Campbell well leak

[johnhcorey]

I have water coming into my basement through a black tube which carries electric wires from the well pump and to the pressure tank. It only leaks when it is raining ot snow is melting. Also, the cover to the well is not very tight and air can be heard being sucked into it. Will tightening the well cover possibly solve the leak problem?

[Lawrence]

I don't think so. That tube is a conduit which carries only the wire and is not supposed to have any water in it. My guess is that the conduit is broken and ground water is coming in, not well water.

I had a similar situation where some buried conduit became unburied somehow. Apparently it wasn't buried well enough which is embarrasing since I buried it myself. The pipe was broken where it came out of the ground and full of water. I know this because when I pulled the wire a lot of water came out with it.

The water apparently does not affect the performance of an intact wire. Mine was the main supply for the house and it never affected my service. Wire that is used is rated for underground service even if it is in conduit. It is essentially waterproof.

In your case water is coming into the basement and that is the problem. Fixing this is not a DIY in my opinion. That pipe enters the well well below grade and may require some excavation and special tools to service it.

Call a well drilling company. In my state, the company who drilled the well will have their name and number on the well head. Call them up or another company will also be able to help.

[Jackson]

Are we talking a dug shallow well (big round concrete cover) or a drilled well with just a well cap?

[johnhcorey]

It is a drilled well with just a well cap. In fact, i have now discovered that the tube also leaks water when the pump turns on.

[RBM]

It was improper in the first place for well pump wiring to be installed in non electrical PVC, although it's done fairly frequently. If you have an above ground well head, that conduit should be visible coming out of the ground and entering the head just below the sanitary cover. The water line should be coming out of a pitless adapter, underground and below the frost line. The only reason I can think of that would cause water to flow from the electrical conduit when the pump is on would be both lines having leaks near each other in the trench to the house. To stop the water, wait until the pipe is dry and get a tube of 100 % silicone caulk and shoot the entire tube in the open end of the conduit at the basement end

[Harry K]

quoted text -

I don't think I would do that. What is coming out of that pipe has to be surface/ground water. Plug that end and the water will go out the other end and into the well. That water is most likely not safe to drink. I am with the others, the conduit has broken or has a bad joint letting water into it. It is remotey possible that the delivery pipe from the well has a leak but...

Harry K

[RBM]

[RBM]

When I say uphill, see the left hand drawing of the well set up here:

The power conduit has to come uphill out of the ground to enter the well head. In the picture you can see the power and water conduits parallel in the trench, where both could have leaks. It's also possible that ground pressure is pushing water to the top of the well head and into the electric conduit

[Harry K]

here:

The power conduit has

Okay. I see that I misread the OP. I got the impression that both the water delivery pipe and the wire was in the same conduit and somehow split at the well head. Yes, that picture is the standard way of doing things.

Harry K