replacing a deep well jet pump

[DickB]

I have a 30 year ++ deep well jet pump.. It is 1/2 hp and runs at 3450 rpm.. I want to just attach a new pump to the 2 lines that are attached to the old pump but when looking at new pumps they talk about deep well jet packages that appear to go down in the well..I assume that something like that must be there already..My well is 175 feet deep..am I to assume that the plumbing goes down that far? If I buy a unit that says it is good for 125 feet am I also to assume that the pump will mot be capable of drawing a column of water 175 high? I can't seem to find a pump that will work at 175 + feet..Existing pump is an old McDonald but I don't have literature for it..

[Rich]

What you have is a pump above ground a jet foot valve in the ground. Why don't you just replace the pump with the existing plumbing instead of installing a submersible pump. Your well pipe might be 175' deep but your pump (or foot valve) might be set at much less than that. You have to know what depth your foot valve is set to, to buy the right size replacement pump.

IMHO,

[DickB]

I didn't want to go the submersible route but after 30+ years there is no way to know where the foot valve is less than pulling it out of the well. I can't find pumps that go to 175 feet in my searching so far..

[Yep]

What I was saying is the even if the pipe is set to 175 feet that is to hit bedrock to make a seal. Your foot valve maybe 30 feet deep. Take the information that you have about the existing pump to a pump supplier and have them reference the existing model to what is currently available. The depth of the pipe (in my area is what it took to get to bed rock to make a seal) this might be different in your area (I'm in the midwest35 miles sw of Chicago) I don't know. My fathers well is 125 feet deep and the foot valve is 35 feet deep.

Best of luck, Rich