please help with sand!

[hortonhwy69]

I have a 40ft well that has good water but I keep getting fine sand in my toilet tank. I know I need a filter but I don't know what to get. It has a new pump and the well was cleaned out. I get 10gpm and don't want to lose any water pressure.We live in a very small community and have had suggestions of filters from hardware stores for $50 to $500 for sand separators. I know a lot has to do with size of particles removed and gpm but I don't know the pros and cons. We have never dealt with a well before, any help is greatly appreciated.

[NH Master]

Raise the pump first. Pumping sand is bad for the pump and it gets into the pressure tank and the pressure switch.

[Driller1]

I have a 40ft well that has good water but I keep getting fine sand in my toilet tank. I know I need a filter but I don't know what to get. It has a new pump and the well was cleaned out. I get 10gpm and don't want to lose any water pressure.We live in a very small community and have had suggestions of filters from hardware stores for $50 to $500 for sand separators. I know a lot has to do with size of particles removed and gpm but I don't know the pros and cons. We have never dealt with a well before, any help is greatly appreciated.

Water wells should NEVER pump sand or any other dirt. Have a pro look at this.

How old is the well???

What kind of well and casing do you have??

[hortonhwy69]

The well is about 40yrs old and I don't know about the casing. We bought the house about 6mo ago. We are on a knoll over looking a flood plain so I assume there is plenty of water. What type of expert do I need, the man who cleaned out the well also installs pumps.

[Driller1]

The well is about 40yrs old and I don't know about the casing. We bought the house about 6mo ago. We are on a knoll over looking a flood plain so I assume there is plenty of water. What type of expert do I need, the man who cleaned out the well also installs pumps.

Have a well driller look at it. 40 years.....there is a possibility of a hole in the casing.


What do you mean by "cleaned out the well"??? Screen change?? How long ago???

[hortonhwy69]

I may need to correct myself- don't know if it makes a difference- the well is 40ft but there is only 10ft of water. The house was vacant when we bought it so there is no history. After we had the sump pump installed we noticed the sand particles and the installer raised it but it didn't work so he came back and cleaned it. We were not there but assumed he was pumping out the sand. The water was tested at a lab and there is no bacteria, it has no odor and the color is good. But I know something needs to be done because the sand will ruin everything.I have a horrible feeling we need a new well, but we have enough water, I think! Do you think we could have the wrong type of pump since the water level is not that deep or does it make a difference? Also what is the caseing and would he have not noticed any problems while he was cleaning or installing.

[Driller1]

I may need to correct myself- don't know if it makes a difference- the well is 40ft but there is only 10ft of water. The house was vacant when we bought it so there is no history. After we had the sump pump installed we noticed the sand particles and the installer raised it but it didn't work so he came back and cleaned it. We were not there but assumed he was pumping out the sand. The water was tested at a lab and there is no bacteria, it has no odor and the color is good. But I know something needs to be done because the sand will ruin everything.I have a horrible feeling we need a new well, but we have enough water, I think! Do you think we could have the wrong type of pump since the water level is not that deep or does it make a difference? Also what is the caseing and would he have not noticed any problems while he was cleaning or installing.

What did he do to "clean" it?? If he put acid in the well, it has possibly made a hole in the casing.

[Driller1]

Is this a crock well???

[Driller1]

http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/e...n/handbook.pdf

Maybe this will help with terms.

[NH Master]

You may be able to put a sock on the pump. These filter pretty fine particles and should protect the pump

[hortonhwy69]

Not sure what a crock well is- mine has concrete walls and I have no idea what is at the bottom. I will check with the pump man to see how he cleaned it. What is a sock? That sounds good, is it costly?

[Driller1]

Not sure what a crock well is- mine has concrete walls and I have no idea what is at the bottom. I will check with the pump man to see how he cleaned it. What is a sock? That sounds good, is it costly?

That sounds like a crock well.

[Cranberry112]

It sounds like I am having the same problem.



I have a well that is about 5 years old. Every year I spend about $1000.00 on my well guy. I could have dug another one! I have large amounts of sand, iron, and the water is very hard. The well is over 100 ft deep. It always start the same way. I will see small amounts of sand and then within a week I can cover the bottom of my tub with sand. My little girl calls it the beach. I will call the well guy out and he will flush the lines, replace the pump, reccommend a new tank, raise the filter, or change the switch. At about $600 each visit. It will be nice and clear for about 6 months, then the cycle begins again. I am on my 4th washer in 5 years. My dishwasher no longer works. I have had pipes bust in the walls. I am desperate. What can I do? We just spent alot of $$ on a new washer, a water softener, and a filter. I am having to wash the filter off every day. The canister is over half full with sand after just 24 hours.

My original well man that dug this well has cancer and is not able to do any work anymore and I would feel horrible saying anything negative about him. I just want to have clean water.

Angie

[Andy CWS]

You were quite descriptive except for two aspects: what are your water test results and what equipment are you using? Surely, you have some type of softener/filtration system, right?

[Cranberry112]

I did the water test that was in my water softener paperwork, to determine the level of hardness. I have a whirlpool water softener. I can tell a difference in the hardness of the water.
I installed a whirlpool whole house filtration filter as well. The canister is clear, therefore I can see that within 24 hours it is over half full with sand.
I have to remove that and flush out the filter and canister to prevent the sand from moving into the water softener.
Everyone is telling me to buy another filter to add to those, but I fear that if the problem starts at my well, I will just be wasting more money. Why can't my well guy just fix this? After his last visit, there was still some sand in the water and my father helped me pull the pump up and we raised it about 10 feet. By doing that we actually had about 10 months of sand free water. Should we do that again? Could it be that the tank is water logged?

You were quite descriptive except for two aspects: what are your water test results and what equipment are you using? Surely, you have some type of softener/filtration system, right?

[Andy CWS]

I did the water test that was in my water softener paperwork, to determine the level of hardness. I have a whirlpool water softener. I can tell a difference in the hardness of the water.
I installed a whirlpool whole house filtration filter as well. The canister is clear, therefore I can see that within 24 hours it is over half full with sand.
I have to remove that and flush out the filter and canister to prevent the sand from moving into the water softener.
Everyone is telling me to buy another filter to add to those, but I fear that if the problem starts at my well, I will just be wasting more money. Why can't my well guy just fix this? After his last visit, there was still some sand in the water and my father helped me pull the pump up and we raised it about 10 feet. By doing that we actually had about 10 months of sand free water. Should we do that again? Could it be that the tank is water logged?

Two approaches: Mend what you have , or start all over.

Drilling a new well can be costly and is no guarantee that it will solve the sand issue. I can't say i can tell you more about the well than the well-guy, so I will defer to him. On the other hand, ask another for another opinion.

As for mending what you have, we recommend special sand separators.
http://www.lakos.com/products/ILB.html
These work very well but must be sized to flow rate and volume. They come with purge valves, optional automatically switched.

You may want to keep the clear filter housing as a final back up.

Sand will cause damage to any water treatment equipment at worst and be a major nuisance at best. Taking shortcuts will only be more frustrating. Get it right the first time. All sand filters will require some babysitting, but bet to get a device that doesn't need constant replacement parts.

It is ahrd to be more helpful while not being on site.

Andy

[Cranberry112]

Thanks for your advice. I could have had a new well dug with all of that money that I have spent. My well guy is the most reputable in the area. I don't mind the extra work, but every day is excessive. I will try to get a second opinion. Again Thanks

[Driller1]

It sounds like I am having the same problem.



I have a well that is about 5 years old. Every year I spend about $1000.00 on my well guy. I could have dug another one! I have large amounts of sand, iron, and the water is very hard. The well is over 100 ft deep. It always start the same way. I will see small amounts of sand and then within a week I can cover the bottom of my tub with sand. My little girl calls it the beach. I will call the well guy out and he will flush the lines, replace the pump, reccommend a new tank, raise the filter, or change the switch. At about $600 each visit. It will be nice and clear for about 6 months, then the cycle begins again. I am on my 4th washer in 5 years. My dishwasher no longer works. I have had pipes bust in the walls. I am desperate. What can I do? We just spent alot of $$ on a new washer, a water softener, and a filter. I am having to wash the filter off every day. The canister is over half full with sand after just 24 hours.

My original well man that dug this well has cancer and is not able to do any work anymore and I would feel horrible saying anything negative about him. I just want to have clean water.

Angie

If it has a bedrock intake I could fix it with a liner in 1/2 a day.

If it is a screened well, I could fix it with a sandblocker screen in about 2 hours.

Call some drillers that know what they are doing.