Oops! Just got home and realized that I left a hose running all weekend while I was gone. We have well water that uses a submersible pump inline with a steel pressure tank (in basement). We have no running water in the house. I drained the pressure tank and collected ~ 1 gallon of muddy water. I closed all the faucets (and shut off valve to hose) and waited about an hour. The psi went up on the tank but when I opened the drain valve only air came out.
I've since cut power to the system by flipping the breaker. Any suggestions? Have I done longterm damage to the equipment, or does the well just need to recharge? We just moved here and am still learning about the house, I don't know (yet) how deep the well is, etc.
I think you are on the right track. Since the pump developed pressure, the pump has probably survived. But the well will need some time to "recharge". How long? Maybe by tomorrow.
Other than the bit about air coming out of the tank, it sounds like the pump may not be running. When you fire it up again, see if there is a reset switch, a lever, or a button on the pressure switch you have to hold in to get the system going again. Some set-ups have an automatic shut off to keep the pump from being damaged in a 'dry' well.
Thanks for the tip - I'll look. It's a submersible pump would you think the switch would be located near the well head or nearer to the pressure tank in the basement?
Replace your pressure control with the FSG-2 M4. It will completely shut down the pump should it run dry again. This will protect your pump from burnout. Looks like this:
The pressure control switch will be right at the steel pressure tank. Sometimes when you engage it, you have to hold it on the "on" position manually, until enough water pressure has developed from the pump to put it into automatic operation.
It is entirely possible that the pump needs to run long enough to push the air back though the supply pipe, before it can start pumping water again. On my vacation house system (after it is off for a few months) this takes a few minutes to accomplish. While it is blowing air out of the line, I have to hold the pressure switch manually, until it starts pumping water.
It'll be right at the pressure tank whereever that may be. Look at the pipe going into the tank, you should see a small (about 4" square) box sitting on top of a 1/8" pipe that is tee'd off the inlet pipe. It will have wires going into it probably inside conduit. Not all systems have the automatic shut-off but it is worth a look.
I actually ran it dry. But it's since recharged and the pump's chimed back in. We've gotta lot of muddy/water but are clearing out the lines. Water was muddy then was clearing, and is now real muddy again. I cut off the pump and think the well needs more time to settle this sediment. Found its a deep well at 625' with pump about
1/2 way down, and with a inflow rate of 3gpm. We're in a pretty good drought right now, so this may be a little slower yet.
We'll see how it runs again tomorrow PM. Don't want to run to much sand/sediment thru my pump and pipes.
Thanks again for all the help, I was sweating buckets there for a bit
If what you say is true, I find it odd that the pump is set 300' above the bottom of the well. Most of that 300' is not doing you any good. Typical around here is about 20' off the bottom. Also seems odd to me that you have so much mud in a deep well. Maybe the seal is not good? I would suggest that you consult with a local well professional about some of these things. They would know more about your local geology/hydrology and well customs than any of us do.
You can't suck up water more than something like 32 feet, no matter how big your pump is. Once you've developed a vacuum on the top, that's it, for suckage.
Well...practical limit is about 26 ft due to pumpage, pipe loss. In any case that is why people use submersible pumps. They can pump from any depth you desire (within engineering limits).
At the minimum, I'd install the pump protection device earlier recommended, also you may want to think about a water storage system - a large atmospheric tank that takes water from the well, then uses a pump to pressurize the water from it into the house. This sort of system will provide more fluid at peak periods than the well pump you have now.
My suspicion is that the well pump was installed on a poly style pipe
- the black rolled pipe that is typically used for underground water lines. You can get 300' rolls at most supply houses, so that would make sense. Otherwise, I can't see why it's not at the bottom of the well. A 6" well will store about 1.5 gallons per foot of depth, so assuming you have a decent static level at 50', you have approximately
375 gallons in reserve before the pump is dry.
The muddy water leads me to believe that the well was put into a rock formation. Around here (NW Washington) when we drill rock wells, we install pumps so that the withdrawing of water does effect the static level. This keeps the water from moving up and down along the rocks, which keeps the rocks from getting washed all the time, which keeps silt & material out of the plumbing system. Hence, the need for holding tanks & pressurizing circuits.
Anyway, 3 GPM is probably enough for a single person, but even a small
400 gallon holding tank with a jet pump would help. I'd also encourage you to put a flow restrictor on the well pump.
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