First time shallow well

[brcisna]

Hello All,

First time trying to hand drill a shallow well with the trash pump feeding through 1 1/2" line to 1" galvanized pipe as drill rod.
Learning as I go it goes without saying.
Am currently using a new simmer small sump pump had in basement of house,,as water supply to feed the drill rod which isnt enough of course..I think its only 1/4 hp. Didn't want to go with the gas powered noisy blaster pump,,,which is of course going to produce a lot more findings blowout,
The wells around here you are hitting water at about 15' . Dug a 5' x 5' catchment pit for the findings to run over to.

What am finding is this cheapy sump pump,,once the drill rod becomes plugged hard with clay i have to wait lift up and down for the pump,,,to eventually push the plug out. The pump i can tell in the ibc tote completely stops pumping which makes for a very long process. Have ordered a more powerful one HP pump,,and going to stop until i get it.
Am actually doing pretty good,,,when i hit the depth i thought i was getting close to water table the drill pipe dropped about 18"'s,,,thought it was going to China,,,but then,,it got very tough.
Am only going to go about one foot deeper and call it good,,,but now,, when rotating the rod back and forth sounds like i am in heavy sand. Am wondering if i am actually grinding on shale and just has a sand sound to it..
Have a 2x6 with hose clamps to turning the 1" pipe .This is working pretty good for a one time use.

My idea is,,,if i can go one more foot with the one inch 'bit'....then pull out and attach my 2" bit and repeat. Am going to go with the narrow 2" submerisible pump,,,so will only need to drop in a 2" casing PVC.
This is only going to be used for occasional garden watering.

Anyone,,,,any ideas what i am hitting making the grinding noise,,,as I said sounds like course sand

Thanks

 

[Valveman]

If you had a stronger pump some of the cutting would come to the surface and you could see what you are drilling. Grinding sound is usually rock or gravel. Don't know of a submersible pump that will fit in 2" casing??

 

[RS]

They seem to be available, but I've never seen one.

https://www.amazon.com/SHYLIYU-Stainless-Submersible-Outlet-Industrial/dp/B07PZKWQQ1?th=1

 

[brcisna]

@Valveman @RS
the 2" submersible aren't very popular for sure... Just do to the fact this is first hand well dug,,,thought i better stay small on casing ,,,not a spring chicken any more on top of it. If i get a more powerful sump pump/trash pump,,,pretty certain things will go much quicker,,,may end up doing a four inch casing.
Have done the ole sandpoint drive down with the 80 lb post hole driver.in the past,,. Lots of fun...but it does do the job.

The 2" pumps are more expensive than 'the real submersible pumps' but only have 1/2" outlet so they'll only do about 4GPM,,,but will be ok for a garden only scenario.

Thanks

 

[Valveman]

Yeah but i think they are 2.2" OD and won't fit in 2" casing.

Sump pumps don't make much pressure. A trash pump would be better.

 

[brcisna]

@Valveman

Thanks for the heads up. Looks like it's another trip to Menard's for some more 'tooling' and 4" PVC pipe.
Will go with a real pump,,, 4",, I reckon. They seem to be cheaper anyway.

Stupid question.. Does anyone have any trouble getting 4" submersible to cram inside a 4" casing.
Would like to have a trash pump,,,,,This is in a residential area so really don't want the noise going on with the gas motor blasting,,,If was out in country would have a trash pump for sure.

 

[Valveman]

4" submersibles are really 3.5 to 3.75 OD and made to fit inside 4" ID casing.

 

[brcisna]

@Valveman

Thank You for the info on the submersible pumps.

Got the 'bigger' sump pump. That made quite a difference.
I have the casing in the ground now. Looking back on many rookie mistakes. My thought was starting out with smaller diameters like 1" bits then 1 1/4" ...etc would maybe be easier for my lowly sump pump..I think it had the exact opposite effect. One day i came to a complete stop,,,,had to jack the drill out of ground.. After getting it out,,the drill rod was packed solid with water bearing sand! I spent half day unplugging the drill rod. I only had three sets of drill rods ,,one for each size was working with ,,so didnt have any spares!
After getting to 1 1/4" bit it was like the "world changed"... The volume of water that blew out was crazy even with my original sump pump. It would only stop,,if i really forced it,,,into water bearing gravel,,,getting into the good stuff!
Finally got the technique of sort of pumping the casing down then up,,With the 1 1/4" and on, was getting enough flow the casing would try and push it back up out of borehole.

Were we live it is good black soil,,so it isn't blow sand like most youtube videos show in Florida,,,the casing falls down into ground after turning on trash pump!

My 2 cent