Still doing my research on setting up my vineyard, but in the meantime I've been bored, and there is a well near my home that hasn't been used since the 1980's.
It's an old Ruth Berry jet pump system from the late 1960's. The pump still works and the tank still holds pressure, so I wanted to get this system up and running to test the capacity of the well ; I wanted to see if I could suck all of the water out of it. The Edwards - Trinity aquifer runs under our property, so this was more or less for an experiment so I could get an idea in the future how deep my irrigation wells for my vineyard would have to be dug. This particular well is 36 feet deep. I hit the top of the water at around 24 feet.
At first the pump didn't respond, so I finally managed to pull the lines out. The check valve was stuck shut and the spring on the valve had all but been destroyed, so I put a new spring on it from some old lawnmower parts that I had. Now when I try to prime the system the water level in the well rises all the way to the top of the well and finally stops about a foot below the ground. The tank doesn't fill or build pressure on its own unless I hit it with a compressor. I've had 50psi in the tank at one point for about 4 hours, and it held pressure no problem. There aren't any leaks in the tank except for a slow drip around one of the inlet pipes, which isn't a big deal considering how old this system is.
I'm in the process of ordering a new check valve just to see if that might fix the issue. They're rather cheap. The jet pump assembly itself didn't seem to have any problems when I pulled it off, despite its age. But I just can't seem to figure out why in the heck the water level would rise unless the pump is just pushing air down the pipes.
At first it rose because I was priming the pump and water was being fed into the well cavity ; that was obvious. After I was done priming, or attempting to prime, the water level went back down, and now the water level rises and falls, even when the tank only has maybe 15 gallons of water in it.
(I'm embarrassed about all of the junk lying around, but I've been tearing down a few old buildings and I'm still cleaning everything up.)
It's an old Ruth Berry jet pump system from the late 1960's. The pump still works and the tank still holds pressure, so I wanted to get this system up and running to test the capacity of the well ; I wanted to see if I could suck all of the water out of it. The Edwards - Trinity aquifer runs under our property, so this was more or less for an experiment so I could get an idea in the future how deep my irrigation wells for my vineyard would have to be dug. This particular well is 36 feet deep. I hit the top of the water at around 24 feet.
At first the pump didn't respond, so I finally managed to pull the lines out. The check valve was stuck shut and the spring on the valve had all but been destroyed, so I put a new spring on it from some old lawnmower parts that I had. Now when I try to prime the system the water level in the well rises all the way to the top of the well and finally stops about a foot below the ground. The tank doesn't fill or build pressure on its own unless I hit it with a compressor. I've had 50psi in the tank at one point for about 4 hours, and it held pressure no problem. There aren't any leaks in the tank except for a slow drip around one of the inlet pipes, which isn't a big deal considering how old this system is.
I'm in the process of ordering a new check valve just to see if that might fix the issue. They're rather cheap. The jet pump assembly itself didn't seem to have any problems when I pulled it off, despite its age. But I just can't seem to figure out why in the heck the water level would rise unless the pump is just pushing air down the pipes.
At first it rose because I was priming the pump and water was being fed into the well cavity ; that was obvious. After I was done priming, or attempting to prime, the water level went back down, and now the water level rises and falls, even when the tank only has maybe 15 gallons of water in it.
(I'm embarrassed about all of the junk lying around, but I've been tearing down a few old buildings and I'm still cleaning everything up.)
Last edited:
![[Upgraded] 9Pcs Tree Root Growing Box with Drain Holes, Half Transparent Plant Rooting Propagation Ball & Metal Core Twist Ties, for Fast Propagation Plants (Size M)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/514MWQxtWOL._SL500_.jpg)
