Standing Column Well - North Shore Long Island

Hello everyone, new user here. We are replacing our oil fired heating system and were looking into air source heat pumps when I stumbled across our old abandoned well. After several hours of angle grinding I was able to get the well cap off. I haven't figured out the depth of the well or anything yet, but I was wondering before going any further if it is possible to use a well as a standing column well if it doesn't go to bedrock (which is a high likelyhood in our neck of the woods). The well would only be used for the heat pump.

If it is plausible, my second question is, since I would have to excavate about 50 feet for a return line to the well anyway, is there any benefit to installing the return line in a slinky style before the water returns to the well?

Thanks!

 

Hi Kevin. Welcome.

I would start with the paper trail. Find who is the JHA on holes in the ground on the island. Ask what they know about the hole. Then tell us.

I am not a well guy, but I know a few. Why the fifty foot hole for a return? Drop a pipe instead of digging.

Mark

 

Mark,

Thanks for the reply. I'll post back when I have more info on the hole.

I might have misspoken when I said excavate 50', I meant I would need to trench 50' to run the return pipe to the well as there is only a supply pipe currently.

 

Trenching sounds easier.

 

There is a HUGE difference between an abandoned well and a sealed well and a un used well. Contact the county or state for any info on the pipe on your property. When I abandon a well, I pump it full of bentonite out through the screen. It is a death sentence.
Eric

 

By the time you test the well, and have confidence that it will support the load you need, you already have an horizontal loop field installed.

 

So the town didn't have any info on it. We pulled up the pump today, it's at 120' and there was 25' of water above it. I would imagine the well wasn't properly abandoned with the pump, drop pipe and wiring still in place. Tomorrow I'm going to try and see how far down the well goes past 120'.

 

We plan on reviving this well for sprinklers etc anyway, but if a SCW is out of the question, would it be worth it to install a vertical loop inside it as part of a horizontal loop field?

 

Stay focused on the SCW. After you determine what the well is capable of the rest will fall into place. What size pump was in the well? Model number ect. That info would reveal the wells last known performance prior to being unused. Some clues could be lurking there.
Eric

 

Hey, thanks for the reply! So I did some super scientific measuring by dropping a rope with a weight down the well. It seems like we have 156' of well depth with 65' of water. The existing pump is an Aermotor 02658 T12-100. I looked up the specs on it and it's a 1hp, 12GPM pump. Which makes sense since at one point the well was servicing a 5 bedroom 4 bathroom house. What are the next steps here? Also of note, there was a lot of rust on everything below the water line, I'm not sure if it's just from stagnant water and the well casing or what, but I think either way I would want an intermediate heat exchanger between the 'raw water' and the heat pump?

Thanks so much!

Edit: here is the pump info: http://www.aermotor.com/pdf/A5865WS_T_Max_Series.pdf

 

What is your proposed tonnage? We will assume that the well functioned at a supply of 12gpm. That could support 4 tons easy peasy and upwards of 6 tons if you tune it tight. A extended pump test would be the next step in determining the wells capacity.
Eric

 

Right now we are installing a 5 ton unit for the upstairs. Next summer/fall we will be installing a 3 ton unit for downstairs, but that does not have to be on this well if it's not possible. If it is possible, of course we'd like to do that. How do I perform an extended pump test? Do I need to bring in a well driller? I don't have any kind of pump.

 

What is up with the pump you pulled.

 

If the pump you removed still works we are in tall cotton. If not you may need a well driller. A extended pump test simply means that you pump the well at a given rate, for an extended period of time, say 12 hours and measure the water table and the pumping rate at say, 1 hour intervals. In the beginning the water table will drop a lot, then stabilize and then rise slightly when it finds its happy place. If you need to call in a well driller and pay him now for the test, it will alleviate pain later from a failed exercise in geo.
Eric

Mark, I am still noodling how you should proceed with the wells in Ohio. I received the data from the homeowner and am digging deeper. lol

 

ok, I'll see what's up with the pump, all I know is I applied power and nothing came out of the pipe, so now that it's up I'll see what's going on. Thanks!!

 

Waterpirate, in a best case scenario do you think I have enough water column for a SCW without a lot of bleed? We can bleed some, but we can't go crazy with it.

 

A well will generally accept what it discharges, the amount of btu's you get out is dependent on the lithology. Typically standing column is done in rock. I am guessing that the north shore of long island is sand and shale. A pump and dump may be the more correct choice.
First step: What is the well capable of?
Eric

 

Yea we are definitely not into rock here, I think bedrock is 600-800 feet down here and even deeper as you move south and east. I'll reach out to some well drillers and see if I can get someone here to take a look

 

Thanks Eric:

Wound clinic Thursday and moving Hallow weekend.

If I have to drive down and dig this it will be fun. My oldest daughter grew up in Cincinnati. They have no clue about winter. She would come to Cleveland in January dressed in tees and shorts. She would return south in Carhart winter gear.

I will take all the help I can get on this one, given the timing and my limited health.

Hey would your new track hoe operator like a trip to Ohio?

Thanks,

Mark

 

The good news is I may have stumbled across the actual guy who drilled the well. In either case, he drilled most of the wells up by me.

The bad news is he said the well is definitely into sand. I'm going to revive this well anyway for watering outside and such, but for the purposes of the heating system project, I need to keep moving forward. Is there ANY chance a SCW will work with less than say 20% bleed in this scenario? I can't pump and dump, and drilling a second well is cost prohibitive. I could reluctantly trench a horizontal closed loop if I had to.

The well guy is going to check his records and set up a date to come take a look in the mean time.