applejackfrost
New Member
Have a 4" well that was drilled in about 1970. Well is down about 120' and water rises to about 50'. This well hasn't been used since about 1980 when municipal water came through the area. I wanted to get this well up and running again as a backup water source for our farm and a project to do with my dad.
The well head, according to my dad about 4' below the surface and we're not 100% where it is, just a general idea. Two lines ran into the house, a 1-1/4" main line and 1" return line and a airline that was outside.
When we renovated the house I had them extend the lines to our barn so the two water lines run inside the barn now (about 60' from the original house) and the airline outside the barn.
I have a convertible jet pump and I hooked up both lines as directed to make it for deep well. We primed the lines with municipal water and they both came up but felt like they came up pretty quick for the amount of line we have to the well and it seemed to be sucking alot of air and took quite some time. I reworked the configuration so I had a hose connected to a T and shut-off valve so I could add water without having to take the plug out each time it didn't work. We couldn't get the pump to bring steady water, felt like just the water we were priming the lines with.
I saw where you can make a deep well a shallow well if the water is high enough, which our water table is quite high right now so I thought we'd try it and converted the pump back to a shallow well system. I hooked up the 1-1/4" line to the pump and capped off the 1" return well line. I was able to fill the main line with water and it came to the top, after a bit of priming we had water coming at a pressure of about 20 psi while it was open. Dirty water, but it was definitely from the well. We're not running it through a pressure tank right now, I just wanted to make sure we could get water before going to the next step.
After breaking for lunch we went back to see if we could get it back up and running again and we could not. I sent water down the 1-1/4" line to prime, and it would not stop and come to the top, it just kept running like there was a leak at the other end. The pump would not suck up water, just a lot of air.
The airline outside also seems to be plugged, I used compressed air and there was a lot of back pressure like it's blocked. When I blew on it, it sounds like there is water in the airline.
I know this is a long winded story and I apologize for this. Any thoughts on what might be happening? Original venturi is not working properly? Backflow valve in the pump stuck open? Airline is clogged? I understand getting to the well head would probably solve a lot of these problems but this is just a little project and digging up where the well is would be quite an undertaking for the type of project I was looking for.
The well head, according to my dad about 4' below the surface and we're not 100% where it is, just a general idea. Two lines ran into the house, a 1-1/4" main line and 1" return line and a airline that was outside.
When we renovated the house I had them extend the lines to our barn so the two water lines run inside the barn now (about 60' from the original house) and the airline outside the barn.
I have a convertible jet pump and I hooked up both lines as directed to make it for deep well. We primed the lines with municipal water and they both came up but felt like they came up pretty quick for the amount of line we have to the well and it seemed to be sucking alot of air and took quite some time. I reworked the configuration so I had a hose connected to a T and shut-off valve so I could add water without having to take the plug out each time it didn't work. We couldn't get the pump to bring steady water, felt like just the water we were priming the lines with.
I saw where you can make a deep well a shallow well if the water is high enough, which our water table is quite high right now so I thought we'd try it and converted the pump back to a shallow well system. I hooked up the 1-1/4" line to the pump and capped off the 1" return well line. I was able to fill the main line with water and it came to the top, after a bit of priming we had water coming at a pressure of about 20 psi while it was open. Dirty water, but it was definitely from the well. We're not running it through a pressure tank right now, I just wanted to make sure we could get water before going to the next step.
After breaking for lunch we went back to see if we could get it back up and running again and we could not. I sent water down the 1-1/4" line to prime, and it would not stop and come to the top, it just kept running like there was a leak at the other end. The pump would not suck up water, just a lot of air.
The airline outside also seems to be plugged, I used compressed air and there was a lot of back pressure like it's blocked. When I blew on it, it sounds like there is water in the airline.
I know this is a long winded story and I apologize for this. Any thoughts on what might be happening? Original venturi is not working properly? Backflow valve in the pump stuck open? Airline is clogged? I understand getting to the well head would probably solve a lot of these problems but this is just a little project and digging up where the well is would be quite an undertaking for the type of project I was looking for.
