# Muddy well water



## ScorpionFlower (May 16, 2006)

Posting for a friend here..... Lives in Southern Missouri. Found his well water coming out muddy this afternoon. Seems he's been filling and refilling a decent sized blow up pool for his daughter. Wonder if he's just used too much water and dropped his water table down. With water conservation, should the problem self correct or is he going to be looking at digging a new well? Any thoughts?

OH, btw.. he asks... anyone want to buy a house? lol


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## THETOOLMAN (Feb 15, 2008)

is it a deep or shallow well? my drinking well is down in the aquafer= clear all the time. I have a shallow dug well from the 1800's that I use for the garden .. it is muddy most all the time..... but it tests ok.... just muddy


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## CIW (Oct 2, 2007)

Flower,
Is the well new? A new well will cave if it wasn't ever flushed after it was drilled.
Probably the best thing they can do is use it more. As you use a well it builds a cavern under the ground that the water gathers into.
As water is pumped out, the water from around the immediate area is replacing it. Causing some erosion (caving around the well casing) underground.
Often times a well that hasen't been used for a long period of time will mud up when it starts being used again. It can also happen when the water table starts to go down in the late summer and fall.
If there is somewhere to run water, like out onto a field. Turn on enough hoses to cause the pump to stay on without cycling. Run it until the water comes clear. It may take several days.
Sometimes the mudding of a well is a first sign that its drying up. This can be caused from an outside source other than nature, like someone using a big pump to irrigate with. As the water flows back into the area around your well casing it carries new mud with it. Whatever it is, there is movement around the well.
He may also need to drop his pump down further into the well or add onto his drop pipe, to correct the problem.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Do not leave a dug well pump running 24/7 as you could end up buying a new pump.


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## crafty2002 (Aug 23, 2006)

I grew up drilling wells and have had to deal with this more than a few times. More than likely he will need to get a driller out there to add mor casing and drive it down further to cut the ground water off again. 
Most wells will put out more water than you usually use but with him filling a pool he must have drained it down farther in the well than the casing is deep. That causes any water that tad colled over the years on the outside of the casing not to have the back pressure of the water in the casing therefore allowing the smallest of places aroud the casing to allow the water to pass by.
This would be muddy ground water. If the well isn't putting out enough water to keep the head up while using it he needs to use it less and let it build back up. The water pressure in the casing "MAY" stop the ground water from coming in and it will clear up in a few days. If not, he will have to have a driller reseat the casing.
If there is any left around your parts, get a churn drill and not an air rig. 99 out of a hundred will sink the well another 1-200 feet when there isn't any reason for it. They will set up, do it, tear down and charge you a couple of grand in a day and drive off with your check in hand. 
A churn drill can do it in a day also but they won't try to drill any deeper if it isn't needed. 
Well drillers used to be fair and honest before the air rigs came out. They drill so fast they will drill a well twice as deep as it needed to go in a day. 
Does anyone ever notice they always, or nearly so, set up and drill the well, tear down and move out in one day??? Do you notice there is never a short day either. They let it drill until the last minute before breaking it down when they probably had plenty of water by lunch time.
As I said, I grew up drilling wells and seen it all come about. 
Dennis


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## ericjeeper (Feb 25, 2006)

The pipe might be leaking near the casing and spraying out into the soil around the pipe. Then running back down into the well casing.. I have seen this a few times. Only on submersible pumps though.


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