Originally Posted By: esshup
Submersible or shallow well? What's the condition of the well screen?

When I had the well dug 2 years ago, it was put in with the future thought of a geothermal "open" heat system that dumped into the pond. I also figured that I'd want to use the well for irrigation at some point in time, so the well driller sunk a 4" submersible well, BUT he put 2 screens together just in case I wanted to install a larger pump at a later date. It's a 3/4hp 220v motor now, and it pumps 28 gpm. They tested the well, and the soil/water carrying capacity will support 100 gpm if I upgrade the pump.

That Fall, I wanted to see how it would work, so when I went on my annual deer hunting trip to Northern Wi. I let the pump run 24/7. I rigged up a 1 1/2 pvc pipe to 4" pvc pipe adapter and let'r rip for the 7 days that I was gone. My neighbor checked on the place once a day and noted the progress. It came up a bunch in that week, but the downfall to plumbing it the way that I did left 0 water pressure in the house. That wasn't a big deal because I wasn't home, but I need to figure out something else if I ever need to do that again. I think the pond came up 3' in that time, and it would have been much greater if there wasn't sandy soil surrounding it.

The pump pushed the water to the pond before it hit the bladder tank, and I DID see an increase in my electric bill that month!


I did a similar setup for my pond, but my well has a pretty low recovery rate at 15gpm. I installed a simple ball valve to keep water pressure at 45psi for the travel trailer we use there and it kept the switch from shutting off the well. I was worried at first if the pump would perhaps begin to "dry run" from the low recovery so I adjusted the low-pressure side of the switch to not kick on and it would just shut the pump off when/if the pressure dropped below 40psi---it never dropped. With 1.5 surface acres and only 15gpm, I would have accomplished more wizzing on a forest fire. 3 month-24/7 run was an extra $300 in electric cost