Suggestions for cleaning out bottom of well?

[ToastedWheatie]

My neighbor's house was originally built early 1700s. He showed me today where he found a well under the porch that he enclosed. His wife wanted him to fill the well but he wouldn't do it. He finished around it including ceramic tile but then just put a piece of slate over and inside his house. LOL
The well measures 25 ft deep and is about half full of water. He said the water is stable as far as depth goes year-round. There is no metal pipes or anything in the well. It looks like this stone-lined well maybe almost original, and the house was built out towards it and eventually around it.
It's only a bout three and a half feet in diameter. Any suggestions on how I can clean out the bottom? I plan to start with a magnet, but is there any kind of scoop design I can use to clean that out. I'm picturing my old Tonka trucks when I was a kid where you would lower the scoop down on a rope and it would close.
I'm not sure your typical trash pump if I rented it to pull up the dirt from the bottom that distance.
Any thoughts?

 

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[xcopperstax]

Watch oak island. learn. I think you should probably start by removing the house and getting some heavy drilling equipment in.

 

[vpnavy]

OLD WELL - BUILT in 1700's - RUN REAL FAST!

​

 

[Toecutter]

Rope around your ankles, go in head first and have a electric winch hooked up with 25' lead for the controller?? boom your shiten in high clovers!!

 

[Robot]

Yes...Oak Island!...Or Other Cenote Treasure Hunters...May Have A Solution!



You maybe able to construct a similar scoop like the one Thompson used at the turn of the 20th Century to Dredge the Cenote of Chichen Itza.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/mexico...r/a2b395d0-8452-4558-87c3-48ec7980c474/361707

I would use a cheap electric winch to maneuver the bucket up and down.

Good Luck!

 

[ToastedWheatie]

View attachment 1712265

You maybe able to construct a similar scoop like the one Thompson used at the turn of the 20th Century to Dredge the Cenote of Chichen Itza.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/mexico...r/a2b395d0-8452-4558-87c3-48ec7980c474/361707

I would use a cheap electric winch to maneuver the bucket up and down.

Good Luck!

THIS is what I was thinking. Or at least a simple, poor man's version. But it looks like the buckets would have to be heavier than I want to work with in order to close, or hydraulically operated.
Maybe some kind of sand scoop on the end of 25' pole....

 

[ToastedWheatie]

Rope around your ankles, go in head first and have a electric winch hooked up with 25' lead for the controller?? boom your shiten in high clovers!!

Sounds perfect, except for the 10-15' of water. Have a cheap hookah (Brownie Third Lung type) that I can use?

 

[ToastedWheatie]

Watch oak island. learn. I think you should probably start by removing the house and getting some heavy drilling equipment in.

First, I'd have to have ONE guy, with ONE detector and three people with shovels following, take four years to wonder the homestead and randomly swing.

 

[against the wind]

How long can you hold your breath??

 

[Kray Gelder]

Sounds perfect, except for the 10-15' of water. Have a cheap hookah (Brownie Third Lung type) that I can use?

Oh Hell no!

 

[chub]

Start with a magnet. Maybe a go pro in a waterproof case with a weight and a light? Maybe go to your local plant hire and get a water pump or sludge pump (slower but doesnt need priming). First things first -tape your detector (or pinpointer) to a length of pvc conduit and work the inside walls of the well. Is there a swimming pool nearby? Buy a few lengths of pool pipe and start cleaning the pool ( to get prime)....then move down to the well. It should suck up 25 feet. Or get a wet and dry vac and tape on a length of pvc pipe and see if it will suck it up the contents of the floor..

chub

 

[tinpan]

Hi , Take a bucket of water for a quality check . Temperature , smell and colour . Bio organisms , toxics and contamination is a major health risk. Hope this helps .TP

 

[ToastedWheatie]

Start with a magnet. Maybe a go pro in a waterproof case with a weight and a light? Maybe go to your local plant hire and get a water pump or sludge pump (slower but doesnt need priming). First things first -tape your detector (or pinpointer) to a length of pvc conduit and work the inside walls of the well. Is there a swimming pool nearby? Buy a few lengths of pool pipe and start cleaning the pool ( to get prime)....then move down to the well. It should suck up 25 feet. Or get a wet and dry vac and tape on a length of pvc pipe and see if it will suck it up the contents of the floor..

chub

Researching the idea ofa trash pump, it's not going to lift the height I need. Has to do with atmospheric pressure etc. Above my pay grade.
I was planning on a magnet first. Ill attach my carrot to some pvc first, great idea. Not sure I'll hear it, but worth a try.

But you just gave me an idea that might work. Drop a wet vac down to just above waterline. attached a suction hose that will reach bottom. Now my "lift" is only a foot or two.
It will suck up the silt and small objects and discharge the water.
The bottom of the vacuum will trap the objects ( and silt). The water will get dirty and I'll lose the visibility, but what the heck.

Thanks!

 

[tinpan]

Hi , I read once a diving bell was used in a deep gold mine shaft that had filled with ground water.TP

 

[Tpmetal]

My neighbor's house was originally built early 1700s. He showed me today where he found a well under the porch that he enclosed. His wife wanted him to fill the well but he wouldn't do it. He finished around it including ceramic tile but then just put a piece of slate over and inside his house. LOL
The well measures 25 ft deep and is about half full of water. He said the water is stable as far as depth goes year-round. There is no metal pipes or anything in the well. It looks like this stone-lined well maybe almost original, and the house was built out towards it and eventually around it.
It's only a bout three and a half feet in diameter. Any suggestions on how I can clean out the bottom? I plan to start with a magnet, but is there any kind of scoop design I can use to clean that out. I'm picturing my old Tonka trucks when I was a kid where you would lower the scoop down on a rope and it would close.
I'm not sure your typical trash pump if I rented it to pull up the dirt from the bottom that distance.
Any thoughts?

up here in ny it was not uncommon to have the well directly next to, attached, or actually in the basement of a house. Winter gets cold, they didn't like having to travel far to get fresh water in the cold.

 

[chub]

Researching the idea ofa trash pump, it's not going to lift the height I need. Has to do with atmospheric pressure etc. Above my pay grade.
I was planning on a magnet first. Ill attach my carrot to some pvc first, great idea. Not sure I'll hear it, but worth a try.

But you just gave me an idea that might work. Drop a wet vac down to just above waterline. attached a suction hose that will reach bottom. Now my "lift" is only a foot or two.
It will suck up the silt and small objects and discharge the water.
The bottom of the vacuum will trap the objects ( and silt). The water will get dirty and I'll lose the visibility, but what the heck.

Thanks!

it sounds stupid but you can tape a length of clear plastic tube or garden hose to the pinpointer and use the hose to listen..,

whatever happens, let us know how it turns out. Interesting

chub

 

[Madmox]

If all you want is it cleaned out, the easiest solution is just to call a septic service. They bring out the vac truck. You have a cleaned out well in an hour. Done. I work for a utility company and the VAST majority of our digging now is done with a vac truck. It’s clean, easy, and fast and prevents accidents with things being destroyed with a backhoe

 

[ToastedWheatie]

If all you want is it cleaned out, the easiest solution is just to call a septic service. They bring out the vac truck. You have a cleaned out well in an hour. Done. I work for a utility company and the VAST majority of our digging now is done with a vac truck. It’s clean, easy, and fast and prevents accidents with things being destroyed with a backhoe

"Cleaned out" maybe isn't a phrase I should have used.
The water is crystal clear, and I can see the bottom. Nothing visible.
I want to "SEARCH" THE BOTTOM, and that involves bringing up the dirt.

 

[Madmox]

"Cleaned out" maybe isn't a phrase I should have used.
The water is crystal clear, and I can see the bottom. Nothing visible.
I want to "SEARCH" THE BOTTOM, and that involves bringing up the dirt.

Gotcha. I bet you could still do it with a trash pump or a suction dredge for gold mining. Which are essentially the same thing. Then the inlet hose could be used to mix up the sediment on the bottom sucking it up and depositing it on the ground outside the well and it would be easy to search. In addition who knows what else it could uncover on the bottom.

 

[BillA]

a hookah and mask, a steel 5 gal bucket with a line topside, probably a line on you (not a noose)
topside rig an A-frame with pulley to winch or mule