Well cleaning with a bailer. Well cleaning - exchange of experience. Method #1 - pumping with a vibration pump

In cases where a centralized water supply is not available, a water well is an excellent alternative. This is a constantly available source of water, both for irrigation of the site and for domestic needs. However, sometimes the well can become clogged and stop working.

The reason for this may be the initial incorrect installation of the equipment, so only a well workover can help. But, much more often this happens due to a simple blockage caused by rare use. Some, in such cases, call specialists, but their services are expensive. However, it is quite possible to deal with the blockage with your own hands, especially since it does not require special skills.

One of the most common causes of clogging is the irregular use of the well. This is especially true for those who use this source of water only in spring and summer, and live in the city during the autumn and winter months. During downtime, sediment from particles of rust, silt and sand accumulates at the bottom, which clogs the filters.

The second most common cause is external pollution. Debris gets into the wellhead, edges crumble and other factors.

In third place are two possible causes of clogging at once. One of them is a filter smaller than the size of the pipe. In this case, the pump cannot be lowered to the required level and the filter gradually becomes clogged. A similar situation can be observed when using rotary pumps, which can supply water from a depth of no more than eight meters.

Well cleaning options

There are several main ways to clean the well, each has its pros and cons.

Using a conventional vibration pump is the easiest way, but it can lead to premature wear of the device. This is due to sand particles, which can significantly reduce the life of the piston and shutoff valve.
Cleaning the well with a bailer is the most time-consuming method, but it guarantees good results.
Swing Cleaning - Two pumps are required, so this method is the most costly.
Using an airlift - the method consists in cleaning the barrel with compressed air.

Cleaning and disinfection with acids

It is believed that the best way to clean a water well is with the help of chemicals. The most popular are various acids, such as hydrochloric acid solution.

However, self-cleaning a well with such substances is not an easy task. The fact is that without special training, such actions can damage the equipment, as well as harm your health. Also, not the last role is played by the fact that getting enough of the right acid is not the easiest thing. Therefore, washing with chemicals is the lot of professionals. The methods presented below are no less effective, but do not require special skills.

Cleaning a well with a pump with a lower intake

This method, which is known as well reaming, is usually applied immediately after drilling is completed. However, it is also well suited for subsequent cleaning.

If you have a drainage or fecal pump, then the process of cleaning the well is greatly simplified. These devices are especially good because they can pass fractions up to three centimeters long through themselves. For cleaning you will need:

Pump.
Injection hose.
Cable.

A good help will be a small metal rod or bracket, securely fixed to the bottom of the device - they will break dense layers of pollution.

You should act in this order:

Mounted on a cable (preferably steel), the pump goes down until it touches the pollution.
The pump is connected to the power supply.
Slightly shake the pump up and down to loosen the sediment.

An indicator that the blockage is being cleared will be the flow of water with mud and silt supplied by the pump.

If there is no apparatus with a lower intake, and the well is shallow, you can get by with a conventional vibration pump, such as the “baby”, to which the pump is connected.

In this case, it is to the pump that the impromptu "baking powder" will be attached.

The procedure is the same as above. It is worth noting that the device must be constantly in the water so as not to overheat.

It is also very important not to let go of the cable and monitor its tension. It is not uncommon for sand accumulated at the bottom of the trunk to turn into quicksand. As a result, the surprised owner discovers that the pump is stuck in the well.

Well flushing with two pumps

Cleaning wells with the help of two devices is quite expensive, but it is highly efficient. In addition, it works by washing away sand and silt particles. You will need:

Barrel for water, volume not less than two hundred liters.
A bucket with small holes drilled into it.
Submersible and centrifugal pumps.
Two hoses.
A couple of pieces of reinforcement.
Clamps.
Cable.

The procedure is as follows:

The submersible pump is lowered down and fixed at a height of about fifty centimeters above the blockage.
The discharge hose is lowered into the barrel, after which it is filled with water to the very top.
A bucket with holes is installed in the barrel, and a centrifugal pump is already in it.
On the discharge hose of the centrifugal pump, with the help of clamps, pins from the fittings are installed. It is necessary that they protrude ten to twenty centimeters beyond the edge of the hose. After that, the hose, with an impromptu baking powder, sinks to the bottom.
Both devices must be turned on, and the hose with fittings must be rocked up and down. At the same time, the blockage will be cleared due to the pressure of water and the mechanical destruction of the resulting plug.

It is worth monitoring the water level in the barrel, for which periodically turn off or turn on one of the pumps.

Using an Airlift for Flushing

This method of removing blockage is to use the so-called "airlift", from the English "air lift", that is, "air lift". It works due to the fact that water, with the help of air, begins to flow upward, and this draws sand and silt from the bottom.

For such cleaning you will need:

Air compressor twelve atmospheres.
Water in large quantities to create the necessary pressure.
Metal pipe, six centimeters in diameter and one meter long. In it, at a distance of 25 centimeters from one edge, an outlet for the duct is installed.
air hose.
water hose.

The principle of the airlift: water with the help of air goes up, dragging sand and silt with it.

The procedure is as follows:

The air hose is attached to the compressor and to the outlet.
The second hose is fixed at the opposite end of the pipe.
This design descends into the lower part of the trunk, plunging several centimeters into the silt. It is very important that the end with the duct is pointing down and not up.
The second hose is brought out.
After that, the well should be filled with water and maintain its level in order to create the necessary pressure.

After turning on the compressor, water will be circulated, which will wash out the silt and sand. As a result, the dirt will be brought out.

Removing blockage with a bailer

Cleaning wells in this way is one of the simplest, you only need a bailer and a steel cable. However, it requires significant physical effort - this is manual labor.

The bailer is a special tool designed specifically for cleaning and you can easily buy it. Although, if desired, it can be made by hand, since there are many variations of this device.

Cleaning the bailer requires considerable physical effort. This is manual monotonous work.

Below is one of the most entertaining and enduring examples:

You need to take a piece of pipe, sixty centimeters long.
Inside the pipe, near its end, a disk is welded, in which there should be a hole with a diameter two times smaller than the diameter of the pipe itself.
At this end of the pipe, teeth are cut that will break the blockage.
A metal ball is placed in the pipe, with a diameter of three quarters of the diameter of the pipe.
A metal mesh is welded on top of the pipe.
A handle is installed to which the cable will be attached.

After that, the bailer is fixed on a cable and lowered into the wellbore. Then comes the time of monotonous work - it is necessary to lift and throw down the bailer, periodically pulling it up and cleaning it from the accumulated dirt inside.

Cleaning occurs due to the fact that during the descent, the metal ball will fall a little more slowly. Thus, dirt, along with water, will have time to penetrate inside the pipe before the ball closes the hole.

Prices for work and materials

Consider the approximate cost of the materials that we need. In almost all cases, you will need a metal cable, which costs about two thousand rubles per coil:

A drainage pump with a lower water intake costs an order of magnitude sixteen thousand rubles.
The centrifugal pump costs about seven thousand rubles, and vibrating in the area two thousand. A barrel of water will cost the amount, from six hundred to a thousand rubles.
The compressor will cost no more than six thousand rubles. The pipe will cost 200-300 rubles.
Already finished bailer is in the range from ten to twenty thousand rubles. Manual production, with tools, will cost three thousand rubles. Or, only at the price of electricity, since there are manufacturing methods that require only a drill. Pipes, if desired, can also be found old, as long as they are strong enough.

conclusions

All these methods are quite simple and do not require large finances - almost always the necessary tools are at hand. Moreover, it will cost much less, not to mention the time that will have to be spent waiting for repairmen.

It is almost always possible to deal with the blockage on your own and for this you do not need to call specialists. However, you need to be careful, because repairing wells is an expensive pleasure.

Rock getting into a well is a common thing, and not only during the drilling process, when the soil crumbles. The casing pipe can be damaged, lose tightness. You can clean the well yourself. Moreover, there are several technologies, and you can choose based on the possibilities. Professional well cleaning is a specific process that requires the participation of specialists. But if you want to take care of the family yourself and do everything with your own hands, you need to study the technological features that well flushing has.

We clean the well with our own hands

To choose a way to clean a well from sand, clay or silt, you need to familiarize yourself with all the technologies available at home.

There are six such methods:

Cleaning wells with vibration-type pumping equipment.
Cleaning wells from silt and sand by flushing with a surface pumping station.
Cleaning wells for water using two pumps.
Cleaning of wells for water with a bailer during collapse during drilling.
Flushing wells with your own hands using a water hammer.
Washing wells after drilling using a gas-air mixture.

Each do-it-yourself well cleaning method involves the use of characteristic equipment. It all depends on the state of the source (launched or just being drilled).

Pumping with a vibration pump

This simplest way to flush a well is to temporarily replace the circulation pump with a vibration one. The latter can pump liquid with small solids, since its design does not have mechanical components. As a result, after a natural change of water, the source is filled with fresh, clean, without sand and clay.

It is not necessary to take an expensive model. Devices of this type are cheap, but burn out during prolonged continuous operation. It's not scary if you buy an inexpensive model of domestic production. The costs are reasonable, since the well will have to be cleaned more than once if the problem has already appeared.

Surface pumping

The technique involves pumping clean water into the source. Excess is brought to the surface. So that the site does not turn into a wetland, it is better to loop the process through the tank. Natural reservoirs will not work. A clean water tank is needed, from which the flushing liquid is supplied to the source.

Back it goes with sand and silt to the tank, where solid heavy particles lie on the bottom. In this case, the water intake must be in the upper layers of the water so as not to drive dirt in a circle. And the hose through which the dirt is removed is placed on the bottom so that grains of sand do not fall into the intake pipe.

Well flushing with two pumps

This method differs from previous technologies in that it allows you to clean up sources whose depth exceeds 50 meters. Messing around with a deep pump and hoses is inconvenient and not always possible. To facilitate the process, one pumping unit will be required to pump the flushing fluid into the casing, and the second one will be pumped out.

In this case, the supply pumping station is located on the surface, while the pumping station is located in the casing pipe. When planning how to flush a well, one should not forget about the need to install a tank and fill it with clean water. If the tank is large enough, and it is possible to throw dirt out of the area, then it is not necessary to drive water in a circle. When this does not work out, again, the intake is at the top, and the ejection hose lies at the bottom.

Extraction of sand with a bailer

This methodology solves the problem when there are a lot of deposits, and they have time to cake. Suspended particles are selected in the manner described previously. The bailer is a cylinder with a built-in shut-off valve. Being at the bottom, the cavity is filled with mud, which, when raised, is held by a ball valve.

Cleaning wells with your own hands using a bailer is a manual process. The costs are minimal. In this case, there should be no water in the source. It is pumped out completely so that silt and dirt lie on the surface. If the depth of the aquifers is great, a tripod with a block and a winch will be required, since the repeated process of lowering and raising the bailer is difficult even if there is an assistant.

Removal of contaminants by water hammer

The technology is used when the problem is siltation of the bottom filter, which leads to a decrease in flow rate.

Water cannot enter the casing due to compacted bottom sediments. The principle of operation is to "build up" the mud masses with a piston made of a heavy pipe with a welded bottom end. The clearance between the piston and the casing is minimal.

A cable is tied, but before you clean the well with your own hands, you need to raise the water level in the source by a couple of meters. An aqueous solution of phosphoric acid is poured into the casing to soften the calcium compounds. Sharp jerks of the cable create a rarefaction zone. Dynamic pressure drops loosen the compacted deposits, which can then be pumped out using one of the previously described methods.

Washing with gas-air mixture

If the well is not filled, flushing can be organized by bubbling.

Instead of a deep pump, a hose with a spray at the end is inserted into the casing pipe, which must be literally stuck into dense silt, clay or sand. An air compressor is installed on the surface.

Passing through the nozzle, it loosens deposits under pressure. And for greater efficiency, this technology can be combined with the method of washing the well from sand using distillation through a settling tank. How to do it correctly is described above. It will not be possible to completely solve the problem in one day, so you need to stock up on imported drinking water.

Before preparation, you need to determine how to clean the well from sand and dirt in order to get the maximum effect. It all depends on the degree of pollution and the scale of the problem. If it is contained in the presence of suspended particles and cloudy water, a vibration pump is sufficient. More dirt - stronger method. Pumps are equipment that will get rid of heavy pollution.

Critical compacted deposits that clog the flow of water into the well are removed with a bailer, water hammer or bubbling.

Over time, wells become clogged. An individual source of water supply requires periodic maintenance, which will allow it to operate for a long time. When the well is clogged, the functioning of the pump is disrupted, so it is imperative to carry out preventive measures and eliminate blockages in a timely manner. To eliminate the blockage, flushing of the well will be required.

Well blockage: causes of blockage

Identification of the cause of well blockage is a mandatory procedure that will help clarify the problem, as well as select the best option for flushing. There are two options for clogging wells:

sand getting into the pipe;
siltation.

Well silting occurs extremely rarely, and only in the case when an autonomous source of water supply is not in operation. During the operation of the well, accumulation of small particles in the area of the presence of the filter is observed: sedimentary rocks, deposits, rust, etc. Over time, the number of these particles only increases, so the mesh holes of the filter become clogged, and water is not able to enter the pipe to be absorbed in the appropriate amount.

When the resource of pumping water decreases, the process of siltation gradually develops. This process develops slowly in those wells that are operated regularly. If the source is used periodically, then siltation occurs soon (after 2-3 years).

To extend the life of the pump, flushing the well should be carried out in a timely manner, without waiting for the moment when the water stops flowing from the source at all.

When sand enters the well (this process is also called “sanding”), a decrease in water pressure is observed. This process is much more common, and is present when the well is located in a sand and gravel layer. If the construction of a source for this type of soil was taken responsibly, then the grains of sand will enter in small quantities, and flushing of the well will be needed no earlier than after 10 years. If grains of sand in the water are observed much earlier, then this indicates the following factors:

leakage of the caisson;
wrong type of filter;
the filter element has been damaged;
leakage between casing sections.

If over time the amount of sand in the water increases, then the source needs to be cleaned. To prolong the life of the pump, a sand separator is installed in the casing pipe. As a result of such a device, water enters the pipe without grains of sand and sediment.

Do-it-yourself well cleaning

Cleaning wells on your own is quite realistic, for which there are various methods. For this, the following cleaning options are used:

With the help of a vibration pump, pumping is carried out.
The use of a pump to flush from the surface.
Use of two pumps.
Water hammer method to remove contaminants.
Flushing the well with a bailer.
Gas-air mixture for flushing the source.

These are the main well cleaning methods used for independent work. In fact, there are many more options, however, only the above will be presented in the material.

How the well is cleaned of sand: the use of a vibration pump

Cleaning a well with a vibration pump is, although an inefficient method, but one of the simplest. As a flushing device, a vibration pump is used instead of a flushing pump. Its advantage lies in the fact that the impeller is capable of passing small pebbles.

In the process of cleaning in the vibrator, the check valve may fail, the cost of which is low. Such a pump is also much cheaper than a circulation pump. The vibratory pump method will help if sand removal is needed, but will not solve the silting problem. As a vibrator, you need to use a pump with a lower water intake.

To remove contaminants, you will need to place the pump almost at the very bottom, which will effectively eliminate contaminants. In the process of pumping out deposits, the amount of sand will decrease, so you need to gradually lower the pump.

During the operation of the pump, you need to take breaks for 10-15 minutes every half hour of work.

Flushing with a pump from above

Well cleaning is carried out from the surface. This method is more practical than the previous one. So that in the process of cleaning a deep well from silt and sand a swamp is not created, it is recommended to flush in a closed circle.

If there is no source of clean water nearby, then it should be delivered. The volume of water needed to clean the well is equal to the full capacity of the casing. This method allows water to circulate between the bottom of the well and the tank, thereby accumulating contaminants on the bottom of the tank. It is recommended to use a powerful motor pump as a circulation pump, and to introduce chemicals into the water.

The top flush technique is an effective and easy cleaning option that you can do yourself without calling a plumbing team.

Two-Pump Flushing Method

The above two methods are suitable for flushing a well in a country house, the depth of which is more than 30-50 m. If the well has a depth of more than 50 m, then the power of the vibration pump is simply not enough to raise clogged water to the surface. The clogging problem in deep wells can be solved by using two pumps.

This method is even more effective, and for its implementation you will need to use surface and deep devices. With the help of the first pump located on the surface, water will be supplied to the bottom of the well. With the help of a deep pump, water is pumped out together with sand, silt and other blockages.

As a deep pump, a pump located in a well is suitable. Moreover, it will not need to be raised from the bottom to the surface, and also lowered as the contaminants are pumped out.

The main condition for carrying out such a cleaning method is that the water supply hose must be lowered to the very bottom of the well. Carrying out this cleaning method, you need to understand that when sand, silt and pebbles pass through the impeller of a submersible pump, its resource will decrease.

Removing contaminants using a bailer

If a lot of sand has accumulated in the casing, then the bailer cleaning technique is very effective. This method is not used only if it is necessary to clean the filter and soil.

A bailer is a section of a steel pipe, the length of which is from 0.5 to 1 meter. Inside this pipe there is a valve on one side, as well as a lever for the cable on the other.

A steel ball is used as a valve, fixed with a washer with a threaded connection. Before carrying out cleaning work, it is recommended to pump out water from the casing pipe completely. After that, the bailer is lowered to the bottom of the well, and when the bottom is reached, the valve will open. In this case, sand gets inside the bailer, after which the bailer is removed from the bore hole. After raising the bailer, it is necessary to clean the internal cavity from silt and dirt, and then repeat the procedure.

The bailer cleaning technique is effective, but it requires a lot of physical effort. To simplify the procedure, you need to use a design in the form of a tripod, on which the winch is fixed. In order not to make a bailer yourself, you can buy it ready-made or rent it.

Water hammer for cleaning

The water hammer cleaning technique is popular when it is necessary to remove sludge from the filter. This cleaning method is used as an additional method after sand and silt have been removed from the casing. If, after cleaning the casing pipe, water does not flow from the source, then it is necessary to clean the sludge from the filter.

To translate the water hammer cleaning method into reality, you need to prepare a special device. As such a device, a steel pipe is used, with a diameter of several centimeters less than the size of the casing. The end part of the device must be tightly closed, and holes are drilled on the second side to fix the cable.

The pumping of sand from the well in this way is carried out as follows:

The well is filled with water up to 2 meters.
Orthophosphoric acid is added to the water, which corrodes deposits and rust.
The device drops sharply into the casing pipe, after which it rises up.
The water hammer technique is repeated for 2 hours.
After that, the casing pipe is filled with water to the very top, after which flushing is performed.

If this technique did not help to achieve a positive result, then the procedure is repeated for several more hours.

The use of a gas-air mixture for cleaning

To clean the well, you can use another method that is also effective. This method is called "cleaning the well of the gas-air mixture." It is put into action by installing a sprayer at the bottom of the casing pipe. This atomizer should stick into the ground. Through this device, a stream of compressed air is supplied to the bottom, which is pumped by a compressor. In this case, air bubbles are formed, which move to the surface along with contaminants.

Water must be added inside the well, which can flow by gravity or be supplied by a pump. The technique of cleaning with compressed air is used extremely rarely, due to the need to perform manipulations for several days. Thanks to the advantages of this method, it is possible to achieve a positive result in cleaning not only the bottom of the well from silt, but also the filter. This washing option is the most gentle, therefore it is used when the above options do not give positive results.

Which cleaning method do you prefer?

Having considered 6 methods of self-cleaning a well, one should dwell on one option. The use of each method is overhead, so before choosing, you need to decide what the problem is. If water with sand moves from the source, then the bottom of the well is not silted up. If the water pressure decreases, then this indicates that the filter is dirty. Depending on the cause, appropriate methods should be preferred.

It is recommended to start work on cleaning the well only with the simplest method - the use of a vibration pump. Depending on the results obtained, it can be concluded that other methods are needed. The use of a bailer is not suitable for cases where the casing is made of plastic. This option is only relevant for wells with steel casing.

All of the above methods, although they are popularly called "handicraft", but they help to effectively clean the well. Calling a washing machine is rational only if all of the above methods have been tried and do not give positive results. At the same time, it is important to take into account that the method of cleaning with a washing machine will cost ten times more than trying to implement all of the above methods on your own.

A well is the main source of water for supplying private country cottages, cottage-type houses, and other objects in the absence of a centralized water supply line. In most well sources, during long-term operation, the flow rate decreases due to clogging of the casing string filters, while the only low-cost way out is to clean the well yourself.

Sometimes situations arise when water in a well source is contaminated with surface sewage or other drains, rust from pipes, and usually no chemical reagent for cleaning wells (citric acid, vinegar, bleach) is used, limited only to pumping unsuitable water.

To carry out cleaning work, mechanical and electromechanical devices are used, devices of a simple design are made independently, choosing the appropriate method from several options. In order not to waste extra time and money during the work, it is useful to study the various cleaning methods and the devices used for this, the choice of which depends on the parameters of the well and the type of blockage.

It should be noted that all types of wells, depending on the depth, are divided into three classes: Abyssinian, sandy and artesian.

Drainage types are designed for operation at shallow immersion (usually no more than 20 m), in terms of their overall dimensions they simply will not enter the borehole channel with a standard diameter of about 100 mm, so there is no talk of their use. Screws can work with dirty water and are suitable for diving into wells, but their working mechanism in the form of a spiral nozzle and a sealed rubber sleeve wears out pretty quickly from exposure to solid sand particles, and replacing parts will cost a pretty penny.

The last variety - a vibration pump, is a budgetary and easy-to-use unit, the rubber piston and check valve of which will also be subject to accelerated wear due to the negative impact of solid sand particles. But the replacement of these parts, unlike vibration models, will be cheaper, and a worn-out kit can be used repeatedly to clean the well source.

To clean wells by mechanical methods, a special device is most often used - a bailer, which is lowered to the bottom and then lifted up with a captured layer of silt-sand deposits.

Cleaning the well with a vibration pump

Industrially produced electric vibration pumps (, Rodnichok, Whirlwind) have a standard maximum head of 40 m, another modification is capable of lifting water from depths of up to 80 m - these characteristics make it possible to use units of this type for cleaning any wells in the sand.

Tip: Since during the cleaning procedures the electric pump draws water in the bottom area of the well, it is rational to use modifications of vibratory pumps with lower water intake.

Cleaning the well with a do-it-yourself pump is carried out in the following way:

Connect the electric pump to the pressure hose, tie a holding cable to it, connect the electric power cable, supply hose and cable together with ties.
The vibration pump is lowered to the bottom of the well, after contact with sand, the pump is raised by 100-200 mm, fixed on the surface and turned on.

Note: In order to maintain a constant distance to the bottom, sometimes a large-diameter rigid sleeve made of rubber or elastic plastic about 200 mm long is inserted into the lower part of the pump housing, fixing it to the shell with an external clamp.

The water raised to the surface is drained into for settling and further use for irrigation, other household needs, or redirected to a ditch outside the site.
As the sand-clay mixture is pumped out, the vibration pump is lowered lower, the cleaning is repeated until clean water appears at the outlet at a pump lowering depth that corresponds to the immersion distance of the main centrifugal electric pump.

When cleaning a well with a single vibration electric pump, it is useful to loosen the bottom layer of silt deposits, for this you can use a massive mechanical pin with teeth or a pipe segment with pointed edges and a tied cable. Before pumping, pointed metal objects are thrown into the well several times and then pulled to the surface with a cable.

Use of two electric pumps

The use of a second electric pump for pumping a well increases the efficiency of the work carried out due to the following factors:

the layer of silt that has stagnated at the bottom is stirred up and pumped out more efficiently;
the water raised up is immediately sent back to the well and does not need to be disposed of.

To carry out cleaning procedures, one electric pump for pumping out muddy water is prepared in the above way, and the second is lowered into a container with drained water and a pressure hose is connected to its outlet, work is continued in the following way:

In order not to carry out reusable operations to lower and cure the hose supplying water to the well and the suction pump, they are connected together by screwing the sleeve at a distance of about 200 mm below the electric pump housing.
The pump is lowered into the well together with the pressure hose of the second electric pump until it touches the bottom and is turned on to pump out water, while the outer container is filled.
After the barrel with a volume of about 200 liters is filled, the pump sucking water from the well is turned off and the second pump is turned on, located in the middle water layers of the catchment tank.
The settled water is sent back to the well and stirs up the silt deposits in the bottom area, after draining a sufficient amount of water to half the tank, the external pump is turned off, the deep pump is turned on and the source continues to be pumped.
As the height of the silty layer decreases, the immersion depth of the water suction pump changes.
After repeating this procedure, the quality of the raised water is checked several times, focusing on the initial immersion depth of the main electric pump.

Bailer cleaning

The bailer is the only device for cleaning deep wells from bottom silt using manual technology; these devices are used not only in the household, but are also manufactured in a factory way for use in industrial well sources.

A typical bailer design is a piece of pipe, often with serrated edges, at the bottom of which a valve of rotary plates or a ball operating in one direction is installed.

The principle of operation of the bailer is to sharply lower it to the bottom of the well, while the bottom mud through the check valve enters the cylindrical body. When the bailer is raised, the valve closes the pipe channel, preventing the exit of silt deposits back into the well source. After curing outward, the body is emptied from the collected mud mixture and the procedure for lowering the bailer into the well shaft is repeated.

To lower and raise the bailer, a manual winch is usually used, if the depth of the well is quite high, an electric motor (homemade electric winch) is used to rotate it.

Making a bailer

In the household, when self-manufacturing, two main designs of bailers are used: with a ball or flaps as a shut-off valve. The ball modification, although it looks quite simple, is actually more difficult to manufacture both technically and mathematically to determine the optimal weight of the ball check valve.

With its high mass, it will rise an insignificant distance during immersion - this will lead to the fact that the amount of silt deposits that have entered inside will be small. If the mass of the ball is too small, when the inner cavity of the pipe is filled with mud, it will not be able to sink to its bottom and the rock being lifted will go back into the well.

Therefore, in the household, a bailer is mainly made from one or two butterfly valves, the main stages of installation of a popular design are as follows:

They take a piece of pipe about 800 mm long, which is a body, a handle is welded to its end to lift the device, if there is no welding machine, you can tie the wire to two through holes made in the walls.
A check valve system is assembled, for this a piece of a pipe similar to the body is cut off about 50 mm long, teeth are cut on its edge with a grinder, and a steel ring is welded from the inside.
A check valve is made, for this a circle is cut out along the inner diameter of the pipe section, one wide or two narrow loops of wire are welded to its plane, a piece of smooth-walled reinforcement is threaded into them.
A piece of reinforcement, together with a cover put on it, is welded over the inner ring of the pipe section so that it easily opens inward.
After the check valve system is assembled, its 50 mm body is welded to the main bailer pipe.

Other well cleaning methods

In addition to the above methods of cleaning, the most commonly used in everyday life, you can use less common alternative methods using special equipment and various equipment, which are auxiliary means for the main pumping of water by electric pumps.

With a fire engine

If you're not a fire chief or don't have the right connections, using a special machine to clean an individual well will cost you a considerable amount, if at all possible.

The principle of cleaning with a fire engine is to supply water to the well bottom with high pressure, while the silt deposits instantly rise up and mix with water. It remains only to pump out the stirred up water as quickly as possible and the cleaning process is completed.

Important: When using a fire engine, an additional amount of water is supplied to the well, which can rise through the channel and, along with dirt, spread over the surface of the site - if measures are not taken to protect it, this will lead to irreversible pollution.

Ilosos

An easier way to clean the well from sand and silt with the help of special equipment is to use a vacuum cleaning machine (sludge pump) used to empty septic tanks, cesspools, gray water sedimentation tanks, and clean wells from silt deposits. The machine is equipped with a storage tank, a vacuum pump, often it is equipped with a high-pressure plunger electric pump with a nozzle for washing out sludge.

To clean the well, the suction hose from the sludge suction machine with a load is immersed in it and the tank is filled with dirty water, if necessary, solid sludge is washed away with a high-pressure jet of water from a plunger pump.

It is almost impossible to deliver special equipment, install it and drill a well in areas with difficult terrain without access roads. You will have to work manually, using a self-made device, namely a bailer for cleaning the well.

A simple and effective tool is a bailer from bottom pollution. It will also help to make a high-quality punching of a water source without the involvement of specialists. The possibility of diverse application of the device makes it universal and necessary in the arsenal of the owner of the plot.

It consists of a piece of steel pipe with a thick wall. At the bottom there is always a valve that helps keep dirt inside the product. On the same side, the edge of the device may have a serrated or pointed (after chamfering) surface. Welded serrated tips are hardened elements.

The top of the device is covered with a metal mesh. It keeps large pieces of debris in the body and prevents the ball from flying out if the design is assembled with a ball valve. Eyelets welded to the upper cut of the pipe are designed for fastening the steel cable.

Important! The loop welded to the pipe and the cable attachment must allow the device to always be in a strictly vertical position. Any distortions are the cause of damage to the walls of the shaft and jamming of the device during manual cleaning.

Operating principle

The work of the bailer for drilling home wells for water is based on the use of the energy of gravitational attraction. A heavy product is abruptly dropped from a certain height. When hitting the bottom of the shaft, the edges of the pipe loosen the soil, if the bailer is used as a bailer, or silt and sand accumulated at the bottom - when cleaning the source.

The loosened masses open the valve and fill the internal cavity of the product, and when the device is lifted, it closes. After several throws and lifts, the device is removed from the well, soil with impurities is removed from it, the cycle is repeated until the shaft is completely cleaned or the required depth is obtained.

Types of valve designs

The reverse shutter determines the cleaning efficiency. Its main task is not to prevent the entry of soil or dirt into the pipe cavity when the bailer falls and prevent them from spilling out when lifting. A snug fit of the valve will ensure the capture of dense masses and contaminated water.

Petal

The working part of the structure is one or two flat petals. In the manufacture of the locking surface, sheet metal, plastic, hard rubber are suitable. One petal needs a round blank that will freely pass into the pipe hole.

The petal is movably fixed on the inner wall of the device. It can be spring-loaded, it will become more reliable operation.

A two-blade damper is made from an oval blank, which is cut in half along the smaller axis of symmetry. Then the petals are movably attached to a metal axis passing through the center of the pipe.

The petals work like a door. When hitting the bottom of the mine, the soil presses and opens the doors. When the device moves upward, the petals-doors close under the weight of the soil that has fallen into the cavity.

The disadvantages of a leaf gate are rapid wear and possible breakage during operation; only the option with metal petals is suitable for drilling.

On a note! To quickly restore the petals, the valve is made in a metal cup, which is attached to the main pipe with a threaded connection.

ball

The locking element of this design is a metal ball. During the water hammer, it rises, freeing the intake hole of the product. When rising, the ball closes the entrance with a spherical surface. Inside the long pipe, it is necessary to provide a limiter for the ball travel. To do this, use a welded finger, a screwed bolt or a piece of reinforcement. With such a device, when the bailer is raised, the ball will lower faster and block the hole. As a result, more soil or silt will be captured.

The advantages of the ball valve are reliability of operation, the product cannot fail, it is suitable for drilling and cleaning wells.

Calculation of parameters

Before starting work, the most detailed drawing is prepared to prevent possible errors. Especially if the bailer for cleaning the well is being done for the first time.

The dimensions of the structural elements are individual - for the possibility of application in certain conditions when working with a particular mine. When making a tool, they try to take into account the following nuances:

The blank-ellipse for the petal valve should have a small axis of symmetry slightly less than the inner diameter of the bailer, and the large one should be 20 mm longer than the small one.
The ball valve sphere diameter should be 10–15 mm less than the internal diameter of the product or cover up to 75% of its cross section.
When determining the diameter of the bailer, one should start from the internal dimensions of the casing. The recommended gap between the walls of the fixture and the shaft is 20 mm. Therefore, the outer diameter of the pipe used will be 40 mm smaller than the inner diameter of the casing. An increase in the gap makes the work of such a tool inefficient, a decrease leads to damage to the non-ideal walls of the barrel and possible jamming of the device.
2–10 mm is sufficient wall thickness for the body tube.

Case manufacturing

Use a steel or cast iron (requires special welding technology) pipe. Its segment should not have bends along the length. The edges are aligned and the internal thread is cut from below, if such a connection is provided. At the top of the body, a window is cut out (drilled and knocked out with a chisel) to be able to clean the cavity from dirt.

When selecting a pipe, it is important to balance the weight and length of the workpiece. After all, the finished tool must have sufficient impact inertia and the ability to be removed manually or by a winch when the cavity is completely filled with soil.

Useful information. The weight of the device is important when drilling a new source. Therefore, for efficient operation, a pipe 2–4 m long is used. In the manufacture of a bailer for cleaning a well, from 0.7 to 1.2 m is sufficient.

Assembly steps with ball valve

Follow this order:

A seat for a metal ball is screwed or welded to the lower edge of the pipe. This can be a conical funnel turned by a turner or a washer with an internal hole corresponding to the ball. Suitable for the seat and a concentric purchased adapter used to connect pipes of various diameters. This part is inserted into the product with a side with a smaller diameter and scalded.
A metal ball is inserted through the top.
Then a ball lifting limiter is made in the device body. It is fixed above the saddle at a distance of 3–4 sphere diameters. As a limiter, it is better to use a screwed bolt.
At the top of the body, a restrictive grid is welded (for large fractions of the soil) and a loop for connecting to the cable.
The provided pointed teeth are welded to the finished bailer. You can also do this at the stage of assembling a glass with a valve seat.

Assembly steps with reed valve

The assembly order is the same, except for the following points:

A petal valve already assembled in a special metal cup is attached to the lower edge of the body.
It is not necessary to make a limiter inside the pipe, since the ball is not used in this design.

How to do it yourself without cooking equipment

In these cases, other types of connections of structural elements come to the rescue. For example, a glass with a built-in valve and a formed sharp edge can be screwed into the lower part of the pipe along the thread. To get shock teeth, you can use a grinder.

Drilling comes to the rescue. A thick wire can be inserted into the prepared holes to form the upper loop. You can also insert a bolt through them, pass it through a ring or carabiner and fix it on the outside with a nut. The bolt will simultaneously play the role of the upper limiter. At the bottom of the pipe, a bolt-nut connection helps to secure the valve petals - the bolt is threaded through their wire rings.

The videos below will show you how to make a reliable bailer yourself, and help you avoid mistakes in its manufacture.

The following signs will tell you that the time has come to desire:

For some reason, the well was not used for several months.
The pump draws air.
Water contains impurities.
After several minutes of operation of the included tap, the water jet visually becomes thinner.

When starting to clean a working well, and this can happen every 3-4 months, be sure to make a visual assessment of its inner surface. The work can be complicated or made impossible by significant deformation of the walls of the mine, loss of their integrity, severe siltation.

Then the condition of the working equipment is checked: wear and strength of the cable, free (without jamming) operation of movable joints, reliability of fasteners.

A tripod installed above the well with a block on which the cable is wound will help facilitate the work. The result is a strictly vertical operation of the device, its easy lifting through the block, especially with an additional winch. In order that the device torn off during operation does not create a serious problem and does not stop the process for an indefinite time, it is desirable to weld a pair of hooks to the pipe. They will come in handy for its quick extraction from the well in case of force majeure.

All work with the device ends with a thorough cleaning of the internal cavity from the soil. A square window at the top of the pipe will help make this faster and easier. For clayey or dense viscous soils, such a window is made along the length of the entire pipe. It is advisable to store a clean and dried bailer until the next use in a dry utility room.

On wet, sandy, loose, soft soil, you can do self-drilling with a well device or a diagnostic puncture. In case of inconsistency of the soil structure with the specified characteristics, the work is entrusted to specialists using professional equipment.