I don’t know about the market where you live, but around here there are well drilling companies and other companies that do not drill and case wells, but service them. The second group tends to have the equipment to pull and replace drop line and pumps, but not to drill wells. Some companies do it all, but around here at least most focus on drilling and casing wells or on pumping. If you have any farmers in the area, they may be able to give you recommendations for one or more good local companies.

quote:

Originally posted by wrightd:
He said the max depth for a shallow well was 24 feet,

Who said that? The legal definition of a "shallow well" is a bit complicated, but, generally, any well under about fifty feet is regarded a "shallow well."

quote:

Originally posted by wrightd:
... so I don't know why I have a shallow well jet pump for a much deeper well. I don't know much about static fluid physics.

You don't know that you have a shallow well jet pump. Jet pumps can work in deeper wells. Our original well, a 2 in. jet well, was at eighty feet, IIRC.

Anyway, you need an experienced, competent, honest well guy.

As for what's happened so far: Your retired well pump man took a SWAG that had as high odds of being right as anything else. Dunno why your water filtration company replaced the expansion tank, unless they somehow figured out the bladder had died. (It happens.)

Your jet well being 120 feet deep I'm going to warn you: Whatever well guy you end up with might tell you the same as did ours: "It's probably the well point. I recommend a new well. I can try to pull the well point, but, in a well that old that often fails, and the well's destroyed. Then you'll be paying me for that work and a new well." (The well guy knew the well, because he'd been hired to replace the dual piping with dual concentric piping and he'd been out to replace the pump, too. [Both done just before I bought the house.])

We had him drill a new well.

If you do end up with a new well, I strongly urge you to consider the extra for a VFD pump. We had ours upgraded, recently, and it's a beautiful thing

Good luck.

I am going through this same process now in Florida. Irrigation well struck by lightning, submersible pump stuck in well and now I need to 1) abandon the well and 2) drill/fit out a new one. Very expensive lightning strike. There is a Florida state website that had all the details of my well.

When I lived in NH I had a jet pump artesian well 180FT deep. More than once I pulled up the PVC pipes and replaced the foot valve myself. Sure sounds like you have a problem with the foot (check) valve at the bottom of the well.

quote:

Originally posted by HayesGreener:
I have had to replace two wells due to lightning strikes, one at the house and most recently this spring one at the barn. Both of those wells are about 185 ft. deep. Lightning will travel down the casing to get to ground and when it does it blows the casing and screen. You know that's what you have when the well starts pumping sand and dirt, which will wreck your pump. The solution is to drill a new well. We had to drill a new well and replace all the equipment. This last one cost $8500.
Fortunately Farm Bureau paid for both well replacements.

quote:

Originally posted by mrw:
I am going through this same process now in Florida. Irrigation well struck by lightning, submersible pump stuck in well ...

That seems kind of weird. It's not like the pump closely fits the casing. It just kinda sits there in the water, relatively loosely.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by mrw:
I am going through this same process now in Florida. Irrigation well struck by lightning, submersible pump stuck in well ...

That seems kind of weird. It's not like the pump closely fits the casing. It just kinda sits there in the water, relatively loosely.

The well casing is 4" inside diameter, the submersible pump is about 3 3/4" diameter. The inside of the well casing builds up corrosion and crud over the years causing interference. The well guy actually ripped the pump in half trying to get it out. The pump section came up, the motor stayed in the well. He pounded the motor down to 72 feet, the end of the well casing, but it essentially plugged the well.

Good Lord, first I've ever heard of lightning killing a well. And two of them, good Lord.

Well it turns out my well is 122 ft deep, but the water in the pipe is 7.5 feet from ground surface. The problem turned out to be a check valve buried a couple feet underground near the surface, it had gone bad. After the well man cut it out, I couldn't blow air thru it in either direction. So he simply reconnected the well head to the line to the house without any check valve at all, as the new pump had a check valve already installed. So everything is working normally again.

This was very interesting, and educational, thanks much friends.

BTW, a special Holiday treat:

The Independent well driller who fixed my well is a retired, AND founding member, of this exceptional organization you will instantly recognize. Sort of the way their enemies never really know who just tapped them on the shoulder, so to speak:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAL_Team_Six

Note to self: you won't find him on the internet, believe me I tried, so I won't give his name. God Bless this man, all his fellow Seals, and all the rest of our great Special Operators in our Armed Forces.

Happy Holidays friends.