Post by dirty on Aug 26, 2007 19:53:29 GMT -5
This weekend the big chore was to pull the old well point and replace it with a new one. I don’t run out of water but if I use too much the water slows to a trickle.
Up here it gets so cold you have to keep pumps inside a heated building or underground. Just as a side note it is no longer allowed to place a well in any underground structure. The fear being that contaminated water can gather in the low area and drain back into the water table without being filtered by the soil.
This first picture is a view down into “the pit” or as it’s more commonly called the well house. You can see the chain is wrapped around the well pipe. it’s hard to see but the pipe 90s into a brass one way valve. I disconnected the pipe after the valve. Wound up removing the 90 and the valve before pulling the pipe.
Anyway then hooked the chain to my skid steer bucket and lifted away. Then I used the bucket to yank, jerk, pull and just generally abuse the chain and pipe. I was shocked at how hard it was to remove the pipe. I’d say I spent the better part of three hours before the pipe started to move. I bent the hell out of the first section of pipe. At one point I thought I was going to snap the pipe. The removing the pipe took about 4 hours total.
Here you can see the old well point. I had a picture of the new well point, but I accidentally deleted it. Of coarse the new well point was a good inch larger in diameter at the point. (you see the problem coming don’t you)
Anyway once the old well pipe was out I measured it. 23feet total. Of coarse the piece of paper I had showed the well as only 15 feet of pipe. So off to home depot again. Once I returned I set the new pipe into the old well hole. Do to all of the yanking I did on the old pipe the hole was large enough to slide the new point and pipe a good 7 feet.
Then the fun began. I found a good way to do this was. As the new pipe was driven down I added some of the old pipe to the new pipe. That way I was always able to drive the new pipe in from on top of the pit. also the drive cap(the red piece in the picture on top of the pipe) had a tendency to back itself off. i could see how someone would damage the pipe threads if they didn't check it frequently. i spent maybe two hours Saturday and 2 more hours Sunday just whaling away on that drive cap. i have no idea how someone would drive a new well without an old hole to follow. this was a lot of work.
Here is a close up of the new top on the well with a new one way valve and a new shutoff valve which the old well didn't have. i also installed a tee to the top of the well. i figure that way i can check water depth to help diagnose any future problems. the water currently sits twelve feet up into the twenty foot pipe. which puts the water table 6 feet below the bottom of the pit.
everything now looks good. it will probably be later in the week till i know if all this effort was worth it. the total cost of this project was around two hundred dollars not including the skid steer purchase.
one interesting thing was i replaced the pump and pressure tank that are in the pit, last fall when i moved in. i left a gallon jug of water down there in case i needed to reprime the pump. then forgot the jug. it made it through the winter with out breaking from freezing.
dirty
feeling good
Up here it gets so cold you have to keep pumps inside a heated building or underground. Just as a side note it is no longer allowed to place a well in any underground structure. The fear being that contaminated water can gather in the low area and drain back into the water table without being filtered by the soil.
This first picture is a view down into “the pit” or as it’s more commonly called the well house. You can see the chain is wrapped around the well pipe. it’s hard to see but the pipe 90s into a brass one way valve. I disconnected the pipe after the valve. Wound up removing the 90 and the valve before pulling the pipe.
Anyway then hooked the chain to my skid steer bucket and lifted away. Then I used the bucket to yank, jerk, pull and just generally abuse the chain and pipe. I was shocked at how hard it was to remove the pipe. I’d say I spent the better part of three hours before the pipe started to move. I bent the hell out of the first section of pipe. At one point I thought I was going to snap the pipe. The removing the pipe took about 4 hours total.
Here you can see the old well point. I had a picture of the new well point, but I accidentally deleted it. Of coarse the new well point was a good inch larger in diameter at the point. (you see the problem coming don’t you)
Anyway once the old well pipe was out I measured it. 23feet total. Of coarse the piece of paper I had showed the well as only 15 feet of pipe. So off to home depot again. Once I returned I set the new pipe into the old well hole. Do to all of the yanking I did on the old pipe the hole was large enough to slide the new point and pipe a good 7 feet.
Then the fun began. I found a good way to do this was. As the new pipe was driven down I added some of the old pipe to the new pipe. That way I was always able to drive the new pipe in from on top of the pit. also the drive cap(the red piece in the picture on top of the pipe) had a tendency to back itself off. i could see how someone would damage the pipe threads if they didn't check it frequently. i spent maybe two hours Saturday and 2 more hours Sunday just whaling away on that drive cap. i have no idea how someone would drive a new well without an old hole to follow. this was a lot of work.
Here is a close up of the new top on the well with a new one way valve and a new shutoff valve which the old well didn't have. i also installed a tee to the top of the well. i figure that way i can check water depth to help diagnose any future problems. the water currently sits twelve feet up into the twenty foot pipe. which puts the water table 6 feet below the bottom of the pit.
everything now looks good. it will probably be later in the week till i know if all this effort was worth it. the total cost of this project was around two hundred dollars not including the skid steer purchase.
one interesting thing was i replaced the pump and pressure tank that are in the pit, last fall when i moved in. i left a gallon jug of water down there in case i needed to reprime the pump. then forgot the jug. it made it through the winter with out breaking from freezing.
dirty
feeling good
that would have been a mess to have the broken pump at the bottom of the well.
. i'll have to remember to get some more pics of scenery.