# Leaking Artesian Well



## Artesian (May 11, 2010)

About 15 years ago, I had a well drilled and it turned out to be artesian with a flow rate of about 30 gallons a minute and a head of 12 feet and pressure of about 10 pounds. It has been great, steady flowing and excellent water quality. 

One problem, .... the well is capped with a cast iron cap like a "hamburger" with a rubber seal where the "meat" would be inserted into the top of the drilling pipe. (see picture) It has a pipe threaded hole about 1 1/2 inches which serves as an overflow pipe with a valve on it and a second hole which has the wiring through it for the well pump. It is made of plastic and has a cover plate on it that is secured with screws. It is this cover that is the problem.... it continuously drips and now leaks a more steady stream. 

I have tried to pack it with various materials but because of the water pressure it continues to drip. I have even made a clamp secured by bolts to hold the packing and cover tightly closed. If I did not have the cover plate in place and have it packed inside, it would produce about a pint of water a minute.

I know that the rubber seal in the cap and the tightening bolts are supposed to seal this but the bolts are very tight and it still leaks.

How do I seal this up... is there some special packing material or something else that I could use/do ????? Thanks in advance for any suggestions !!!!


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## Gary Slusser (Sep 16, 2008)

You could open that ball valve and let the overflow run through the pipe as it is supposed to; flow through as long as that flow won't harm something.

Otherwise you need a driller or pump guy to fix the leaking part of the sanitary well casing seal but don't expect that to hold the pressure of the water wanting to come up out of the well.


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## justwater (May 12, 2010)

the wire hole in the well seal is a 1/2"-3/4" threaded hole. no matter how tight the 4 bolts are, water will still pass through. so water is coming through the seal up the wires into the little conduit box? must be original pump, or a new pump would have been installed with wire nuts in that box and would have tripped the breaker as soon as the water leaked through. on an original pump installation they would have just ran the wires strait through the conduit box, which is what they must have done because you still have power.. the nipple between the well seal and the conduit box was most likely packed with some kind of sealant to prevent the natural pressure of the well from pushing through. apparently that sealant has gone out. you will never get anything to seal as long as it has pressure against it. jmo

first you would turn off power and cut the wires from inside the conduit box, you will have to cut the pipe loose at the well somewhere so you can lift the pump, pipe, and well seal up (and i see its all galvanized pipe, not making things easier), loosen bolts (loosen, careful if you loosen too much the bottom half of the well seal will fall off down the well and ruin you). pull up the seal and pump, holding it all up in the air, you would have to reseal that old nipple or replace it and repack some sealant around the wires in the nipple (all while holding the well seal, pump pipe and all up in the air)... oh and by the way, the well is still flowing so you are getting soaked in the process! but anyway you would reseal the wires in the nipple, and set it back down and tighten 4 bolts. most drillers would leave some extra wire taped to the drop pipe under the well seal.

i recommend calling a well guy. he will put a pump hoist over it, pull it up and fix it no prob, by himself most likely. good artesian well w/ submersible is not a cheap setup, and you sure can't complain at 15 years!! i would have him fix it and service the whole system, see how long you can get out of this thing. 

ps. that pipe with valve doesnt look like an overflow to me, looks like the main pipe running everything from that well. i'm sure valve is suppose to be turned on when pump is in use. you should never let a well with natural pressure overflow out somewhere for no reason.. it also makes for some pretty wet property. SEAL IT OFF! although you have the clamp in place, it looks better but the water is most likely going all the way up and through the conduit back into the ground. hope this helps and good luck! .. remember, all this is jmo. and your welcome for the book i wrote you here!

btw MR GREEN, you can definitely get a nice fine in my area for not controlling an artesian well.


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## bob22 (May 28, 2008)

justwater said:


> btw MR GREEN, you can definitely get a nice fine in my area for not controlling an artesian well.


Who is Mr. Green?


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## justwater (May 12, 2010)

i dont know, i am an idiot. coulda swore someone named mr green posted something about a paulus pitless adapter...


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