Very often people worry that from a well instead of a clean and clear water water enters with turbidity, suspensions, with small particles of sand, and, worst of all, clay water. Water with clay is the most unpleasant moment, so it is much more difficult to eliminate it than sand. To understand how to deal with this problem, you need to understand the reasons that can cause this phenomenon, in other words, find out why from the well water is coming with clay.
This problem can be divided into two - water with clay from a well of recent drilling, and clay water from a long and well-functioning well.
Clay water from a freshly drilled well
Drillers and engineers know several reasons why clay water comes out of a new well:
If suddenly clay water came from an old well
Many owners of wells that have been drilled for a long time and are constantly operating are faced with an unexpected problem. Clay water begins to flow from a previously normally functioning well. To determine what to do in each case, how to clean the well from clay, it is necessary to identify the cause of this phenomenon.
There are two main, common reasons.
- Depressurization of the casing, as a result of which clay penetrates from the aquifer into the well space.
- Damage to the filter (rupture, cracks), and, as a result, all the sediment that had previously settled on it began to flow into the water.
In each of these cases, capital repair work. In the first option, it is required to raise the casing string, and determine the area of depressurization, after which - to close it. In the second case, the filter can be repaired, or simply replaced with a new, serviceable device.
Pumping silty water from the well after downtimeThe problem of low pressure, or the complete absence of water from shallow wells, 10-25 meters, is not uncommon after a long downtime. It occurs for several reasons:
- Silting of the bottom filter. When water withdrawal is stopped, salt deposits and sand particles quickly clog the filter, especially in high-water wells
- Clogged pipes
- Depleted aquifer
We solve the problem with silting of the well filter
To get rid of the silt that has settled on the filter, the well needs to be “pumped”. You can do this yourself with the help of a drainage vibration pump. It is lowered into the well so that about 1 meter remains to the bottom. It is advisable to stir up bottom sediments by raising and lowering the pump several times. Pumping is carried out at the maximum power of the pump. Depending on the degree of filter contamination, pumping will take from several hours to a week.
To reduce pumping time and make it more efficient will help to perform it in an intermittent way according to the scheme:
- Turning on the pump - pumping out 10-15 minutes;
- Turning off the pump - 10-20 minutes break to restore the water level.
- Turning on the pump.
During operation, the pump must be periodically cleaned and clean water pumped through it.
It often happens that all the water is pumped out, but the bottom filter in the well has not yet been cleaned. In this case, it is necessary to add clean water to the well and continue pumping. You may have to add water several times.
What to do if there is a mud plug in the well
If the pipe is clogged and water does not flow, and the submersible pump does not lower into it, another method will be needed. The well can be pumped with air or water under high pressure.
To do this, a pipe of smaller diameter is installed in the shaft. A sleeve is connected to its end through which air is supplied. Silt and mud from the bottom of the well rises and comes to the surface through the annulus. Continue the procedure until clean water rises to the surface.
It is important to be careful, as the water pressure with mud and silt can be much greater than the incoming water. The mud plug can be blown out by the high pressure created by the water.
Pumping a well will not only solve the problem of low pressure and increase the flow rate of water, but also significantly improve its quality. The filter will begin to work more efficiently, from which the water will become crystal clear, and the level of its mirror in the well will increase significantly. If the cottage has a washing plant high pressure, it can be used in place of the optional pressure wash pipe.
If the aquifer at this level is depleted, the only way out is to drill a new, more deep well. To prevent the problem from recurring, regular cleaning and flushing of the system is recommended. autonomous water supply, as well as the installation of additional filters at the outlet of the well. Then all pipes will be protected from congestion, and your health from dirty water.
When a well appears on the site, giving a steady flow of water - this is happy event, after all, complex and expensive work was completed successfully. Do you agree?
But the quality of the water received can cause some confusion among ignorant site owners. It is more like a stream of very liquid mud than drinking water. Don't be scared, that's how it should be.
Drilling a well is only half the battle. To provide a home enough water suitable for use, you need to learn how to pump the well, and then perform a series of simple, but rather laborious operations. We will tell you how to cope with this, at first glance, a difficult task.
The reasons why wells require pumping and how to eliminate them will be described below. You will also find information on how to perform the pumping yourself, which is required for this. The article is accompanied visual photos and video materials that will help to understand this issue in more detail.
Dirty water, coming at first from the well, the phenomenon is quite natural and natural. Small particles of soil and other insoluble inclusions mix with water, forming a suspension that is not suitable for people or even for household needs. The only way to get rid of it is to pump out the pollution along with the water.
Understanding the causes of silting will not only put the well in order initially, but will also help organize it. Typically, such severe water pollution in the well is observed only immediately after drilling is completed.
However, owners of a new well should be aware that similar problems may arise later.
This diagram clearly shows the device of a filter and artesian well. After drilling, a large amount of contaminants accumulate in the shaft, which must be removed.
Small clay particles, together with larger inclusions, accumulate at the bottom of the wellbore, which leads to siltation of the well. Most often this happens if the well is used irregularly.
For example, if the dacha (and the well) were not used all winter period, hosts may find severe silting. The skills gained while pumping the well will be useful for solving this problem.
Depending on the composition of the soil in the well naturally sandy deposits of impressive thickness can accumulate. They also create significant problems that are solved by pumping large volumes of water from the well or cleaning it.
Well pumping stages
Information about the need to pump a well will come in handy at the design stage. If drilling is entrusted to a professional team, and not amateur drillers, then the contract usually includes pumping services.
Stage #1. Preparation for work
Professionals usually have special pumping equipment capable of pumping out about 3-6 cubic meters of dirty water per hour. Of course, this increases the cost of the work, but you should not immediately abandon this addition.
If a professional team is engaged in drilling a well, it makes sense to immediately order well pumping services when the drilling work is completed.
Although the process of self-pumping a well is relatively simple, it will require not only time and effort, but also certain material costs. In addition, you will need minimal skills in working with pumping equipment.
No one can accurately predict how long a well needs to be pumped. It is believed that this procedure takes from 12 hours to two days. In practice, the self-pumping process can take several weeks, or even months, depending on the situation.
Work time may be affected whole line factors:
- well depth;
- the nature of the soil and pollution;
- professional level of performers;
- features of the pump, etc.
Usually for pumping a not too deep well in which aquifer located in a sandy or limestone layer, one working day is enough. But the extraction of sand or clay deposits dissolved in water from a deep “artesian” well can take weeks or months.
If the work dragged on in time, experts do not recommend immediately putting an end to an expensive structure. Most often, the well can be successfully pumped. Although it also happens that even professionals cannot cope with pumping a well, and are forced to recognize the structure as unsuitable for operation. Fortunately, such cases are very rare.
The biggest problems during pumping await owners who have to remove clay deposits dissolved in water from the well. There are cases when a decision was made to scoop out both clay and almost all water from the mine. The result of this labor-intensive process is a clean and easy-to-operate well.
Each well is a structure with individual characteristics. Even if it was possible to pump a well in a neighboring area in a matter of hours, this does not guarantee the same success for a new facility. Usually with wells “on limestone” there is more problems when pumping than with sand wells.
For a variety of reasons, the duration of pumping may be maximum or minimum. Failure of the pump, which will have to be completely replaced, can also lead to delays. This situation is not uncommon even during the pumping of a shallow well.
Stage #2. Selection of equipment and preparation of a place for draining
There are a few things to consider before starting work. important issues. To get started, stock up necessary equipment, and then provide a place for dumping the pumped out dirty water. Main tool work when pumping a well - a pump.
The submersible pump selected for stationary operation should not be used during the well pumping process, as it can break down immediately
You should not use for this the pump that was chosen to supply clean water to the house. Not everyone can cope with pumping large volumes of water containing a lot of sand, dirt and other suspended particles.
For a home, it is better to buy expensive equipment that will provide uninterrupted water supply for a long time. Inexpensive models are more suitable for pumping, the breakdown of which will not hit the family budget.
The Malysh pump is an inexpensive and easy-to-use model that is successfully used for pumping wells. This unit is most effective at a depth of up to 25 m
Most often, independent work on the buildup of a well is performed using a domestic inexpensive model of the or type. Well proven more powerful.
According to reviews, submersible pumps do an excellent job of pumping wells, although at the beginning a sand plug may form in the device.
Aquarius pumps are successfully used for pumping wells after drilling. They are high performance and damage resistant.
Models in which water passes through a metal impeller in the form of a “snail” are not very good in combination with sand. This element clogs very quickly, it often has to be cleaned or replaced. Sometimes these pumps break down almost immediately. It all depends on the model, the depth of immersion and the nature of the pollution.
Experts strongly do not recommend using vibration pumps for the well, preferring centrifugal models. It is believed that vibration can adversely affect the condition of the well, disrupt pipe string connections, shake the casing, etc.
At the same time, many owners describe the positive experience of pumping or cleaning a well using inexpensive vibration technology.
If drilling work was carried out by specialists, you should get from them not only a passport for the well, but also recommendations on equipment for pumping it. The value can be not only the type of pump, but also its performance.
If the owner of the well was chosen a budget option: the already mentioned pumps “Kid” or “Brook”, he should take into account one point. During the cleaning process, especially in areas with complex, clayey pollution, such a pump can quickly fail, since it is still designed to work with clean water.
Two or three “killed” budget pumps for pumping a well after drilling are considered almost the norm. Some owners thus "buried" even five inexpensive units.
In the process of pumping a well with an inexpensive pump of the “Trickle” type, it may be necessary to repeatedly disassemble the device, clean it or repair it.
In the process of preparing a submersible pump, you should also make sure that its cable has the required length, comparable to the depth of the well. If necessary, the length of the cable is increased, while observing all the requirements of electrical safety standards.
One more important point– a cord on which the pump will be hung during work (do not use an electric cable to lift the device from the shaft!). Budget pumps are equipped with no less budget cords.
The unit will have to be taken out of the shaft for washing quite often, a fragile cord can simply break. As a result, problems with flushing will be added to the hassle of getting a fallen pump.
In some cases, this led to the loss of the entire well. To prevent such a sad situation, you just need to invest in a reliable and durable cord or cable of sufficient length. In the process of work, it does not hurt to periodically inspect it to identify abrasions.
Immediately you need to decide where the pumped water will be discharged (and its total volume can be several tons or more). There is a rule: dirty water must be poured out at some distance from the well, otherwise the pumped water will simply return to the well shaft, it will have to be pumped out again and again, the process can last forever.
In addition, the backflow of water into the shaft can adversely affect the strength of its walls, since water entering under pressure can break the connections. After that, the liquid that has penetrated through the slots in the joint will be able to erode the soil surrounding the well.
Dirty water pumped out of the well must be diverted as far as possible from the location of the well to prevent it from getting inside
Part of the pumped water can be used on the site, for example, for irrigation. Of course, for this it is necessary to first clean the water from contaminants. You can make a simple sand trap.
To do this, take a barrel of a suitable volume and make two holes in it: the first is in the upper part of the container, the second is approximately in the middle of the barrel.
With the help of a sand trap, water obtained from a well can be effectively cleaned of contaminants and used for household needs.
Contaminated water is fed into the sand trap from above, it settles for some time and exits into the second hole located in the middle part. Pollution, sand, silt and other particles remain at the bottom of the tank. Periodically, the sand trap should be freed from this sediment.
Stage #3. Well pumping
When cleaning a well after drilling, the following simple operations are performed:
- The pump is lowered into the well so that it is at a certain distance (30-40 or 50-70 cm) from its bottom.
- The pump is turned on and the water is pumped out.
- After some time, the equipment is removed and washed, immersed in a container of clean water.
- The washed pump is again lowered into the well and the dirty water is pumped out.
- The procedure is repeated again and again, until a steady flow of clean water appears.
Of course, if the pump fails, it must be replaced with a new device. It should be remembered that as the bottom of the well is flushed, it may drop slightly. The pump is lowered in this way: it is immersed until it reaches the bottom, then 30-40 cm of the cord is selected and fixed. Sometimes the recommended immersion depth is 50-70 cm.
Image gallery
If the pump is set too high or too low, the results will be unsatisfactory. In the first case, cleaning will be of poor quality, since the main contaminants simply will not get into the pump.
If the pump is suspended too close to the bottom of the well, the flow of contaminants may become too intense. As a result, the pump will quickly become clogged and may soon fail.
There is another version of the development of events. If immersed too low, the pump may simply be pulled into mud or sand. It is not always possible to free a pump stuck in this way, sludge sucks even powerful equipment very strongly.
Sometimes this leads to the complete loss of the well. Again, it makes sense to recall the need to purchase a strong cable for hanging pumping equipment.
The pump, which is used to pump the well at the end of drilling, must be removed frequently and cleaned of accumulated contaminants
To pump out dirty water as efficiently as possible, you should not leave the pump in a static state during operation. Experts recommend smoothly moving it in a vertical plane by about 4-6 cm.
Do not make sudden movements, so as not to damage the equipment. This technique makes it possible to lift contaminants from the cork in parts, which largely prevents clogging of the hose.
For correct pump immersion depth, do not rely on the cord length noted when the pump was first immersed. After each flush, the pump must be lowered again to the very bottom, and then raised to the desired height. If the water stops flowing, the equipment should be immediately disconnected from the power supply.
Perhaps the pump was still sucked into the sludge, or it simply burned out or clogged. In any case, the device must be removed from the shaft and inspected. If after flushing the unit works as before, you can continue pumping.
If the pump breaks down, work will have to stop in order to purchase new equipment. Downtime can be prevented by purchasing another pump in advance. If it is not needed during the pumping process, it can be sold or used for other household needs.
What to do if the pumping is delayed?
Some wells have to be pumped for almost months. If the work is in progress, and the result is not noticeable, it makes sense to recall the main mistakes that novice craftsmen often make when performing work of this type.
Here are the most common:
- The pump is too high, therefore, the cleaning of the bottom layers of water is not carried out.
- Pump hung too low, it often becomes clogged and may soon break or be sucked into the silt.
- Dirty water pours back into the well shaft, which leads to re-contamination of the well.
A simple check of each of these points will allow you to identify and fix the problem before the situation gets really complicated. If the work is delayed, it makes sense to invest in the services of specialists or simply consult with more experienced craftsmen.
Causes of silting and how to eliminate it
When silting or sanding, it is possible to carry out different methods. As a preventive measure, after some downtime or if a slight silting is detected, it is enough to turn on the pump for several hours and pump out water with accumulated sludge. The problems are evidenced by a slight decrease in the debit of the well.
When figuring out how to properly pump a new well, you can find various recommendations, some of which are applicable to cleaning already finished and commissioned facilities. For example, there is a method of cleaning a well with a fire engine.
At the same time, a large amount of water under pressure is supplied inside the well, which makes it possible to break up the contaminants accumulated there, partially wash them out and facilitate further cleaning of the water source.
Pollution with mineral deposits will signal cloudy water clearly brown in color with the inclusion of grains of sand and even fine gravel
Sign of siltation of a water well
The same can be said about the work with the bailer. This manual way cleansing, in which (severe metal product) are thrown to the bottom of the well in such a way that it breaks and scoops up the dirt and sand accumulated at the bottom. The bailer is taken out, freed from sediment and again thrown to the bottom of the well.
Wells are pumped with the help of a motor pump: Caiman, Hitachi, Honda etc. The cost of such a unit can be about a thousand dollars, or even two or three thousand, depending on the model.
This method, like those described above, will come in handy in the future, if necessary, and clean it of dirt, sand or silt. But at the end of drilling, pumping equipment should be used.
Conclusions and useful video on the topic
Visually, information about drilling a well and its buildup is presented in the following material:
It will also be useful to study video materials on cleaning domestic wells:
It can take a lot of time and patience to successfully flush a well. But with the right approach, this problem can be solved quite successfully.
Do you have experience in dealing with well siltation? Please share information with our readers, suggest your own way to solve the problem. You can leave comments in the form below.
One of common problems arising from well water, besides bad smell and a sharp color is its turbidity. What to do when muddy water comes out of the well, but without a pungent odor, we will understand this material. First of all, let's pay attention to new sources that were drilled to the depth of a perch or an artesian well. In both cases, the water may become cloudy. And here it does not matter how wide or how fast the performer drilled the flask.
Turbidity in new wells can be caused by sand or clay. Especially if the artesian well is poorly flushed. In this case, if the water in the well is dirty and cloudy, it is worth pumping the source well. It is necessary to draw water in the amount of 300-500 liters per day for 3-5 days. Do not be afraid that the water will dry up. The aquifer supplies water well enough if the contractor has correctly calculated and drilled a well.
If very turbid water in the well was formed in a well located along a perch, then it is simply necessary to install more powerful filters here. Unfortunately, when an aquifer is located on sandy ground, such occurrences are not uncommon.
If you have been operating your well, to put it mildly, not for the first day, then the causes of cloudy water can be very diverse. Let us consider in detail the very common ones (namely, why this happens).
Vibration Pump Operation
Unfortunately, such a unit, pumping water, constantly creates vibrations in the water. The vibrations transmitted through the water and the casing are capable of spurring small inclusions in the form of sand, clay or silt, and washing them out. Why is the water flowing cloudy.
In addition, the operation of the vibration pump leads to the destruction of the casing. A clear symptom confirming that your casing is a little damaged is the presence of sand and small rocky inclusions in the water.
If this is your case, then it is enough to simply change the vibrating pump, replace the destroyed section of the pipe and flush the well well. You will no longer wonder why the water flows dirty.
Incorrect installation of the casing pipe and the arrangement of the bottom hole
In this case, the water may also be cloudy. Even if you drilled an artesian well, but at the same time mounted the casing string incorrectly, then over time the gravel dump will be washed out from the bottom and sand will enter the water. What to do? It is necessary to call specialists and piston the well. That is, deepen it and again fill the bottom with gravel. The process is quite complex and time consuming.
Filter failure
Turbid water from the well can also enter the system due to filter failure. Why and how this happens is discussed below. Imagine that you have installed the right filters. Water enters the filters in any case, at least a little, but with small inclusions in the form of sand. Over time, the filter system cannot withstand such an abrasive pressure and simply breaks. Like it or not, a mesh filter is a fragile substance.
What to do in this case? It is necessary to replace the mesh filters or the entire filter system.
Too much iron
No matter how much you want to get perfectly clean water from an artesian well, it is in it that an increased content of iron particles is often observed. This chemical element together with water rises to the surface and, when settling, precipitates into a cloudy precipitate in the form of rye.
What to do? Install high-quality filters-iron removers. And you need to change them regularly.
The presence of foreign chemical elements in the water
If you drilled a well on a perch and eventually encountered muddy water, then it is worth thinking carefully. Is there any industrial enterprise, livestock farm or city dump near your site? Often the close location of such objects can spoil the water in wells located precisely on the sand.
If this is your case, then you urgently need to do a detailed chemical analysis and depending on the results obtained, install a good filter system.
Artesian well depressurized
Why does water with turbidity come from an artesian source? Perhaps your well has passed the stage of depressurization. In this case, to clean water can be mixed with simple ground water. What to do? Carry out work to restore the integrity of the well. If such work seems too costly, then it is better to drill a new well.
Banal bottomhole silting
If you operate the well not constantly, but from time to time, then silt and algae may have become the cause of the turbidity of your water. Imagine that your source has been standing still for some time. Water does not pump, direct circulation of liquid does not occur. This is an excellent environment for the growth of algae and silt. When you start pumping water, additional inclusions rise to the surface along with it.
What to do? Install good system bacterial cleaning.
Important: when choosing a method to fix a problem, be guided by your financial capabilities. For some, it is easier to drill a new source, while others decide to spend money on restoring the old one. In any case, invite specialists to fix the problem.
Often, owners of country estates complain that muddy water comes from the well. The problem is real, unpleasant, but it must and can be dealt with. First you need to figure out why muddy water comes out of the well, and only then draw up an action plan and start fixing the problem. Experts divide all the causes of this phenomenon into: mechanical, chemical and biological. We propose to understand each of them in more detail.
Why is there muddy water coming out of the well?
Most often, turbidity occurs due to mechanical causes, this includes:
- Washing out debris. This is due to the fact that the gravel cushion, which falls to the bottom and becomes a barrier to sand and limestone, erodes over time and becomes ineffective, the bottom filter stops cleaning the water. There is only one way out - to clean the column by pistoning and add gravel to the bottom.
- Failure or interruptions in the operation of the bottom filter. Like any technique, the bottom filter has certain period operation and sooner or later may break. If you can't clean it, you'll just have to replace the filter.
- The displacement of the rock layers may result in the depressurization of the casing string. It can also occur due to improper installation of pipes or reinforcement. To fix the problem, you first need to flush the well and fix cracks in the pipe. If this does not work, then only drilling a new column will help.
- The destruction of the casing and clogging of the water intake can occur due to the use of vibration pumps. The only way out is to clean the source and replace the pumping equipment.
Dirty water from a well can go due to biological reasons, because microorganisms invisible to our eyes are present everywhere in the air, in water and even underground. Naturally, they leave the products of their vital activity, which is why silting, flowering, water contamination with bacteria occurs. Effective method struggle - prevention. If timely remediation is carried out, then problems can be avoided. It is imperative to install filtration equipment, periodically clean and replace it, and in some cases even clean the column with a bailer.
Turbid water in the well may appear due to chemical reactions, man-made disasters, oil spills and emissions from chemical plants. Of course, it is absolutely impossible to use water from wells located in places of chemical damage. Only after a certain time will the aquifer be able to restore the supply of a clean, usable resource. Dirty water from a well can be evidence of a reaction to the oxidation of iron. This can only occur if iron and oxygen are present in the water. To fix the problem, you need to create a completely sealed barrel and install an iron filter.