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New Well Pump Help

jskjolda

Unregistered

1

Friday, July 8th 2011, 10:06am

New Well Pump Help

I live on Long Island NY. I am in a sandy/clay soil area. About 10 years ago I hand installed a 2" well point down to about 25 feet with galvanized pipe. Water table is abut 13 feet so I have plenty of water in the pipe. I was using a 1.5 HP centrifugual pump to provide water to my irrigation system. I noticed a drop in pressure this season. I had a new 1.5 HP WaterAce pump in the basement so I installed it. After I did, I wasn't gettin any water after multiple priming attempts.
I then replaced the check valve, opened the well pipe and tried to flush with a hose doen the pipe. I did get some sediment out. I reinstalled everything and reprimed. I am flowing water but no where near what I was with the old pump and what my needs are. I have looked for air leaks in the above ground piping and have not spotted any.
The well was outside my house when I drove it. It is now under a crawl space so my work space and options are limited. Short of driving a new well outside the house again is there anything I can do?
I am at wits end with this. It's 90 degrees and sunny .. and my grass is turning. What can I try?
Thanks ... John

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

2

Friday, July 8th 2011, 3:24pm

Well points can get clogged up, and you have to try to flush them clean by forcing water into them, to blow clogging particles away from the screen.

It's a repetitive process. You backflush. You let the pump draw water. You back flush. You pump. So on and so on.

What you are trying to achieve is to get as many small particles as possible into the well point and through the pump.

If you have a clear-body strainer on the pump outlet, like a Vu-Flow, you can tell when you are no longer bringing up extra particles through the pump.

jskjolda

New Member

Posts: 2

3

Friday, July 8th 2011, 3:34pm

Thanks!

I am trying that now. I am back washing under pressure. Turning hose on/off. Initially I felt resistance when the water got to top of pipe. Now I have a gentle flow into the well. I will see what happens..

jskjolda

New Member

Posts: 2

4

Saturday, July 9th 2011, 2:38pm

Still Not Working

I have back washed the point 5 times, reprimed and still not much luck. I wonder if it could be the "new" pump? How do I tell it's working correctly? I am now also thinking about driving a new well. If I go with 1 1/2 inch point what size pump should I be using? If I go with a 2" point?

Any suggestion on brand of water pump?

Thanks

Wet_Boots

Supreme Member

Posts: 4,102

Location: Metro NYC

5

Saturday, July 9th 2011, 2:57pm

If you want to get technical, you get a vacuum gauge and see how it reads when you connect it to the suction side. I had a clogging problem on a well point, and doing the backwash process got my as-new performance back. I had to repeat it every other year.

As for pumps, Home Depot and Lowes are not on my radar, so I don't even remotely care about anything they sell. I install cast-iron jet pumps made by Goulds.

Mitchgo

Supreme Member

Posts: 502

Location: Seattle

6

Monday, July 11th 2011, 12:16am

It's possible the intake has a small leak and sucking in air, preventing your pump being fully primed.

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