Water well

[B.G. Smith]

We have a 180 ft. deep water well on the deer lease where I hunt, we have had an electric pump on it since it was drilled about 20 years ago. There are about 20 users when/if everyone is there which is infrequent. The pressure/flow gets low at these times. Someone has decided to change the system to an air whatever well. The casing is 2" pvc, they dropped a 1/2" tube down inside the well and hooked a 5 hp. air compressor to the tubing, guess what, no water. Now they say the compressor is not big enough, need to hit up members for more money to buy bigger compressor. My question is, does any of you have any experience with this type water removal????? bg

 

[CTait]

While it will work in theory at that depth it is an inefficient way of getting water out of the well. What sense does it make to have a genset to run a compressor to make air to run through all of the needed piping to lift the water out? How will they purge the air that is inherent with this type of system? Maybe you said they are pumping into a tank and I missed that . There used to be a company called Bo-john that had a small compressor attached to a windmill that would pump small amounts of water from shallow depths. I saw a few on stock water setups. Before anyone changes the method of lifting water out of the well the question needs to be answered of how much water(gallons per minute) is the well capable of producing? It is always better to go with more tank capacity either through a larger holding tank or more pressure/bladder type tanks to handle peak flows than it is to overdraft the well. The holding tank can be filled and ready for peak demand. On my own setup I used to use a 3hp pump hooked direct to three pressure tanks and on a pressure switch. The thing that kills electric submersible pumps is frequent stopping and starting and or pumping sand. As my family grew(teenagers) I added a 2500 gallon tank that I pump into and it is connected to a 3/4 horse pump that is connected to the 3 pressure tanks. The larger pump to fill the tank and irrigate 4 acres in the summer and the smaller pump to pressurize the system. My last pump was a 5hp Grundfoss and it lasted 9 1/2 years on this setup. I have worked 16 years for a municipal water system. Hope this helps.

 

[Alan Reagan]

I've never heard of the compressor for water removal at that depth. I would just install a submersible pump into a pressurized tank. That should handle the flow you need.

 

[CTait]

Hi,I read your post again. If your well only has a 2 inch casing and they dropped a 1/2 inch air line down it hooked to a 5 HP compressor resulting in no water it could be two things. You didn't state the static water level in the well but did state that the well is 180 feet deep. The problem is not the compressor size it is the line loss or friction loss in the air line. You need larger diameter air line. The compressors I saw on the bo-john pumps were about the same size as the little compressors that plug into your cig lighter to fill your car tires and they used a half inch air line. It is easier to forget but friction loss in air lines is real. I am currrently inspecting a 72 inch diameter water line where a contractor is attempting to sandblast the welded joints and recoat them. He is finding out that even with a very large compressor set at 200lbs he cannot work very far from his compressor. I would buy a pump from Grundfoss called a jet sub. It is a small diameter submersable pump that has some neat features.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Thanks for the replies. I was afraid that was going to be the case. bg