Is there sand in your Inverness well water and what should you do about it?

You expect a little sand in the water when you go to
the beach. But, you don't want sand in your Inverness
well water.

You’ve grown accustomed to the pure, clear water that is delivered by your Inverness well. You’ve even shown it off to friends who visit, who often have homes served by city water. You proudly point out that your private well delivers fresh and delicious water without the monthly invoice from the city. But, lately, you’ve started noticing that there is sand in your water.

The sand in your water will soon clog the aerators of your faucets. Already, the water pressure seems to have dropped at some of the faucets. What’s this all about? Why would sand suddenly find its way into your well water?

There are several reasons why you would find sand in your water, including:

• The well pump is set too close to the bottom of the well and is, therefore, sucking up sand as it pulls in water.
• The well pump isn’t sized correctly; it’s too strong and is pulling sand from the bottom of the well.
• The well screen is beyond its prime and is allowing sand to filter into the well water. The well screen is a casing installed at the time that your well was drilled. It has spaces to allow water into the well but, overtime, it can lose its integrity.
• The well tank is waterlogged, the bladder is ruptured, or the tank has the wrong charge causing the pump to surge the well.

With the first of these issues, the problem was probably apparent early on. In other words, you aren’t as likely to find sand suddenly appearing in your water. However, if the well screen begins to lose its mojo, begins clogging, it’s liable to do so gradually and over time. A problem with the well tank is also liable to come on and get worse over time (it’s vital that you fix this promptly as it’s likely to cause your well pump to burn out quickly).

To address the problem, you can add a screen filter. Depending on the grade of the sand, different filter mesh is available to address the sand prevalent in your well. These filters are generally installed after the well tank. They also have a valve to drain off the sand.

Sand in your Inverness well is a nuisance. But, more than that, the sand can cause problems with your well equipment and your fixtures. It’s a good idea to address the issue of sand in your well water before you have more reason to do so.

Slither and rattle: Bull Valley well maintenance included snake removal

No, this is not one of the snakes John, with McHenry Water Well and Pump, found in a well pit one day. But, at first
glance, it could have been. Well maintenance is more exciting than you might think.

It was like a scene out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. John Matthesius, the owner of McHenry Water Well & Pump, was called out to a Bull Valley home to repair or replace a well pump that had ceased working. It was an older home with an older well. And it had a well pit. When John looked down into the pit, in the darkness, it seemed that the floor was moving. And then, he heard something rattling.

Going from home to home in Bull Valley you’re liable to see a lot of wellheads protruding from the ground like metallic mushrooms. But, some of these homes have well pits. The wellhead and well cap are found inside the well pit.

Well pits were common years ago as a means of protecting the water in wells from freezing. The well pit allowed the well to operate without extending up above the frost line (typically 32-48 inches). Here in Northern Illinois, such as in Bull Valley, the winter months are times when freezing temperatures could cause problems for the water pumping up from a well.

One problem with well pits was that they required proper drainage and the drains often clogged. Think about well pits as concrete boxes buried into the surface of the ground. If rain and/or groundwater gets into the pit and rises above the well cap, that water can make its way into the well and contaminate the well. Moisture in the well pit can also result in condensation that causes problems with the well’s electronics.

Well pits are also warm areas that can attract wildlife, such as squirrels, chipmunks, and even snakes. As a result, many municipal codes do not allow building well pits anymore. New wells are designed to operate without well pits and without freezing. But, back to the slithering, rattling well pit in Bull Valley.

When John pointed his light down into the well pit, he discovered that it did, in fact, have snakes. Put snakes together with rattles and the logical conclusion is that you’ve got a problem with rattlesnakes. According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, four species of venomous snakes are found in Illinois: cottonmouth, copperhead, timber rattler and eastern massasauga.

The cottonmouth is also known as a water moccasin. The other three are rattlers. Fortunately, the snakes in the Bull Valley well pit were not rattlers. Rather, they were black rat snakes. Black rat snakes are clever snakes, clever enough to simulate a rattler’s rattle to scare off predators.

While John didn’t have to worry about a venomous bite, he still had to clear the snakes out of the well pit. He quickly fashioned a makeshift snake-catching pole by slide some cable through a piece of conduit with a noose on the end. He slipped the noose around each snake’s head and pulled the cable so the snake was caught. Who knew that well maintenance and repair can also fit the description for a zoologist?