Repairing a Bent Wellhead

If there is no power to the well what is it used for?

There are both submersible and jet pumps for wells. Since there is a wire going down that sounds like a submersible. But there should also be a pipe coming up from the pump. Frankly I'd be worried about pulling it up with the wire as usually you also can pull on the pipe. When was the last time it ran? I wouldn't have high expectations if the pump has been sitting unused at the bottom of the well for years.

No, you probably won't run it off an inverter, at least not a small one, and it might be 240 as well. Depends on the pump.

if the ines are still down the hole you could execvate around the casing cut the top of the casing off carefully then pull the pump. just power line will not carry the weight of the pump.

you might call a driller pump company in your area.

its possible the well may have collapsed and they might know

It was for an old trailer that isn't there anymore. The meter is still on the pole near the well, but it isn't in use. The goal is to get this well fixed up so that is can be used for a nearby building that has its own meter. A trench of several hundred feet will have to be dug for water and electrical lines.

I guess I could just run some temporary line from the building to the well, but I'd have to figure what the pull from the pump is and what the voltage drop over that distance would be.

You can see the wire in the pic. It's cut off just below the top of the cap, which seemed odd to me.

There is no pipe comming up. My dad thought that the pump just pushed the water up through the entire diameter of the shaft, but he was just guessing, and pushing a water column that wide doesn't really make sense to me.

How far down are the pumps usually placed? Do they just set down once they reach their sitting place, or is there any sort of lock or twist that holds them in? Do you just pull straight up to get them out?

It's probably been unused for about 10 years.

Should I just go ahead an remove the pump and test it while it's out?

If it is a normal submersible setup, there should be a pitiless adapter a foot or two down the well pipe. that hooks to the water pipe coming from the well pump. This pipe is what you pull the pump out of the well casing with. The pitiless adapter is like a keystone. You thread a piece of pipe into the top of it and pull up which releases the keystone shaped adapter allowing it to come out of the well. My well man had a piece of pipe, I think it was either 1" or 3'4 galvanized with a T on the top to prevent it from being dropped into the casing and just screwed it into the adapter and yanked the entire hose and pump out of the well. If you do that, you can probably figure out what voltage the pump is. If you want to see what a pitiless adapter looks like to here"

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There are other arrangements as well. I think the location and potential for freezing factors in.

They owners never told anyone about what happened. The well wasn't needed at the time, so they just put a bucket over the well head and ignored the problem. lol

It was working fine up until the truck backed into it.

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Agree with all the above, except to say that the pitless adapter can be 4 feet deep in colder areas on wells that run year round. It then has to be below the frost line.

As to the question of how far down the pump will be, that depends on the working water level in the well. The pump obviously needs to be well below the water level.

He could run it on a generator that supplies 240V, which these pumps usually are. For a residential well they are typically 1hp or less, so as long as you have a generator that can handle that load, you're good to go. I guess it would be good to figure out if it's 240V first too. :)

The freezing isn't bad here as long as you keep everything burried.

The well had been used for years without any trouble.

Calling a gravel truck driver clumsy for running over something that was concealed in tall grass is not a fair thing to do...

If you have important infrastructure on your property you need to mark its location with 4' tall sticks before you allow someone to drive a vehicle loaded with something on your land...

About the cut wire: the well was abandoned and the trailer (with its electrical panel) was removed from the site... The wire was cut off at the most convenient place... Having a service drop and a meter can on a pole doesn't mean you have power accessible at that location without a panel...

A bigger question you would want to ask yourself is where is the old water feeder pipe ? They typically emerge from the well below ground like another poster described...

A well that is 10 years dormant ? Good luck -- sounds like at minimum you are looking at replacing the pump, if you are lucky...

~~ Evan

If there is no pipe coming up, I would guess the pump was pulled. The "entire diameter of the shaft" guess is definitely not correct. Pumps hang from the pipe they are attched to and not the wire. They do not rest on the bottom of anything. As others have said, the top of the pipe is usually at a pitless adapter which is anywhere from 2 to 4 feet down the well. That's where the water goes through the side of the casing into a horizontal pipe to the house/trailer/whatever.

The top of the casing being bent is mainly an issue when trying to get an old pump out or when trying to insert a new one. The pump might not fit past the bend. You mentioned cutting the bent part off, but keep in mind, most code requires the casing to entend above the ground in order to keep surface water out of the well. So, if you cut off the bent part, you also will need to add casing to get it back up the height it is supposed to be.

Best of luck, Pat

Here in the south some well pipes come all the way up out of the casing instead of the pitless adapter. We just cover them with those foam fake rocks :-)

This was years ago, and I wasn't there at the time. I don't know what the area looked like back then, but it's sure grown up now.

It just seemed odd for them to cut it off as low as they did. I would think that they would leave some extra wire the work with. It may be common to do that, I don't know.

I'll try to get a better look down it when I get the chance. All I had on me last time was my cell phone and a weak flashlight.

I don't think they pulled it. There was no reason for them to do that, and they didn't mention it. Besides, what's the wire running to? lol

Does the output pipe have to be removed for the pitless adapter to be raised?

With a pitless adapter the output pipe is connected to a pipe running out of the side of the casing. You thread a pipe into a hole on the top of the adapter to pull the adapter, pipe and pump. If there is one you shouldbe able to see it with a good flashlight.

No. The output pipe connects to the pitless adaptor on the outside of the casing. The pitless adaptor is in two parts. One is the outside part the delivery pipe is connected to. The other is attached to the pipe going down to the pump. That part locks onto and seals with the part attached to the casing. Hence, you can easily pull the pipe and pump inside the casing.

If you get the pump and well working, the best solution to fixing the bent/damaged casing is to dig down until you have undamaged pipe. Get a welder to come in, cut off the casing and weld a new piece on to it. Then you can get the appropriate cap, etc,. Or you can call a well service and I'm sure they will deal with it.

Also, the condition it's in now is a violation of code, at least here in NJ. The health and environmental folks don't like open casings that allow surface contaminents to go right down 150 ft into the aquafers. Even if you abandon a well there are strict standards for how it has to be sealed. So, I'd get it taken care of ASAP.

It's also an issue with regard to being able to correctly cap and seal the well, which you talk about below.

The bent portion only extends down about 6 inches, so it would probably be cut off about ground level.

You're still supposed to protect the top from intrusion by runoff. The inspector is probably going to require you to extend the casing.

If the OP is going to use the well he for sure wants to protect from runoff (and cover the pipe).

You should be able to see a pitless adapter OK with a flashlight. If the sun is out a great way to see down the well is to use a mirror/sunlight. A flat mirror off the side of a car works good.

The pump motor may have a start capacitor on the surface. If 2 wires it should just be 240V. One wire may be a ground. You may want to have a water well company look at it. They could bring a generator to check it.

I was up there today, but I didn't have time to take pictures. The electrical wire had yellow sheathing with 3 wires lying flatly together inside.

I'll take a better look next time I'm up there.