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Old 11-27-2017, 11:07 AM
nitro nitro is offline
 
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Default Casing failure on water well

Has anyone ever had it happen on a 9 year old well and any recourse from the company,and should there be ?.The last one was 30 years old.I central alberta.
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Old 11-27-2017, 05:56 PM
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likely your on your own . did you contact the driller ? you never know , they may help with repairs .
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Old 11-27-2017, 07:12 PM
nitro nitro is offline
 
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Have had the driller out all day today trying to clean it up kinda get a shrug and well no it does not happen but oh well.....It happened to you so first for everything.Just very frustrating being that 9 years is not real normal for a well casing to fail.
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Old 11-28-2017, 07:47 AM
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Reeves1 Reeves1 is offline
 
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My first thought was: wonder if the zones shifted ?

Is there a place within the Gov to see if a small ground shaker took place ?

Lets blame it on fracing
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Old 11-28-2017, 12:20 PM
nitro nitro is offline
 
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That was my first thought to is ground movement but being that we live in a subdivision think there would be others to.No new leases withing atlest 15 miles.I mean ground movement happens just me nice to know what caused it if nothing else but short of running a camera and spending more.....We air pumped it most of yesterday pulled the pump up 20 feet .Let it run all night.Has cleared up, cleaned all the mud out of the lines,everything seems to be working good now so cross the fingers and hope we got it solved.Now I just get to wait for the bill,but still cheaper than a new well,if this works.
PS anyone want to go skating Frozen mud and ice every where
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Old 11-28-2017, 12:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nitro View Post
That was my first thought to is ground movement but being that we live in a subdivision think there would be others to.No new leases withing atlest 15 miles.I mean ground movement happens just me nice to know what caused it if nothing else but short of running a camera and spending more.....We air pumped it most of yesterday pulled the pump up 20 feet .Let it run all night.Has cleared up, cleaned all the mud out of the lines,everything seems to be working good now so cross the fingers and hope we got it solved.Now I just get to wait for the bill,but still cheaper than a new well,if this works.
PS anyone want to go skating Frozen mud and ice every where
I have seen a very shallow slope slump at depth in a very wide river valley. Do you know if the casing sheared, if it rusted out, if it cracked?

Technically depending upon how wide your casing is you could drop a light source and gopro jury rigged down the hole. Waterproof of course.
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Old 11-28-2017, 02:04 PM
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We are guessing rusted or cracked,he did say might have scuffed a boulder when drilling not noticed and shifted.I asked about sending a camera but he figured 4 days for the sand to settle enough to see anything .4 days is a long time without water to wait ,and might would wend up kinda where we are now with it looking like it has sanded off above the failure and not be able to see what caused it anyway.Plan b at this time is if this fails to camera the old well see whats going on down there and bring that back if we can.Like I said just very frustrating on a 9 year old well,and if I want to be really suspicious he could not want to look done it in case a weld or something failed ,that might **** me off a bit .Go pro might fit up to the pitless, 6 in" casing which won't tell me anything lol.Also it happened fast Saturday night water in hydrant was fine Sunday morning we had mud coming out and not not just gray water mud.He said he will believe us next time we say mud.Only really lucky thing so far is none of the lines plugged off and none of the filters plugged off.
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Old 11-28-2017, 06:47 PM
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I know nothing about wells. But maybe you, or a friend has a ice fishing camera to drop down? I think mine has 75 or 100' cable, color screen, 3 LED lights, they're waterproof. Sees through murky water decently. Something like that might help to source the problem...?
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Old 11-28-2017, 07:40 PM
Willard Willard is offline
 
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Definitely run a camera down the well if it’s only 9 years old it should be 6 inch casing. 4 1/2 inch liner could slide inside with k packers on each end. This well could possibly be saved
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Old 11-28-2017, 09:07 PM
nitro nitro is offline
 
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Definitely run a camera down the well if it’s only 9 years old it should be 6 inch casing. 4 1/2 inch liner could slide inside with k packers on each end. This well could possibly be saved
I have had updates but I guess basically the well is 178 lined from 140 to bottom when it was drilled the guess is that it failed at the where the lining started .We raised it to 120 reduced the flow rate to 6 GPM and ran it all last night clean.Hooked everything back up this morning so far so good.Also installed a sand filter just incase .
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Old 11-29-2017, 08:47 AM
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Quote:
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I have had updates but I guess basically the well is 178 lined from 140 to bottom when it was drilled the guess is that it failed at the where the lining started .We raised it to 120 reduced the flow rate to 6 GPM and ran it all last night clean.Hooked everything back up this morning so far so good.Also installed a sand filter just incase .
Glad to hear. Seems like you have had a cheap fix!

My well is 35 years old. Always wonder when it will fail on me.
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Old 11-30-2017, 12:18 AM
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KegRiver KegRiver is offline
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I worked for a water well drilling company back in the 70s and 80s.

I have never heard of casing ever failing. Properly installed it should last a hundred years or more.

I wouldn't even guess at what your problem is, the open hole could have filled up with sand, or iron bacteria may have plugged off the flow. Or there could be something else causing your problem.

I'm not sure the proper name for what my boss called iron bacteria but I doubt that is the correct name. At any rate if forms a firm jelly like substance on pipes and casings at the water level where there is a high iron content.

This buildup can block water flow but the cure is very simple. Simply pour a couple of gallons of Chlorine down the hole, wait an hour or so and pump till the water comes clean. You will know as soon as you start pumping if you killed the bacteria or whatever it is. If it worked the water will look like liquid milk chocolate when you start pumping.

Household bleach is diluted Chlorine so it may do the job but we always bought industrial strength Chlorine liquid. It kills the organism that forms the jelly. The jelly then turns to liquid and can be pumped out.

If sand is the problem, a sand filter such as a Johnson Screen will most likely solve the problem but you may need to flush out the sand that is there first.

Running a camera down the hole sounds like a very good idea to me. Just be sure you pull the pump first or you could wind up with everything jammed down the hole.
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Old 11-30-2017, 12:21 AM
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BTW, I did see that you have it working again, I only mention the above because if it is iron bacteria it will have to be treated every few years and if it is sand you will need to screen it off ASAP or you could wind up having to hire a drilling company to open the hole back up for you.
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