Q&A on Hand Dug Well Repair or Odors

Dug Well Water Smells or Odors

Our well water is yellow in color and smells of sulfur; should we make a new well?

We have an old well 40' deep with a new wood lid over it. Water is about 12' deep and pump sits in a slotted well casing.

We put in a fairly expensive filtration system in the house and still have yellowish water with a sulfur smell.

We are to the point of filling in the old well and just drilling a new one.

However, we have been considering putting limestone rock in the old well (maybe 10' of 1" rock, 18' of 1/4" rock, a 2' layer of bentonite, then soil above.

This would force surface water to go through 10' of dirt before reaching the well. We believe there is a spring that is also feeding the well, but not exactly sure at what level.

Does this sound like a good plan? We were avoiding using sand so it wouldn't get into the well casing. On 2019-01-14 by Beth

by (mod) - we put in a filter but our well water is yellow and smells like sulfur

Beth at 40 feet I'm guessing your well may not really be a dug well but in any case you need water tests to find out what's in the water - that can tell you if drilling a new well to replace your rather deep dug well is likely to cure your complaints.

First I recommend that you review the advice found at

DUG WELL CLEANING, DISINFECTION, SANITATION PROTECTION

See also our sulfur odor cures at

ODORS IN WATER, CAUSES & CURES - Daniel

How do I fix sandy mineral-contaminated dug well water?

My water is coming through sand and with minerals. I need to change my primary filter much more than usual for about a year now.

This is regardless of time of year lots of rain etc. My well is not deep and is used regularly. What should I do. - On 2012-07-19 Tim

Answer by (mod) -

Tim since you are making your question on a "hand dug wells" page, I presume your well is also a hand dug well - in which case I don't see much alternative than installing a higher-capacity filtration system that will need filter change out less often, or a more sophisticated cascade filter approach that combines filtration, disinfection, and a final charcoal filter approach.

In general it's just about impossible to assure that a dug well always delivers sanitary potable water in most locales.

But you can check the condition of the well walls to be sure that the walls aren't letting dirt or sand fall down into the well opening. You may need to use a pump to remove the water from the well and then, with help (never enter a well working alone) inspect and repair the well walls. - Daniel F

Repairs to Dug Wells

Fix well walls, well rings, collapses, sidewall leaks

What's a cheap way to get into and out of a dug well do do repairs?

I have to get down inside my hand dug well to reconnect the pipes to the the solid pipes coming out the wall. What's the cheapest way to get in and out of the shaft safely? On 2017-12-13 by Dan

by (mod) - Where the well can't be accessed by a simple ladder

Where the well can't be accessed by a simple ladder, I often see workers in a team (NEVER WORK ALONE) using a tripod, winch, and harness.

How do I stop collapsing ground around my open dug well

I have an open well that has an area around it that has fallen in; is there any thing i can do to stop the collapsing? On 2017-09-08 Sandy

by (mod) - Watch out: if someone falls into a well or into a hole next to a well the result can be fatal.

Sandy

I'm glad you're looking at this problem since obviously if someone falls into a well or into a hole next to a well the result can be fatal.

You need to start with understanding the cause of the collapse: is the dug well itself collapsing?

Is soil washing into the well? If so then the well structure will need to be repaired and the well may require cleaning-out of any infill.

There could be other causes for subsidence - knowing nothing about the site, country, city, province, well design, depth, soil conditions, usage, local weather conditions, water table, etc. nobody can guess usefully in more details.

I would not just add backfill before having an understanding of what's happening.

I would mark off the area and keep people away to avoid an injury.

A typical repair would be to install concrete well rings in the well and then backfill outside of those, then construct a safe, above-ground well cover.

What non-toxic cement can I use to fix a crack in part of our cement surround for a dug well?

My well is 15' deep, with a cement-wall surround of about 3' x 10'. There is a large crack in one corner which is settling. Can you recommend a non-toxic cement to repair the crack please. On 2018-05-27 by Leo

by (mod) - keeping surface water out of the dug well

Leo

In our article on spring box repair

at SPRING BOX BUILD, REPAIR

we discuss fixing leaks and the concern with avoiding toxic leak sealants. Please check out that discussion and don't hesitate to ask further questions.

I would add that as your say your dug well liner crack is due to settlement, it's likely that NO crack sealant repair is going to be durable unless the cause of the settlement is found and addressed.

One of our dug well well rings is shifting and leaking dirt into the well but we're in freezing weather - how can I fix it?

My dug well has plenty of water is 12 feet deep and constructed with concrete rings.

We have and are still in the winter in northern Ontario. We have had some warm weather. I suspect one of the rings lifted and dirt in coming in and now my water is brown. Ground is frozen don’t know what to do On 2018-02-06 1 by Jean

by (mod) - repairing a well when the ground is frozen

Jean

With the ground frozen I'm not sure that there is an easy approach to well repair - since excavation around the well could be required.

I would instead ask for help from a plumber who might install a whole house water filter system to serve at least until the well can be repaired.

Keep in mind that a 12 ft. deep dug well is also not protected against other contaminants so water testing is in order, and other treatment or disinfection could be needed.

Can I just put a pipe into the dug well and then fill the rest of it with rock?

I have an old hand dug well 3' in diameter 75' in depth. is it possible to place a 6" PVC pipe in the middle and then fill the outside with washed rock?

I would like to make this a normal 6" diameter well with a cap. The well maintains at least 50~60' of water and the lowest is about 20' in the summer. The water test is OK, but we filter the water to drink. On 2018-01-05 by Nick

by (mod) - putting a pipe down and filling in the dug well may give up most of your water volume or capacity

Nick, you'll be giving up most of the well capacity.

Dug wells rely on the water flow from a rather shallow surrounding aquifer. My OPINION is that only if the well flow rate into your dug well is no less than 3-5 gallons per minute is it likely that you could replace it with a simple bored well or casing type well construction.

Why is there concrete at the bottom of our dug well?

We are looking at buying land, an old well has been left on the site, it's only small, the hole being about 4 meters deep and the opening about 1mt by 800, the odd thing is it has concrete in the bottom. I'm trying to find out if this is normal?

Why would there be a concrete base? Any ideas. We are not sure what to do with it, the developers knocked an old shack down and cleared everything but left this ! On 2017-12-18 by Allister haynes

by (mod) - old well is small and shallow

Allister

What you describe is not normal for a well, but might be normal for a cistern. If the sides of the well are plastered with concrete and the bottom is concrete it is perhaps a cistern.

With a 1 M opening I make the whole diameter of the structure too small to have been the base of a silo, right?

The other possibility is that after digging this well the well builders found that water was seeping into the well only from higher up the sides of the well opening, not at the bottom.

Is this in the UK?