Just bought some property with a pumphouse

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flboy0638

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Hello, I do not know much about pumps and wells but I got a few questions about a well on my property. It has a pumphouse with well inside. Its been vandalized but here is what is left. Breaker Box. 4 inch caseing going down in the ground through a concrete pad. On top of the caseing is like a flange or manifold or cast iron well seal. from there a hole a little bigger then a quarter in the flange / seal / manifold. In that quarter size hole sat a rod coming out of a motor . The motor sat on the flange an partially in the hole. The only thing I left out is in between the motor and the flange was another manafold that the pipe comes off of an i assume water ran to the house.

1. I know its hard to assume but can you guys tell me if i have a shallow or deep well based of that?

2. Can you guess at what configuration setup this is? pump down in the well or it was up top an stolen?

3. Lastly, ill take any advice on a good pump and best way to install it on the caseing. Is there a pump that uses 120v and not 220v? I say this because my honda generator does not have a 220 hookup and it will be some time before i build a house.

* Homework to self = I know you guys are going to need to know so tommorow Im going with fishing line and a cork and i will try an drop it down to water to see how deep it is,... That is , if i can get the last flange / seal off the casing
 
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If the motor/pump was on top and there is only 1 hole through the well seal, I am guessing it is a shallow well type jet pump.

A cork and weight will get you the static water level. Take the float off and use the weight to find the depth to the bottom of the well.

If it is a shallow well jet pump, 115 volts will work up to 1.5HP.

A picture is worth a 1000 words.
 
first of all thanks for the reply. I am interested in getting the water depth like you mention.

I seperated the seal from the manifold and there is like a impeller or venturi device in there that sucks so I am understanding things more now.

after i got that off me an my friend picked up on the last remaining flange or manifold or seal an it was not even attached to the 4 inch casing. It lifted right up & we propped it up to look at things. we put two rods under the flange to hold it about 3 foot above the casing.

There are TWO pipes going down. I did some reading on this 2 pipe jet pump configuration.

I think my next steps are to install a new jet pump on the pipes but the only way I can think of to get the threaded pipes out of the flange portion of the old jet pump is to spin the pipe with a pipe wrench since there is two pipes.

1. Is a pipe wrench what I should use?
2. How do I hold the pipe from falling back down the hole while I do the other one?
 
You didn't say what kind of pipe your dealing with. You can't just unscrew the pipes from the jet down below. You need to pull it all out of the well. If you really want to make it easy on yourself, put a submersible pump back in instead of that two pipe jet. If you only have 115 volts, get a 1/2hp sub in 115 volts. They are the only horsepower that are dual voltage. That 1/2hp sub will blow away a 1hp two pipe jet system.
 
Either a hack saw or a saber saw. I prefer the saber saw. You will need a good clamp to hold the pipes while you cut them. If you have a pipe cutter (Ridgid) you can remove the cutting wheel and use it to hold the pipes. You only need to clamp one of them. A portable chain vise works good too. They can also be unscrewed once you get to the first joint at 21'. They will all probably be 21' long.

Once out, get out the fishing pole with a large sinker and let it down juking it to hear it hit the top of water. Write that down, then keep going to the bottom to get the total depth. Report back with a check book or credit card and we'll get you a pump.;)
 
I got the measurements sir. Just back from the property. While I was going out there I stopped at this tree nursury in the country owned by this ole man. I knew he would know the water table and a plumber. He said his wells or 150 feet and 125 feet. He was refering to the bottom. He did his himself because he was quoted a price of 8000 dollars

Anyways, enough with the stories. Here is my well stats:

overall = 55 feet
top of water = 26 feet
overall water table = 29 feet

I did it the way you said but I did it with the pipes still in there as I had lots of room. I tied a chain to the end of some string and it worked real well. I did it about 5 times.

Please do recommend a pump please sir. Id love it if it had a 110 plug so it can go in to my quiet honda genny but if 220 I can get another generator albiet the loud kind ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
 
I sure am thankful for the help I really do not want to pay thousands if I can resurrect this well.
 
Whatever you do, stay away from Countryline brand pumps that they sell at Tractor Supply. Total pieces of garbage. Got one and it cracked a rod in one of the pistons in less than a month- the tractor supply said they wouldn't accept a return and that I'd have to mail it to the manufacturer at my expense.

So, I got a Goulds pump instead. The Goulds pumps seem to last a good while (around 10 years). I see a 1.5HP one for shallow wells on Amazon for $640 (I know that is high, but pumps can be expensive). Might be able to shop around to find something less expensive though.

You have a two pump setup? Do you have one that pumps the water from below in to a holding tank and then another to pump the water to a pressure tank and then out to the waterlines? I've got a jet pump for the latter part, but a stupid pulley-wheel air compression pump for the former part. I was told a jet pump would suffice for both functions though.

Its a good idea to clean the holding tank while the water is not being used and a water softener might be a good thing to install because wells can have a ton of sediment that stains things.

I also recommend making sure your pump system has its own dedicated circuit breaker and a whole house surge protector for the box might be good. If you get power outages and surges it can fry things.

I hope it doesn't cost you too much to get things fixed up and running.
 
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If the place was able to be sold, then it is likely that there was a permit for the water well. I'm not sure which agency would have the records, but perhaps you could contact your local municipality to find out who would have the records for permits for a water well. Then you can see if they stated what type of well it was. Perhaps you can ask the real estate agent to ask the sellers if they have any information on the system and maybe get the name of whoever maintained it over the years.
 
both of the last two post are excellent & something that I did not think of thank you very much
 
both of the last two post are excellent & something that I did not think of thank you very much

No problem. I've had some "fun" involving my well system in the past few years. The pipes connected to the pump shook apart from the pump's vibrations, pulley wheel broke on the air compressor pump and then the motor burned out, main waterline pipe going in to the holding tank came off, motor in the jet pump burned out, rod in the piston of another jet pump cracked, pressure tank died and had to be replaced, and most recently the wires for the air compressor pump/ float for the holding tank fried and had to be replaced.

I'm lucky to have found another pump guy because the original guy is now senile and didn't remember to call back and I was without water for 3 weeks before I found the new guy.

Another thing to do is to talk to some locals who also have water wells and get contact info for whoever services wells and pumps. Having that can really help in times of need.

And depending how often your power goes out, something to backup the power to your pump/well to keep it running would be helpful. Barring that, save up some water somewhere because toilets can be flushed by dumping water into the toilet bowl (the pressure forces the water down the drain).
 
what do you guys think of me getting a 1hp jet pump from home depot & hooking it up to see how things work ooposed to pulling everything. I say home depot because if the well pipes do not work for whatever reason they will let me take the pump back. I just dread having to rig up some system to pull the galvanized pipe out. Thought id give it a shot to see if it works as it is with a new jet pump installed
 
I think the idea stinks. For one, a single stage pump like you would get there probably wouldn't make enough backpressure to make the jet work.

The other reason is that I hate it when people go buy anything just to try it then take it back. Like this one guy I knew, he wanted to build a deck. He went and bought a really nice nail gun, built his deck over the weekend then took the nailer back. Now I think that is just plain wrong.
 
I did that with a BBQ grill. had a big party and took it back a week later.

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Just kidding
I have had people tell me that, "Buy IT ,Use it, Return It" a few times. Your right It's just wrong.
Was going to say I never did that BUT
Come to think of it, I was at Fry's Electronics trying to solve a computer problem. Thought my mother board was bad. Lady in tech department suggested I buy a new hard drive, use it to reboot the PC/ load OP system and see if the pc works. Then just return for a refund. so I did. PC was fine so I returned it. I ended up just restoring my system from a earlier restore point.
 
Hey, if they tell you to, why not?

We had to put up a sign years ago that there was no return on electrical/electronic items. Peoples pumps would quit, so they would come in, buy a brand new control box, plug it in and poof. Well now they know the pump must be bad so they want to bring the box back. I don't think so!!!
 
I do agree it is wrong to buy something to use once and then return it-- but I do understand if someone buys something in the hopes it will work and intention to keep it if it does work, but has the option to return it if it does not work. If someone is not satisfied with the performance of a product and there is a return policy, then I think it is ok to return it.

That said, I have only returned things when they turned out to be defective (with the exception of a pair of water shoes that seemed to fit in the store with the tags on that couldn't be removed when I tried them on) and didn't fit when I got them home so I exchanged them for a size smaller) or spoiled-- such as food that had bugs in it when I opened the container, or when the clerk said to return it if it wasn't the right thing and it wouldn't work for my application (although I tend to just keep stuff lying around in the tool closet just in case). If I plan to return something after one use, I would just rent it.

flboy, I don't know how I would feel about buying a water pump from a big box store. I got burned by Tractor Supply on that crap Countryline pump and I've been wary ever since. I would say you should see if the stuff can be found online and read reviews. It also might be worthwhile to find out if a pump/well installer can get a good pump for you at a good price. My guy can get the pumps wholesale and he wanted to make sure that my setup would last because its not fun to come out to my location.

speedbump, I would probably keep a control box even if it turned out to be another issue because you never know when the control box might go out-- but then, I am a hoarder so I also keep screws, bolts, washers, cool looking rocks, rubberbands, twist ties, and random shiny objects/bits of metal.... LOL.
 
speedbump, I would probably keep a control box even if it turned out to be another issue because you never know when the control box might go out-- but then, I am a hoarder so I also keep screws, bolts, washers, cool looking rocks, rubberbands, twist ties, and random shiny objects/bits of metal.... LOL.

Well said, you should see my shop, radio shack, work room, computer room among other things. I can't wait until she who must be obeyed has her next yard sale. :rolleyes:
 

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