then into a large union-type fitting that I can’t identify. After the last fitting it continues with galvanized pipe for 30 feet before coming out of the ground at the pump.

A few questions:
- is the brass fitting closest to the tee a check valve?
- what is the second union-type fitting in the line?
- Any tips for resurrecting this old shallow well?

 

[Valveman]

That is a check valve and a compression coupling. But I would dig it up better, take apart at the compression coupling, and pull the drop pipe. See if there is any water in the well and measure how deep it is. Then replace everything with plastic pipe as the galvanized is probably clogged of holey.

 

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[Reach4]

A vacuum gauge could tell you if the pump is creating enough suction to draw water.

Here I use Hg as a search string addition: https://www.supplyhouse.com/sh/control/search/~SEARCH_STRING=hg gauge

There are combination gauges that measure both pressure and vacuum. If there is no pressure tank, I think vacuum-only would be appropriate.

 

[rookie177]

But I would dig it up better, take apart at the compression coupling, and pull the drop pipe

When you say pull the drop pipe, are you recommending removing the entirety of the vertical pipe that goes into the ground? I'm guessing this is a driven sand point well as most are in the area. Would it be easier to keep the galvanized drop pipe, cut off the top, and use that for a sleeve of smaller PVC drop pipe?

A vacuum gauge could tell you if the pump is creating enough suction to draw water.

Unfortunately the pump is out of service, so I'm starting at the well point and building it back to the house. I googled the name of the pump and it only appeared on antique tractor websites; I'm guessing the pump was original to the well (~40 years old)

 

[Reach4]

Unfortunately the pump is out of service, so I'm starting at the well point and building it back to the house. I googled the name of the pump and it only appeared on antique tractor websites; I'm guessing the pump was original to the well (~40 years old)

How did you come to your original assessment?:

I am in the process of attempting to resurrect an old shallow well to use for irrigation. My guess is the well was abandoned when the house was converted to city water about 50 years ago. So far I have been able to trace from the pump to the well head, but I’m not able to pull any water from the galvanized main line with an external pump. The line was full of water, but I can’t get it to move.

I’m assuming there is a frozen check valve in the system, possibly right next to the well head. What would be your next steps in evaluating the likelihood this well still flows water?

 

[rookie177]

How did you come to your original assessment?:

I connected a shop vac to the line right where the pump would be connected. Perhaps not enough suction, but I thought it might move a little water.

I did make some progress this morning and was able to cut a hole in the plug on the top of the drop pipe. With a makeshift sounder I was able to determine the bottom of the well is 22ft below grade and water begins about 6ft below grade. Out of curiosity, is there a chance the well point is magnetic? I was using a screw on a string and it seemed to "grab" something around 22ft below grade.

 

[amizarachemicals]

That brass fitting’s probably a check valve, and the union-type could be a foot valve or coupling. Tap the check valve lightly to free it up, but don’t break it. Try bypassing it with a hose and pump to test flow. Flush the line and check for silt in the casing. Vinegar soak might help with rust.

 

[Reach4]

I connected a shop vac to the line right where the pump would be connected. Perhaps not enough suction, but I thought it might move a little water.

I would not expect a shop vac vacuum cleaner to pull water from 6 ft down. A typical suction pump can pull water from 25 ft or more.

https://cat6tools.com/ridgid-shop-vac-comparison-test/ says "in this comparison test the Ridgid Shop Vac came out on top. Even today in 2023 this vacuum is a power horse at 200 + CFM and pulling a full 45 inches of water suction."

So that vacuum could not suck water from even 4 ft down. That measures from the height of the intake to the vac rather than from ground level.

 

[Valveman]

When you say pull the drop pipe, are you recommending removing the entirety of the vertical pipe that goes into the ground? I'm guessing this is a driven sand point well as most are in the area. Would it be easier to keep the galvanized drop pipe, cut off the top, and use that for a sleeve of smaller PVC drop pipe?



Unfortunately the pump is out of service, so I'm starting at the well point and building it back to the house. I googled the name of the pump and it only appeared on antique tractor websites; I'm guessing the pump was original to the well (~40 years old)

Yeah. Doesn't do much good to get a new pump if everything in the well is old. If it is a sandpoint, the screen will probably be clogged. Pulling the old point would let you know what kind and how deep to drive a new one.

 

[rookie177]

Thank you all for the help so far. I went a bit off track and decided to grab a harbor freight well pump to see if I could get that check valve to open. Unfortunately, it seems like it’s frozen closed and doesn’t want to budge.

I did get the well cap off and sent a scope down the drop pipe. Everything looks surprisingly clean and the well drinks as much water as I can put into it. I’m thinking of cutting out the check valve and throwing a new one in. Is it crazy to throw in a new check valve with a bit of PVC and use a fernco to tie it into the existing run of galvanized to the pump? I don’t want to replace the line to the pump until I know everything is viable because it’s ~50 feet away and would require a bit of trenching.

 

[Reach4]

Good move on the HF Drummond sprinkler pump, but you still need to prime that self-priming pump as far as filling it with water. Maybe you did that, or maybe you used the pump to suck water to make sure the pump was operating.

If indeed it is a stuck check valve, throwing in a check valve using PVC makes sense.

 

[rookie177]

Good move on the HF Drummond sprinkler pump, but you still need to prime that self-priming pump as far as filling it with water. Maybe you did that, or maybe you used the pump to suck water to make sure the pump was operating.

If indeed it is a stuck check valve, throwing in a check valve using PVC makes sense.

Yes, I did prime the inlet until I had water running out of the fill port. It was quite exciting at first - the pump threw plenty of dirty water, but I quickly realized it was the residual water in the line running to the pump. Tomorrow I'll try to patch in a new check valve and report back. You guys are great, thanks again.

 

[rookie177]

Another quick update and question. I was able to throw in a cheap pvc check valve onto the galvanize piping with a fernco (horrible solution, but it's just to test the well). After a few tries, I was able to get everything primed and water flowing. However, I'm getting some pretty significant cavitation and sporadic water flow.

Could this be the end of my journey and the well isn't viable? Or could this be air getting into the system via my shoddy plumbing job and 50 year old galvanized pipes?

 

[Reach4]

Another quick update and question. I was able to throw in a cheap pvc check valve onto the galvanize piping with a fernco (horrible solution, but it's just to test the well). After a few tries, I was able to get everything primed and water flowing. However, I'm getting some pretty significant cavitation and sporadic water flow.

Could this be the end of my journey and the well isn't viable? Or could this be air getting into the system via my shoddy plumbing job and 50 year old galvanized pipes?

To check for vacuum leaks, while the pump runs, slather joints with shaving foam. If the foam gets sucked in, you found a leak.

Maybe whipped cream would work too, but ReddiWhip might come out of the spout with gaps.

 

[rookie177]

Unfortunately I can't find any suction leaks, but that doesn't mean much as 30-40 feet of the old pipe is still in place and runs underground from the well to the pump. Does it make sense to just reline the well with 1" pvc, then plumb everything off of that to the pump?

 

[Valveman]

1" is a little small for a suction line. But it is preferable to any size pipe that has holes in it.

 

[rookie177]

I think I might have exhausted all of my options on this well. To eliminate the possibility of issues in the drop pipe or suction line, I fashioned a 1" pipe and sent it down the well 21 feet with a check valve and a few simple connections to the pump. The pump is still pulling air. I'm guessing that the water level in the drop pipe is high, but is quickly pumped down while the pump is running. @Valveman - you were right, the well screen is probably corroded and blocked. I don't know if it's worth trying to pull this old drop pipe - I would probably need a bit of heavy machinery to get it out of the ground.

Good news is that the water coming out of the well seems viable for irrigation. No salt and it's sitting about 6 feet below grade. So this weekend I might attempt to wash down a new sand point in a different part of the yard to create a new well.