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[Roger2561]

Hi all - I have an artesian well that's 205/10ft deep.  I'm trying to figure out how much water I have in the well.  The reason I ask this is, yesterday I finally got around to draining the OWB of the 5 year old water and filled it with fresh water.  It's the same well that I used 5 years ago to fill the OWB when it was installed and it's the same well that provides water to my house.  I noticed last evening and this morning that the water was a bit discolored, very light brownish look.  I suspect it may be silt that's being stirred up as the well replenishes itself.  But, I want to be sure I'm not getting too low.  In the interim I plan on cutting back on the water usage until it no longer shows the discolored water.  Anyone know the rule of thumb of how far from the well bottom would the pump be installed?  Thanks for the help.  Roger

[slimjim]

It's a pretty dry year Roger, you might want to conserve as much as possible.

[Roger2561]

Slimjin - I never gave that a thought.  I only wish I had another water source so I wouldn't have to bother with the artesian well water.  Instead of doing my laundry at home, I think I'll stop by our local laundromat for the next few weeks to wash my clothes and then dry them at home in hopes of helping the well recover.   

[fireboss]

I work for a well pump guy part time,   we set the pumps  20' off the bottom !   we get dirty water calls all the time we go there and just let the water run some times for hours   till it clears up !  its best to hook the hose up be for the pressure tank on boiler drain  so the pump dosent keep coming on and off.

[Roger2561]

I work for a well pump guy part time,   we set the pumps  20' off the bottom !   we get dirty water calls all the time we go there and just let the water run some times for hours   till it clears up !  its best to hook the hose up be for the pressure tank on boiler drain  so the pump dosent keep coming on and off.

fireboss - Thanks for the info.  Is it common practice among the well pump people to place the pump 20 feet off the bottom, or do some put it closer to the bottom?  I have no clue how far off the bottom of the well our pump is installed.  As for hooking up the hose, the well pressure tank is on one end of the house and the oil burner is on the other end of the house.  We have a pressure reducing valve between the well pressure tank and the oil burner to bring the pressure down to 12 to 15 pounds from the 40 to 60 that the pressure tank supply's.  I'm a bit reluctant to just to let the water run.  The water didn't turn color until AFTER I filled the OWB with well water, I fear I will drain the well.  The one I can do is change the inline water filter.  Perhaps its too dirty and not doing it's job correctly.  Thanks for the info.  I appreciate all the help and suggestions I can get.  Roger 

[fireboss]

when ever we pull a pump  we measure how deep the well is  and we see how long the pipe is  if the customer  never runs out of water we leave the same pipe  and if they do run out we make the pipe longer  some times if they are getting dirty water  we raise the pump  but not very often do we have to do that  we just let the water run and it clears up   its good to run a lot of water out of the well otherwise it just sits there and gets stag !  if the well runs out of water   we turn the pump off and let it fill  up  with fresh water   and if it real slow to fill up we refrack it

[mlappin]

Learn something new on here everyday, we’ve driven a pipe into a spring and watered cows that way, not a lot of flow but it ran 24/7.

Depending on your soil types it may take more than just a few rains to replenish your well.

We have a subsoil here that it takes one year, for one inch of water to move one foot thru it.

[Roger2561]

I work for a well pump guy part time,   we set the pumps  20' off the bottom !   we get dirty water calls all the time we go there and just let the water run some times for hours   till it clears up !  its best to hook the hose up be for the pressure tank on boiler drain  so the pump dosent keep coming on and off.

fireboss - After rereading what you wrote and finally understanding what you meant, I have a theory of where the problem might be; when I filled the OWB I connected the water hose to the drain on the well pressure tank, not the sillcock (I had disconnected it for service and haven't reconnected it yet - note to self - get this done) which is after the house filter. By coming directly off the pressure tank, I believe it simply upset any sentiment that has collected on the bottom of the tank.  The reason I say this is, approximately a year ago my oil furnace tech performed yearly service.  At the same time I mentioned that I was experiencing low water pressure.  In order to test the pressure in the well pressure tank, he had to turn it off and drain the tank of water.  The amount of silt that came out it surprised me.  The water had silt in it for a few days after that.  Every other day I had to change the house filter.  Eventually it cleared up.  I'll be changing the filter and if it doesn't clear up in few days, I'll contact the company who dug the well and installed the pump.  I'll keep everyone up to date on the outcome.  Thanks for the suggestions.  Roger

[Cabo]

Typically when we have a well drilled for a home the pump is set 10'-20' off the bottom.  The rule of thumb for storage in a 6" casing is 1 1/2 gallons per foot (i.e. 200'=300 gallons).  Before we run water through fixtures in a home we take a 5 gallon bucket (white) and put a garden hose in it with a rock on it to keep it in there, turn the water on about 1/2 flow and let it run.  Sediment will collect in the bucket so dump it out occasionally and you will see over time that the amount of sediment will typically decrease.  We've run it from 2 hours to even a couple of days (while we're on site) to get it cleared up.  Occasionally you will get a well with a lot of turbulence  and the sediment will continue,  In those cases we will have the well company install a filtration system that has a re-generation/automatic flush so that the owner isn't constantly having to change filters.  If you find that you're running out of water frequently, you may want to have a low water shut off installed so that you don't burn out the pump.

[Roger2561]

Typically when we have a well drilled for a home the pump is set 10'-20' off the bottom.  The rule of thumb for storage in a 6" casing is 1 1/2 gallons per foot (i.e. 200'=300 gallons).  Before we run water through fixtures in a home we take a 5 gallon bucket (white) and put a garden hose in it with a rock on it to keep it in there, turn the water on about 1/2 flow and let it run.  Sediment will collect in the bucket so dump it out occasionally and you will see over time that the amount of sediment will typically decrease.  We've run it from 2 hours to even a couple of days (while we're on site) to get it cleared up.  Occasionally you will get a well with a lot of turbulence  and the sediment will continue,  In those cases we will have the well company install a filtration system that has a re-generation/automatic flush so that the owner isn't constantly having to change filters.  If you find that you're running out of water frequently, you may want to have a low water shut off installed so that you don't burn out the pump.

cabo - In the 23 years since the well was dug I've never run out of water, even through the driest summers.  This morning I changed the filter cartridge and the water inside the house cleared up.  The old filter was caked with sediment. Generally I change the filter once every 6 months (the same time I change the fire alarm batteries).  I'm quite certain now that by hooking the water hose between the well pressure tank but before the filter is what caused all of the sediment.  Still, I'm conserving as much water as I can for the next few weeks to give the well a chance to recover.  If I see that the problem persist I'll contact the well company that installed everything and have them look it over for me.  Thanks for the suggestion of a low water shutoff.  Roger   

[coolidge]

As SlimJim said it is a very dry year, I took a look at my dug well this evening after a day of constant water usage and I am down too the last tile, I bet it will be full in the morning. We also have two other very old wells on the property that have never been dry and one of them is only three feet down.

[Roger2561]

I know my artesian well is 205ft deep and that the pump 180ft down, (I found the paperwork from when it was installed) does anyone know how to measure the depth of the water in the well?  Using that info I can then calculate how many gallons I have in the well.  At the time the well was dug it was producing 3gpm.  I can only guess that it's still producing at the level.   

[coolidge]

I checked mine this morning, four tiles of water, last night only one

[fireboss]

If you no your well is 205  then take a string tie a weight on  and drop it to you here a splash then subtract that from 205 that is what you call your static level . And yes rodger that would cause the dirty water   you should flush that tank every 6months  or maybe sooner if you have real dirty water or sediment! Also there's a nipple between your pressure switch that plugs up and will cause low pressure be sure to clean tat out evey 6 month's or so!

[Roger2561]

If you no your well is 205  then take a string tie a weight on  and drop it to you here a splash then subtract that from 205 that is what you call your static level . And yes rodger that would cause the dirty water   you should flush that tank every 6months  or maybe sooner if you have real dirty water or sediment! Also there's a nipple between your pressure switch that plugs up and will cause low pressure be sure to clean tat out evey 6 month's or so!

fireboss, Thanks for the info.  I did not know about the nipple that is susceptible clogging.  I'll definitely have a look.  I'll also make the flushing of the well pressure tank every 6 months part of my home maintenance routine.  I have the day off from work on Friday so I plan on measuring the water depth sometime during the day.  Thanks for the help.  Roger