Finally after years of a privy and a pitcher pump...and much to the agreement of my wife and two daughters ...I put in a running water system at our little log cabin and a bath house. sytem is a combo of pex and copper. All in all things worked out well but since i did it two years ago I have one issue. Its a sand point with a shallow well pump. Pump is good up to 25 ft. Water level is twelve feet down the pipe. Did the whole system myself including driving the point. Problem im having is every once in a while ( might only happen once in a three day weekend at the cabin..sometimes 3 or 4 times just depends) when the pump kicks on because waters being used the pump will keep running. Usually when pressure drops because of use the pump kicks on in standard fashion and runs for about 30 to 40 seconds to get tank up to pressure and shuts off. But as said once in a while pump wont shut off...so then what Ive learned is i have to go to kitchen sink...turn water on...itll slowly peeter out to no water...just a trickle...with pump still running ...after about 20 to 30 seconds it starts coming back to full stream of water...while doing that it always spits very hard bursts of air, splatters everywhere...can hear gurgles in pressure tank in crawl space...once spitting is done waters back full pressure, pump shuts off and all is good until next time it happens. On rare occasion my kitchen faucet trick doesnt work i have to prime pump like im doing spring start up. Trying to get to bottom of this see if i can deal with it myself...in the spring if i cant im going to get a pro to handle it . Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any help.
water system problems at the cabin..shallow well.
- Thread starter twolabs
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I suspect you are pumping the water level down to where you are sucking air through the sandpoint. The water level may be at 12 feet when your not using any water, but when your using a lot, like a 3 day weekend, your pumping it down to the top of the screen and sucking air. It could be a small leak on the suction side of your pump, between there and the sandpoint, but then you would probably have to prime the pump after leaving it unused for a few days. You might solve the problem by driving the point down a few more feet, and long as it's still in water- bearing gravel.
Thx for the reply RS, i suppose your right...between the gurgling in the tank and spitting..clearly im drawing in air somewhere. Im about 75 feet from the waters edge and about maybe 8 ft above lake level...its a big spring fed chain of lakes in sand country. Dont see how i could be running out of water but i suppose anythings possible. My point is in 5 ft sections i drove of pipe...when my buddies and i were cutting threads at top after driving point whole thing got spun a few time in loosening direction....often wonder if something loosened. Thx again something to consider...may just have to yank point in spring. We want to start renting it some to offset taxes so I have to get this worked out.
Yes, if you turned the pipe CC at all you probably should pull it and reseal the joints. Did this happen when removing the pipe die? Where is the check valve, next to the pump? I don't have much experience with sandpoints, but I did pull one once, I put a 2x6 on each side of it with some bolts through them. and used a jack. Yours may not pull very hard, if it's not been in the ground very long. You said the water level is at 12 feet, how far down is the sandpoint driven? If you can drive it down to 25 feet you will probably never suck air or loose your prime, but the flowrate might slow down if you use a lot of water. Unless you drive it into clay, then you won't get any water. Does this problem occur more during dry times, and does your lake level fluctuate very much? Another solution is to drive another sandpoint, a distance away from the first one, and T them together. A friend of mine did that once for sprinkling his lawn, he was able to pull a lot of water out of the 2 of them together.
Yes it did get turned CC a little...though i did spin it to try and undo possible loosening but everythings underground right. its 5' sections of pipe with couplers at each section with lots of pipe thread sealant but who knows may have loosened. Its not like it was spun 5 revolutions but it was spun CC a little. My point is down 25 ft. Lots of water..spring fed flowage system, in the spring I run my water for a few hours to flush out rust...very irony water...I never run out of water. My old place 30 years ago i jacked a sand point out , wasnt too bad..think your right this one wont be too bad due too not in the ground that long. My check valve is close to pump. 6" length of pipe coming out end of pump, then an elbow connecting to sand point pipe, about 8" section of then check valve then 24' to point..hope that gives you the jist of where my check valve is at. This problem can occur anytime...dry time or lots of rain time...Ill have weekends where it never happens...Ill have weekends where it happens 2 or 3 times.
It seems to me if it was a leak causing the trouble that the problem would show itself after a period of the system at rest, allowing the leak to drain the pipe and fill it with air.
if the problem happens after a period of use then you’re running out of water for whatever reason.
if the problem happens after a period of use then you’re running out of water for whatever reason.
when we head home after a trip to the cabin i throw the breaker on the pump...upon return when i turn on pump I almost always have to do the kitchen faucet trick...it almost seems that when we are using the water alot, showers, doing dishes, lots of guests using bathhouse alot it doesnt happen as much...it seems inactivity , say im up alone, dont use as much it tends to happen more.
Sounds like you have a leak.
I don’t do well systems though, so don’t take my advice about it. I’m learning as I go.
I don’t do well systems though, so don’t take my advice about it. I’m learning as I go.
Now it sounds like a leak in your suction pipe, maybe caused buy unscrewing the pipe a little! Pull it out, re-seal all the joints, drive it back down, and never turn it CC. If you have to thread it, hold the pipe with a pipe wrench when you back the die off. After explaining when this happens it appears you are not running out of water, you just have a leak in you suction line, that is allowing air to enter the system.
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All good advice from Twowax and RS. An easy thing to try might be moving the check valve closer or to the top of the sand point. Your leak is below the check valve and moving it closer to the sand point would remove a few possibilities for a leak. But as was said the leak could still be in a threaded joint on the sand point.
Yes, ideally it would be best to have the check valve right above the sandpoint, but i don't know if they make one that would withstand the driving.
Not straight up; but just after the elbow.
Thanks to all for the input....I think pulling my point and re-sealing joints will be my first order of business in the spring...Probably throw a fresh point on as long as its out...kinda like if your dropping your fuel tank might as well throw in a new fuel pump. Lots of iron in that water. Obviously air is the problem..thanks again
