44
votes
Sudden Sulfur Smell from well water
Terminology first: Your well was drilled, not dug. No one in Vermont would dig a domestic water well deeper than about 30 feet. You probably have a steel well casing about 6 inches in diameter ...
- 12k
22
votes
Off-Grid Well Setup
If the terrain allows siting a tank above the level of the cabins by at least 50 vertical feet or so, put a 1000 gallon (or even larger) tank there, and run pipes up to it from the well, and down from ...
- 223k
11
votes
Accepted
Irrigation well under pressure, why is that?
An artesian well brings water up to the surface without pumping. This is because the water in the underground reservoir is under pressure because it has water in the water-bearing layer at a higher ...
- 410
10
votes
Accepted
How does rain water get into my window well
Sealing the well wall where it meets the house probably won't help much. I think the water in the ground is finding it's way under the window well barrier (by virtue of hydrostatic pressure) and ...
- 6,912
9
votes
Sudden Sulfur Smell from well water
It is very uncommon for wells driven deep for the "supply" to change. You get what you initially get for a very long time.
What is far more likely is you got a anaerobic sulfur colony ...
- 23.2k
8
votes
Can I operate a well pump with no pressure tank by using the breaker as a switch?
Not really.
You can do that if you only turn on the pump when you're consuming water. You don't want the pump running if no water is moving. You'll wear it out.
The point of a pressure switch is to ...
- 144k
8
votes
How does rain water get into my window well
Push a tube into a pool of water. There's your answer. It's not complicated. Even with proper grade slope the ground can become saturated down at that level.
My parents have a similar problem and ...
- 144k
7
votes
Sudden Sulfur Smell from well water
Presumably you mean "rotten egg" smell, i.e. hydrogen sulfide.
Either you have a seasonal change in where the water in your aquifer is being drawn from, or hydrogen sulfide bacteria have ...
- 223k
6
votes
How does rain water get into my window well
The drains are flowing. The basement sump pump is running. I’ve checked all the gutters and drainage pipes, but all seems to be clear. I don't know where else to look.
You skipped a step here: WHERE ...
- 25.7k
6
votes
Accepted
Install differences / considerations between 75' water well and 300' deep water well
If you have made the modern (and sensible/efficient) choice of a submersible pump, it's mostly just choosing the right one for the well you have. You generally won't use the same pump for a 75 foot ...
- 223k
5
votes
Can I operate a well pump with no pressure tank by using the breaker as a switch?
As isherwood noted, never run the pump unless the water has somewhere to go. Also, running the pump for only a few seconds at a time is probably not ideal.
If you're pumping out through an open pipe ...
- 281
5
votes
Why do people have outdoor pump houses for their well?
The well isn't always close to the house.
And pumps don't do well with sucking water out of a distant well, priming will be an issue.
If you have freezing issues then you should add some insulation to ...
- 12.8k
5
votes
What type of soil should I use to backfill around my recently extend well?
Clay is a pretty good choice.
Around the top of a well, what you want is both slope and soil type to prevent surface water going down beside the well casing.
- 223k
4
votes
Is a high electric bill for a pump house caused by a well pump running constantly?
I saw this at a house in NH -- crazy high electric bills caused by a corroded pipe nipple between the tank and the the pressure switch. The pump was running all the time, but since there was no pilot ...
- 216
4
votes
Accepted
What is the procedure for restarting a drilled well?
Pump it out for a while. If the pump controller does not have a "low pressure cutoff" pay attention so you don't leave the pump on if you manage to pump it dry.
Common to "shock treat" (chorinate, ...
- 223k
4
votes
Grounding and neutral in a well pump shed
Current flows in loops. Between hot and hot; or between hot and neutral. But always a loop.
Wayward current wants to get back to SOURCE - not earth. For human-generated artificial electricity, ...
4
votes
How would you build a well cover for a dug well?
First and foremost, "sturdy" matters more than "light" - in fact, a "standard design goal" for a standard well cover is that you should need at least two people to remove ...
- 223k
4
votes
Is a pipe hammered in the ground considered a well?
In short, yes, the well rules (whatever they are in your LAHJ) apply to driving a pipe into the ground.
A driven well is type 2 or 3 (the screen is in the drive point on the end of the pipe, ...
- 223k
4
votes
Is a pipe hammered in the ground considered a well?
If you google: "Driven Point Wells" you will find what you are looking for.
Images from:
https://inspectapedia.com/water/Driven_Point_Wells.php
https://dengarden.com/home-improvement/How-...
- 6,669
4
votes
Accepted
Filtering the byproducts of iron removal after chlorine injection
I have a drinking water well that is loaded with iron. The pump feeds into a chlorine injection valve as you've described. The chlorine reacts with the iron in the water. The next step in the water ...
- 11.2k
4
votes
Accepted
Is this a sign of a dry well?
Dry well, (or at least "low-water, slow recharge") and (now) dead pump; or, just possibly, a leak in the pipe coming up the well causing pumping in circles, but that's not consistent with &...
- 223k
4
votes
What should be changed in this well-source residential water system to prevent future leaks?
Other than "two bad valves in a row" (try to find one not made in China for the third time - which may take some hunting, these days) the main thing that seems like it would contribute to ...
- 223k
3
votes
Well water going out
200 yards is a long way when it comes to drilled wells. I'm probably that far downhill of one that is filled to the top, and mine has a static level 100 feet down. Your neighbors may also use water ...
- 223k
3
votes
Well water in whole-house water filter turning green
You don't need to experiment with this system. What you have there is algae growth because you have opened up your well house to sunlight. This is a very common problem. Algae is every where, it is in ...
- 31
3
votes
Well water pressure
Since this is a DIY site, here are some things you can check:
Next to the pressure tank, you should see a gauge like this
This tells you your water pressure. With no water running, this should not ...
- 548
3
votes
Accepted
Choosing the right replacement pump for well
Jet pumps were a great idea when pump motors were terribly unreliable, and you could keep the pump motor out of the well by using one.
These days, that's not true. Likewise, anyone who recommends a "...
- 223k
3
votes
How can we get maximum life of a water well?
Since you are asking about a very old well in your comment , how long can a well last? There are water wells still in use today from biblical times.
If they are deep enough and have not been ...
- 103k
3
votes
Can I operate a well pump with no pressure tank by using the breaker as a switch?
It won't hurt the breaker any. All modern breakers are rated for use as switches.
3
votes
Accepted
how do I disinfect a well with plain bleach
1) Use common household bleach as the chlorine source for
disinfection.
[Bleach products usually contain 5 to 6 percent chlorine. For the
disinfection procedure to be effective, ...
- 144k
3
votes
Accepted
Low pressure after water main pipe replacement
The tank has a bladder inside the bladder holds the water on the outside of the bladder( inside the tank is filled with air) . With the tank empty of water we normally pressurize the air to a few ...
- 103k
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