Extending a well casing

[Beakster]

Hi all,

I have a well at my place, it took me a little while to find it as the previous owners had hidden it. It's in a flower bed, in a box. The top of the well cap is at ground level and they built a box around it. When opening the top of the box I could see they had packed the sides with rigid foam insulation. The soil was up to the level of the cap (which is just the metal on metal kind, not water tight). I had to excavate it in order to remove the cap so I could do a shock treatment to remove coliforms.

Now I've done some research and everyone is saying the top of the casing should be at least 12" above ground, so if I want to meet this I'm going to have to extend it. The inside diameter is 16cm or 6 1/4 inches. This seems an unusual size, as most seems to be 6 inches. Thinking about how to extend it I'm wondering if I could simply get a steep pipe with a 6 1/4 outside diameter and a 6" inside diameter. Then I could insert the new pipe into the old one and run a weld around it. That would give me an extension with a 6 inch ID which I think would give me a wider selection of well caps.

Would this be a viable solution? Also where do you get the heat shrinking wire connectors to join the pump wire?

Thanks

 

[Valveman]

Sounds good. But use a weld on pitiless adapter instead of just a piece of pipe.

 

[Beakster]

Sounds good. But use a weld on pitiless adapter instead of just a piece of pipe.

Why? It looks like a pitless adapter has an outlet on it which is no use to me.

 

[RS]

Do you already have a pitless adapter farther down in the casing? How does the water get out of the well? If you weld something on that reduces the ID of the casing, are you going to be able to get the pump out? Most pumps only require a 4 inch ID casing. I extended the casing on one of our wells using a piece of pipe the same size and a no-hub connector.

 

[Valveman]

There is only one outlet out the side of a pitless.

 

[Beakster]

Do you already have a pitless adapter farther down in the casing? How does the water get out of the well? If you weld something on that reduces the ID of the casing, are you going to be able to get the pump out? Most pumps only require a 4 inch ID casing. I extended the casing on one of our wells using a piece of pipe the same size and a no-hub connector.

Yes there must be a pitless adapter further down. Here are some pics

I worry about the durability of a nohub adapter that's buried in the ground. Won't the clamps rust after a few years?

 

[RS]

I think all No-hub connectors have stainless clamps, so it would last a long time, but the size might be a problem. See what you can find available. Your idea of welding on an extension would work fine too, you need to extend the casing before you get a large rainstorm and contaminate the well with surface water. Our casing was high enough, but occasionally overflowed. So I extended it with a piece of 6 inch pipe with a 2 inch nipple welded on and check valve to contain the overflow. There is a pipe into a trough that overflows into a drain pipe to a ditch. The check valve is to prevent rodents from getting into the well when it's not overflowing. It usually overflows for a while in the spring and then if it's a dry summer it stops.

 

[Valveman]

Yes there must be a pitless adapter further down. Here are some pics

I worry about the durability of a nohub adapter that's buried in the ground. Won't the clamps rust after a few years?

Yes you already have a pitless because that is a pitless well cap I can see. The pitless will be either brass or Stainless and will not rust. Extending the casing will be easy since the pitless is already installed. Just need to disconnect the wire and run it through the new piece of casing before welding it on.

 

[Stout Mechanical]

Most suppliers usually will only sell a 10 or 20’ piece of casing. Call around to local drillers in your area and see if one will sell you a scrap piece. 6 1/4 is normal for a steel casing.
Get yourself a sealed bolt on cap. If your comfortable welding it will be an easy task. You will also need to lengthen your conduit for the wire by the same length.
They also make a special coupling to transition from steel to plastic casing that is water tight. I would only consider that if your several feet below grade at the transition

 

[Brucevmc]

Here's a DIY video very well done, with a Non-Welding casing extension step by step: