Fisch Bros. Drilling Works on Cleaning up the Muddy Well Water While I Watch

Thursday March 12, 2015 Guerneville CA.

Fisch Bros. Drilling continues the well job

I was up and out in the yard this morning just after 8AM which is early for me.

The Fisch Bros. Drilling guys where already out there working picking things up they wouldn’t need anymore. This is what I saw as I walked across the yard.

Wait for the county inspector before sealing

They had to wait until ten AM to install the well seal as the county might come out to inspect the ten foot seal to make sure that’s what it was, so they puttered around cleaning up while they waited. Just after ten, the inspector didn’t’ show, so they started pouring chips with cement, dry into the well hole around the casing until they got to the top. They then added water to the dry mixture with a water hose to get it wet enough to set.

They are pouring the dry well sealer mixture into the hole in this picture.

Start the water well cleaning process

Now that the well sealer was in place, they could start the process of cleaning out the well by pumping water out of the hole which was very muddy. They needed to run the water until it was clean. They don’t really pump the water out, but they put a pipe down to the bottom of the well and shoot air into the well which caused the muddy water to rise to the surface and pour out onto the ground. They started this process around 10:30AM.

Here’s what the muddy water field looked like as we started. It looks worse than it is. When the stuff dries that had soap suds in it, it turns to a powdery dirt that disappears into the ground.

Plus forty gallons a minute

The muddy water flowed out from under the truck at plus forty gallons a minute and here’s what it looked like.

One of the guys tells me it usually takes about three hours. It’s a fairly boring process, so I sat around and watched a lot and did some yard work too.

Here’s my view from one of my chairs. It’s about 1 O’clock.

Around three O’clock, I was sitting in this spot while water was still pouring out of the well at plus forty gallons a minute, but still wasn’t clear yet. Of course, the big truck motor is running the whole time making a lot of noise as it pumped air down the well. The well driller did hand me a set of ear plugs when he first started the job and I used them.

The water is still not clear

I took this picture just before four PM when they shut it down for the day and went on home.

The water is clearer, but no go yet. Letting it settle overnight and starting in the morning let’s the mud settle down and hopefully it will clear up after a couple hours in the morning, says the drill guy.

They ran water out of the well for about five and a half hours today at plus forty gallons a minute and the water seems to be sweet, just not quite clean yet.

The well has plenty of water now, but the real test will be to see if it lasts all year long through the summer.

After the guys left I puttered around the yard some more and did a lot of chair sitting too enjoying the evening. When it started to cool down just before dark, I called it a day.