Here is what my parents and I have been going through since June and I need to see if anyone out there has some good advise. To start with our property is located off of highway 6 just North of Calvert near the coal mine.
June- 137' foot well with a choke valve on it began going dry. This well is in the "Calvert Bluff" aquifer. This well has a so called "obstruction" in the bottom of it. Back in 2000 when replacing the pump it was lost in the bottom of the well somehow. For the past 11 years it was working alright with the "obstruction" in the bottom of it. The pump is set around 120' and is a 1hp pump. Since it was going dry the pump burned up. Installed new pump. Pump would run for about 8 minutes before it began drawing a large amperage load due to the low water level. Since this time we use this pump only for a water trough and have installed pump protector.
End of June- Hired a drilling company and went to the water board to obtain the necessary permit to drill a new well. Water board used existing wells in the area and suggested drilling the new well at a depth of 400' would put us in the "Simsborrow" aquifer and we would have plenty of water allowing us up to 30gpm.
July- Drilling company drilled to a depth of 420' making a new well drilling through a lot of coal. (I watched him drill and and counted the sticks of drill pipe going in). They installed 60' of well screen with 3 well seals(watched them install it). The new 1.5hp pump was set at 240'. Well pumped and worked well with clear water.
September- Well began pumping gray/smokey water. It wasn't mud nor does it leave a film in the sink, and it does not have an odor. Driller suggested to leave sprinklers running and allow larger sand particles to pack around well screens. What we were seeing is the small sand getting through the screen.
September- December- water ran non stop behind house to allow for the sands to compact against screens and at times one to allow the pump to cycle. When water ran it would be clear in the house. When we turned the water off over night the next morning it would be gray/smokey again. We installed a filter and the filter would get clogged. The well will clear after several minutes of running and flushing the lines. Water board is saying now that we are not in the "Simmsborrow" but possibly in the "Hooper" also saying it could be on the fault which runs through the area. Driller called the State geologist(which he did prior to drilling) to confirm the placement of the well in the "Simmsborrow" (heard conversation) through GPS coordinates. State called back and said it was in the "Simmsborrow". Driller believes what we are seeing is the result of drought and the large amounts water the coal mine and other larger wells are pumping. The well will clear up after you run it for several minutes and flush the lines. Driller says he has never seen anything like this and he has one other customer in the area who his older well is doing the same thing.
In short I believe we have a good driller and the water board is another story. He has helped us out a lot and wants to solve the problem just as much as us. His other options are as follows but not at the moment:
1. Blow well and drop pump
2. Driller deeper
With that being said for the money we have spent we still have problems. Any advise will be appreciated I just want my retired parents to live with clear water.
Thanks!
June- 137' foot well with a choke valve on it began going dry. This well is in the "Calvert Bluff" aquifer. This well has a so called "obstruction" in the bottom of it. Back in 2000 when replacing the pump it was lost in the bottom of the well somehow. For the past 11 years it was working alright with the "obstruction" in the bottom of it. The pump is set around 120' and is a 1hp pump. Since it was going dry the pump burned up. Installed new pump. Pump would run for about 8 minutes before it began drawing a large amperage load due to the low water level. Since this time we use this pump only for a water trough and have installed pump protector.
End of June- Hired a drilling company and went to the water board to obtain the necessary permit to drill a new well. Water board used existing wells in the area and suggested drilling the new well at a depth of 400' would put us in the "Simsborrow" aquifer and we would have plenty of water allowing us up to 30gpm.
July- Drilling company drilled to a depth of 420' making a new well drilling through a lot of coal. (I watched him drill and and counted the sticks of drill pipe going in). They installed 60' of well screen with 3 well seals(watched them install it). The new 1.5hp pump was set at 240'. Well pumped and worked well with clear water.
September- Well began pumping gray/smokey water. It wasn't mud nor does it leave a film in the sink, and it does not have an odor. Driller suggested to leave sprinklers running and allow larger sand particles to pack around well screens. What we were seeing is the small sand getting through the screen.
September- December- water ran non stop behind house to allow for the sands to compact against screens and at times one to allow the pump to cycle. When water ran it would be clear in the house. When we turned the water off over night the next morning it would be gray/smokey again. We installed a filter and the filter would get clogged. The well will clear after several minutes of running and flushing the lines. Water board is saying now that we are not in the "Simmsborrow" but possibly in the "Hooper" also saying it could be on the fault which runs through the area. Driller called the State geologist(which he did prior to drilling) to confirm the placement of the well in the "Simmsborrow" (heard conversation) through GPS coordinates. State called back and said it was in the "Simmsborrow". Driller believes what we are seeing is the result of drought and the large amounts water the coal mine and other larger wells are pumping. The well will clear up after you run it for several minutes and flush the lines. Driller says he has never seen anything like this and he has one other customer in the area who his older well is doing the same thing.
In short I believe we have a good driller and the water board is another story. He has helped us out a lot and wants to solve the problem just as much as us. His other options are as follows but not at the moment:
1. Blow well and drop pump
2. Driller deeper
With that being said for the money we have spent we still have problems. Any advise will be appreciated I just want my retired parents to live with clear water.
Thanks!
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