Well pump question - well pipe.

Would it be a bad idea - or OK - to put a loop like this in the pipe between my pump & bottom of the well (dug well)?:


That isn't drawn quite right - the pump would be 30'+/- higher than the loop.

No issue with the pump pumping the rise - it's been in place & pumping for 10 or so years. It's a 3/4hp jet pump, but set up as a shallow well pump (just uses the one pipe). Before that, there was a 1/2hp pump doing it (or maybe 5/8 if there is such a thing).

I will be needing to pull the pipe this summer, I am quite sure the foot valve has started seeping (pump cuts in a couple times a night). The way it was put in, it's going to be tricky to get out, and will require going into the hole a ways on a rope ladder or the like (not fussy about that part). If I can put it back in with that loop there, it will make it a lot easier to service in the future I think - as well as make it easier to put back in. And also take some stress off the pipe where the pipe comes into the well from the side. Wasn't sure if that loop would present priming/pumping issues by creating an airlock or something like that. I might be able to come up with something else if so.

EDIT: The 30' was a guess - but the well is 20' deep, +/-.

Heres another sketch of the situation:



The main problem is the 6' - I will need to climb in the well to get the union apart & pull the pipe (it's all copper). Not crazy about that.

If I change most of the copper to plastic & use the loop, or do something like this:


to get the union up where I could reach it from the top, that would make this easier in the future. But doing the last one would add 2 more elbows to the head loss.

If I do the plastic & loop thing, I was thinking the head loss wouldn't be as much as the 2 elbows.

Another factor is the well is 20' deep or so - and now has a little house/shelter built over it. So it would also be easier in the future if I could make most of the copper in the well plastic so it could flex out through the door in the little house when removing/installing. As it is now, I will likely have to cut the copper in a couple pieces, as I pull it up, to get it all out.

I am thinking the loop shouldn't cause a pumping impediment/airlock - but not sure. Which is the main thing I was wondering about.

The well is also about 3' in diameter.

Freezing, yes - also dealt with that once a few years ago.

After that episode, I put a layer of foam board (1-1/2"?) over the top of the well (floor of the 'house') that seemed to help hold the ground heat in the well. Also try to keep some snow banked up around the outside of the enclosure after that. It only happened the one time. I could also likely put some pipe insulation around the pipe while doing whatever I end up doing.

Retired Guy said:

When we had shallow a well jet pump with our well points we used a check valve at the pump - never a foot valve. Might be easier than pulling it all up.

Click to expand...

That was suggested to me here too, as a possibility.

That would result in having about 150' of pipe below the checkvalve - wouldn't that create a problem in getting the water from the well to the pump every time the pump kicked in, with all that empty pipe below the check? (Assuming it would bleed out of the pipe over some time...). Or would the water stay in the pipe from the finger-over-the-end-of-the-drinking-straw effect?

I do. 150' is pipe length. Well is 20' deep, or I guess more like 14-15' from where the pipe comes into it.