Feb. 13, 2022: A well, a plumb-bob, soap, and a save.

So, a story:

While we were under contract for this property, back in September, we searched in vain for someone to do an inspection of the well. We knew it wasn’t working, had a burned-out pump, and was likely plugged somewhere with a rock the previous owner’s son had thrown down it. What we wanted to know was 1} if it had any water in it given the drought, and 2} if that water was potable. We had no luck finding anyone to help. It was frustrating: should we terminate the contract or accept the well “as is”?

So, to help us decide, we had the idea (from a YouTube) to measure the water depth by dropping a plumb-bob down into the well, listening for when it hit water, and then pulling it up to check the length of the string where it becomes wet. If there was water, we’d send a tiny bottle down to collect a sample.

During our next visit, we tied a long string on a spool to our plumb-bob. We opened the wellhead. Just as Alan let the weight go, it occurred to me that maybe it should go slowly. He let go, and the plumb spun downward at terminal velocity, too quickly to see the string unwind, disappearing into the void. I said “Do it slowly!” but too late, which caused Alan to startle and jerk the string. My bad, should’ve kept my mouth shut.

It stopped unreeling. Alan started pulling the string up, but, surprise, surprise, after just a few feet it caught and stopped. The bob was stuck. A looong ways down. And there we were: me, Alan, and our Realtor, staring down the 8″ hole into the dark. We pulled it, wiggled it, tried everything to unstick that thing, but it was stuck for good. So now we had a broken well with a possible rock, a dead pump, and a plumb-bob. We went home to Pippin (the camper).

Now it is February, and we have found a neighbor with well experience willing to help. This was his plan: create some kind of jig-thingy that would attach to the polypipe that runs down the well to the old pump in a way that won’t snap, and try to pull the whole thing up. That worked some, but it was still stuck, so he and Alan dumped a whole bottle of (biodegradable, of course) dishsoap down the well to grease things up, then attached a 50# 6′ digging bar to 200′ of cable, threaded that down 70′-80′ into the well and DROPPED it as hard as possible onto whatever was down there, BONK!. Very scientific. And it worked! He and Alan hit the blockage with that bar a few times and, using Alan’s truck, a block and tackle, and the neighbor’s front loader, were able to pull the whole mess up: pump and 150′ of pipe, rope, wire, and plumb-bob. The rock didn’t make it up and is likely sitting down on the bottom. Among a lot of soap bubbles.

The icing to this story is that the polypipe was wet, which confirmed that there is water down there, and only at about 60′, which is great news.