I had a deep well pump stop working. I'm a DIY with lots of industrial maintenance experience, so I decided I could do this myself. I am located in Roanoke, VA, our dirt is red clay. The well is 200' deep, static water level 100' to 150', not sure 150' listed by last well company I think 100' is closer. Age of the well is 40 years. Well casing is 4” steel with a 6” PVC top where the pitless adaptor is mounted. The pump is a Grundfos 3” soft start 2 wire type, ¾ HP. I first installed the pump at the same level of the old pump…lots of sand and brown silt ran this for a solid day then let it rest for day and started moderate use, still lots of silt. Decided to raise the pump 9' some initial clearing but the silt is still coming.

Previous experience with this well was clear very good quality water. It would sometimes get cloudy for good reasons like the recent earthquake in our area and during extreme rainfall of 3” plus. The water would always clear in about 1-2 days.

Any ideas on what to do at this point, I'm out of ideas.

What's this "100'" mean? If you're pumping silt then something's closing in down there. When's the last time you measured the depth of your well? Back to you, Tom

100 feet, apparently this format does not recognise the mark designating feet and replaced it with what followed the numbers. As far as well depth I took the word of the last pump company from their notes as to the depth. The plastic pipe is about that long but I did not measure it before re installation. The new pump went down the well without incident and does not feel as if it is or was resting on the bottom. I have also raised the pump 9 feet from the first installation point. I know that this well is drilled into bed rock and the casing is installed in our area usually to get past a mud seam, but most likely not to the bottom of the drilled hole.

What horse was the original pump? I ask because, when our pump was replaced, we had a half horse. I asked the well guy if we should go up to a 3/4 horse. He said he didn't recommend it because it would create turbulence and result in the pump pumping silty water.



Just for the record, I am rapidly coming to hate these anonymous, commentless reddies.

Well I found it helpful and gave you a greenie to balance out the reddie. Thanks for the input. I learned something new, Tom

Thanks. Of course it's not such a big deal for amateurs like me. I just do this for fun and hope to help a few folks along the way. If someone disagrees, that 's all right. I just wish they would have to ID themselves and leave some comment about why the negative feedback.

If I was a pro like many of you, it would be aggravating for sure.

Hey! Ya can't please everyone but we try the best we can and as far as I'm concerned you post answers as good ,(and sometimes better) then the pros on this page. You don't have to take a back seat to anybody on this page, Cheers, Tom

Thanks again. Without question I have learned more than I've given out.