How to Repair Broken Wellhead Pipes After a Big Freeze
77If It's To Be, It's Up To Me
When the big freeze hit southern Arizona, shattering virtually every above-ground water pipe in the area, I shouldn't have needed to know how to fix the situation at the wellhead. It's a shared well, after all (though we're the only ones here at this point in time), and the usual procedure is simply to call the developer. The developer then calls the pump service company, and they get to us as soon as they can.
This time, however, I'd created part of the problem myself by carelessly (impatiently!) breaking a PVC pipe fitting connected to our water storage tank (1/8 mile from the wellhead). The result: 200 gallons of water, the last we had except for roughy 20 gallons remaining in storage jugs in the house, poured out onto the ground. The well service company is still absolutely buried, trying to catch up with plumbing supplies in short supply and customers--without a doubt--screaming into the company's answering machine constantly.
Solution: Fix the thing myself, keep the cost as low as possible, and hope the developer (who has always treated us more than fairly) wouldn't mind reimbursing me for the parts, at least, after the fact.
What's that? Ask him first, you say? Hah! Not a chance, for two reasons: (1) I want this job to be done before anyone other than my wife hears about it, and (2) there really is something to that old saying that it's (usually) easier to gain forgiveness than to get permission.
So: The first thing to do, rather obviously, was to remove the broken parts. Unfortunately, there were more of those than I first realized. This resulted in two time-and-fuel-eating trips to Sierra Vista for parts rather than one. Ah, well! (Pun intended.)
Broken pipes and fittings like those shown above are impossible to miss. Hoping (foolishly) that these might be the only broken parts, I headed to Home Depot to get the needed replacement goodies. That trip produced the following results:
1. Home Depot: Excellent pipe dope, called Rector's, works on both metal and PVC. Awesome stuff. Also a workable ball valve...but no 1 1/4" threaded pipe and/or adapter. (*Sigh*)
2. Sutherland's: No joy.
3. Ferguson's: No joy.
4. Sierra Building Materials: Don't even stock plumbing supplies; no joy turbo.
5. Ace Hardware: Everything I needed.
Looking good. Until, back home, I made the next big discovery: All that galvanized pipe over there on the right, underneath that thick insulation (which did no good whatsoever, thank you very much)...the entire system rattled like a bucket full of broken bones.
Oops.
Once the insulation was cut away, the problem was obvious: One piece of that galvanized iron pipe...was not iron at all, but Schedule 80 PVC. In a sense, that was a good thing--it provided a weak point, allowing the PVC to break and, in the process, actually protecting the iron pipe on either side of the six inch plastic section.
Okay. Another day, another trip to town. Small pain only; should have thoroughly inspected that section in the first place.
But.
But...the short piece of Schedule 80 was so shattered that the ends did not extrude far enough from the iron pipe sections to provide any purchase. In other words, you couldn't "wrench 'em out", and they weren't volunteering to exit without assistance. What to do?
Heat.
Yep. Fired up my little cheap oxy-whatever torch, burned the booger out of each "stuck" PVC end piece, then--while it was still hot and soft--backed it right out of there using nothing but a folding knife to poke-turn it from the inside. Worked like a charm.
Note: If you need to remove PVC pieces using this technique, please do pay attention to any "extraneous" fittings. That is, the second fitting (iron pipe piece) was pretty fancy. It had three holes in it in addition to the usual water flow openings (it's a tee). Those three holes were for mounting (a) a little pipe post upon which sits the electrical relay box, (b) a water pressure gauge (which was also broken by the freeze), and (c) a pressure relief valve. All of those items had to be taken out and set to one side before heating the fitting.
The pressure relief valve is most important. It is sealed with a tiny rubber O-ring that would swiftly melt...after which, apply pump pressure and--oooops!
All righty then. Back to town, this time only to Ace Hardware. Again...everything I needed, they had.
Except for more pipe dope. Two more tubes of that (quick swing into Home Depot) went into the toolbox...just in case. Turned out neither was needed, but it was close. Better safe than sorry; having to blow two more hours and another gallon of gas to pick up a $3.29 tube of dope would have made me the dope, doncha think?
I'd begun this project at around 10:00 a.m. yesterday. It was around 3:30 p.m. today when I was finally ready to put the wellhead piping back together for--hopefully--a good long time.
In order to avoid mistakes in reestablishing the electrical connections, a sketch and notes were followed. First, though, the "fancy" tee connection was connected to the pressure tank. It doesn't necessarily need to be done in the order I followed--that's just what worked for me.
The next series of connections--one threaded pipe dope hookup plus several primer-and-glue PVC arrangements--led from the central tee (shown above) to the ground surface where the 2 inch pipe dives into the Earth to begin its trek over to "our place". Getting the height right was tricky indeed; I ended up having to saw the pipe stub off twice and wasted one coupling in the process.
Fortunately, those are cheap--if we're discussing the Schedule 40 version. Schedule 80 is another matter.
The final connection (on the right side, from the wellhead itself to the tee) was--as is usually the case--the toughest of all to "get right". Reason: It seemed likely the concrete pad under the pressure tank had settled just a bit, 1/8" to 3/16" or some such.
PVC is wonderful stuff in many regards, and one of those wonder aspects is its ability to flex a fair bit without breaking. Trouble was, the length of Sechedule 80 pipe running between the iron fittings (at the corner coming from the wellhead and at the tee)...is only a few inches in length. Won't bend much.
The original piece of Schedule 80 was threaded at either end, a 1 1/4" nipple...but I didn't like that. For one thing, it was a 6 inch piece--and not even Ace Hardware had one of those in stock today. For another, installing such would have required installation of the nipple first, then the tee. That just felt wrong today, even though it could have been done (and clearly had been done by the original installer).
Solution: Two 4 inch nipples (which Ace did have in stock)...saw the threads off one end of each nipple...and finish the hookup by hard-gluing the two sawed-off ends into a coupling.
That just left the installation of a new water pressure gauge, $7.99 (plus tax) at, you got it, Ace Hardware.
And...done.
Except for a few final snapshots. Couldn't take those at every turn--too much pipe dope, dirt, etc., on my hands to be handling the camera.
And...except for testing everything by actually pumping water through the system. We'll get around to that in the a.m. Would have loved to do so tonight, but the PVC glue needed a bit more time to set properly--and I've already had my one impatient moment for this year.
Tracks
By 11:00 a.m. today (Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011), it was nice and warm outside. Time to tow the 5500 watt Troy-Bilt generator over to the wellhead by hand (since the truck needs a battery), fire it up, and hope.
There were distractions along the way, however, mostly in the form of footprints. A trespasser had come awfully close to the house during the night...and had actually tried opening the driver's side door (which was locked) before dithering around a bit and then heading back on out into the desert.
Despite the fact that his clodhoppers are a good deal smaller than my own, neither Pam nor I liked that very much. I lost the guy's trail after a while, but he obviously had a fair bit of nerve, coming within 80 feet of our front door.
Stayed off the gravel, though. Crunches too loudly, most likely.
Then, farther along the "generator trail", there appeared more tracks. Illegal immigrants. There were at least four (different shoe patterns), none of which left their northerly route to approach our homestead. They were accompanied, it seems, by one burro--most likely packing drugs. The truck-sneak dude had not joined up with them; we've no idea whether he might have also been a border crosser--or just some local addict teenager looking for something to cluck for drugs.
I'll know his track if I see it again, though. It's an extremely distinctive pattern.
Water In The Tank!
The track-scouting duties took half an hour or so, after which it was (finally!) time to fire up the generator and pour the power to the well pump. The new gauge didn't budge off zero pounds of pressure for something like two minutes--but then jumped all the way to 30 exact pounds...and stayed there.
Which is about normal when you're pushing water through 3/8 mile of two inch line and then another 1/8 mile of 1 inch line...up in the air 13 feet...and into the storage tank.
SUCCESS!!!
Cool. I gots running waters and bragging rights back, all in one shot! Can't beat that with a muddy stick!
After the tank was full, there only remained the matter of dragging the generator "back home"...oh, yeah, and painting the PVC pipes to protect them from sun damage.
My reward? Ah, the usual sense of accomplishment. Besides which...now I get to take a nap.
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Little did I know that an article about fixing a pipe could be written in such an interesting manner. Thoroughly impressed :)
Thanks, Sonal.
Mike, your opinion on my repair efforts means more than anything else short of actual pressure testing (which I'll be doing this afternoon if not before).
The little house over the wellhead, complete with heater, is exactly how I've seen it done in Montana...and exactly how I plan to protect our booster pump when I actually have the cash on hand to continue building. If the little building is well insulated and not any larger than it has to be, even a light bulb powered by a small solar panel should be adequate--though, of course, a thermostatically controlled heater would be ideal.
Again when we have the money, I'm figuring to go underground with a 7,000 or 7,500 gallon storage tank, rig a "Y" so the booster pump can pull from EITHER tank, and then simply drain the tower mounted 500 gallon unit during the winter.
Fred, fortunately PVC pipe and fittings makes a plumber out of almost anyone. The downside is it doesn't last long when used above ground unless it is painted or otherwise protected from the sun. It is almost impossible to cut PVC when cold because it shatters like glass. I have no above ground PVC on my well, so the freeze split some 1" galvanized elbows wide open and it was a rather ugly repair to get done with freezing hands. Thank the lord the original plumber put unions in the necessary places so I could get it apart, repaired, and put back together with a minimum of effort. Hopefully the freeze danger is over for this winter, but I assure you I will have a well house built by next winter. I guess I will never run out of projects around here. I am currently in the process of installing electric gate openers and will let you know how that goes.
Well put. I did a lot of online research about PVC damage from UV rays prior to painting our storage tank lines. One study found the damage to be less than conventional wisdom would indicate--but you've had firsthand experience, and I definitely bow to that.
I'll be painting the wellhead pipes ere long, and also the new pipes to & from the storage tank. However, I noticed with some interest that the most dramatically shattered section of PVC was the foam-insulated section that was thoroughly protected from the sun. Nothing left but shards (and the little threaded ends that had to be burned out). That's quite possibly because that section threads into iron at either end of the nipple, but it certainly wasn't weakened by sun damage.
There may be one real way to protect the wellhead piping in the future, however. It SEEMS to be a bit lower at the base of our water tower than it is at the wellhead (judging from a little bit of flowback I got at the tower after the big freeze). If that's true, leaving all valves open (including the drain valve I put in at the base of the tower) might allow the half mile of piping to slowly drain enough to somewhat empty the wellhead pipes.
Which would be awesome!
Electric gate openers, eh? We'd need electricity for that...oh, and gates.
Fred, research aside, I can tell you that our experience with above ground PVC is those pipes left unpainted will shatter when we attempt to cut them, or heaven forbid tap them with a wrench. In many cases, the original plumber gave no thought to those who may follow him and have to repair or replace any of this plastic pipe. They have fitting butted up to another fitting, and no way to cut it or fix it. Fortunately they now make special fittings that fit over an existing fitting such as an elbow or coupling, and we can cut it flush and start over with new pipe. We also have reamers that allows us to ream the old pipe out of an existing fitting and replace it with new pipe. Needless to say, we will probably never run out of work.
You might also consider installing a couple valves on the line from the wellhead to your tank. With a small air compressor you could blow the line dry when necessary. We do this with rooftop solar panels and it works quite well. You would have power available at the wellhead and that seems to be the high end anyhow. Just a thought.
I just finished fencing about 2 1/2 acres around my house, and installing 3 driveway gates. After years of driving in/out freely, it is now apparent that stopping to open and close the gate every time we leave or enter is a large pain in the butt. So, I ordered a set of electric gate openers for the main gate. I am close enough to run power to them with little problem. You can go up to 1000' with just the low voltage cable, or put in solar and run them off that. I decided to run 110v over so I can also put in some lights and have power available at that end of the property. You just can't have too many electric outlets. The installation appears to be pretty straightforward and easy if one has the right tools, and I do. I will send you some pictures as the job progresses.
Mike, what you're telling me makes total sense. Here at home, though--weirdly enough, considering your considerable experience--the remaining PVC that was in the best condition WASN'T painted.
On the other hand, it was in a really shady spot under a mesquite tree and also had the pressure tank blocking the sun, which likely made all the difference.
A blowout valve or two would be a great idea, though I'm thinking we may be okay "as is" now. I pumped a full tank, then opened the drain valve I'd added at the foot of the water tower in the supply line. From the amount that poured out, it couldn't have been ALL of the water in the half mile of underground line...but it was most certainly more than just the amount in the standpipe.
What that tells my gut is that (most likely) some of the water has dropped away from the wellhead, leaving that end high and relatively dry.
If that's the truth of the matter, we'll never have another cold weather breakage problem. But, of course, we'll just have to wait and see--unless you have an extra pair of x-ray goggles I could use to inspect the pipe. It's only the above-ground, exposed piping that's at risk, of course.
Figured you pro types had reamers. My torch worked just dandy, but I never even owned anything like that until early 2010. Luck, and all that.
Fred, if you want to get real technical, I have charts that tell you how much water is contained in 1 foot of 2" pvc. You could measure the total length, do the math, and know within a gallon or two how much the total length of pipe held. Or you can just guess and call it good which is what I would do.
Sounds like you can rest easy tonight with a tank full of water and many new pipes. Job well done my friend.
Thanks, Mike, but I don't need to get that technical. Already did the math some months back (without a paper chart but with access to online conversion data) in order to calculate the amount of piping needed for the passive solar hot water heater I intend to build one day.
Besides which, like you suggest, I already called it good anyway. Had to, more or less, since the drain was still draining when I walked away from it to go snag the generator from the wellhead.
Thanks for the "job well done", too. Like the A-Team (George Peppard) line goes, "I love it when a plan comes together."
Thank God for a good neighbor by the name of Mike (Old Poolman.) Without him my repairs would have been comical I'm sure. Mike, you and Sue can cash in on that steak dinner anytime! Fred, another well written hub my man!
jim
Thanks, Jim. Another well filled water tank, too. Amazing how much "quality of life" difference a single utility sink faucet with "walking water" can make. (Hey, that gravity feed water doesn't run very fast, so: Walking Water.)
At least my "rebuild" job made some improvements, one being the brass faucet added to the water tower standpipe. Much simpler job to just turn on the tap for cleaning those toilet buckets (I first typed "toilet UCKets, and they surely can be all that)...than the way I had to do it before.
Old Poolman Level 7 Commenter 15 months ago
Fred, Sounds like a job well done to me albeit with a few frustrations along the way.
We are currently experiencing the same problem with Swimming Pool Heaters here in the Tucson area. Those heater with the cast iron headers froze and split wide open. Since the water flows through the heater whether it is being used or not means they have a serious leak in their system. Our supplier is out of parts and now out of new replacement heaters. My crew is replacing two heaters per day, and we have over 20 yet to replace, and so far around 50 to repair.
It is very interesting to me how people think that calling and screaming at us over the phone will convince us to move them to the top of the list. This would make an interesting hub, but it would take a shrink to write it.
I hope your repairs all hold and your storage tank will once again be full of water soon. And you are so right that foam pipe insulation must only work when the temperature stays above 32 degrees. I am going to look for something better for my wellhead. I may just build a little house over it so I can stick a heater in there on freezing nights.