I have a well that is 147' deep and was drilled about 23 years ago. It originally had a 3/4 horsepower pump. About 4 months ago, I noticed that the well pump was running all of the time. I called the well company that originally drilled the well to come out and take a look at it. They determined that the galvanized water pipe coming up from the pump developed a hole and was leaking water back into the well. They replaced the pipe. At the same time, I asked them to replace the original 3/4 horsepower pump with a 1 horsepower pump in anticipation of installing a lawn irrigation system in the spring. They replaced the pump and chlorinated the well. Now, ever since they did the work on my well, it has been pumping sand at a rate so great that I am changing the sediment filter in the house 12 times a day. Essentially, with every use of the water (shower, toilet flush, load of laundry) I am forced to change the sediment filter because it is completely plugged with sand. To be clear, I NEVER had a problem with my well in the 23 years prior to them working on it, but now it is virtually unusable from the amount of sand that is being pumped. The well company has been out twice since the original service. The first time they blew out the well. At that time, the water never really cleared after what would seem a dump truck full of sand was blown out of the well. They told me to run the outside faucet for several hours and it would eventually clear. It never did. The second service call was to replace the 1 horsepower pump with a 3/4 horsepower pump with the thinking that the larger pump was causing the sand problem. I am now 4 weeks after the second service and am no better off. I just changed my sediment filter for the 10th time today. The well company said the last few times that I talked with them that my well has most likely failed and that I will need a new one for $12,000. I refuse to believe my well has failed when it never had a problem prior to them working on it the first time. I don't know much about wells so I can't explain what may have gone wrong in all of this, but I am not ready to just believe that my well conveniently failed at the same time they worked on it. Can anyone give me some idea of what might be going on?

When they installed new pump and pipe was it the same length as what was there before? If the combined length of pump and pipe is longer u may be seating at bottom of well.

It sounds like your pump is to low in well. Have it raised about 2 or 3 feet. This may solve your problem. It may take a day for pipes to clear out.

Let us know if this helps.

Good luck

Chuck

I guess I don't know for sure if the length of new pipe is the same as the old, but I think I would be surprised to find it longer than the original. If it was, I would think after the second service they would realize the issue. I will ask them.

Another item I forgot to mention, they did say that they also replaced the pitless adapter. Don't know if there could be anything wrong in changing the adapter, but thought I should mention it.

I'd tend to go along with Chuck. Pumps, when starting, can stir up a lot os silt and sand. Depending on the pump depth, you may be able to raise the pump 5-10 ft. and still have good water supply. How deep is the well? Changing the pitless adapter shouldn't effect the sand, the adapter is at the top of the well.

Thought I would come back and answer the question in case others experience the same problem. As it turns out, the larger pump was the problem. I don't quite understand why, but putting the 3/4 horsepower pump back in did fix the problem. It just took a long time for the sand to clear after putting the smaller pump back in.