The water well is an impressive resource and may deliver many years of great water with little or no servicing. Precisly because
most water wells operate for years without any routine maintenance, homeowners may well not realize that their well requires service or routine maintenance right up until it is too late. The good news is there are some tell-tale signs you can watch out for that may alert you to well water troubles.
Typical residential water wells usually have a submersible pump that is submerged beneath the water and pumps water straight to the house. A number of wells have pumps known as "jet pumps" which are situated on the surface or top of the well. Most well pumps are used together with a pressure tank.
The aim of the well water pump system is to maintain a constant supply of pressurized water inside your home and piping system. In order to maintain your water pressure the well pump is switched on and off with a pressure switch. This usually means that the pump is turned on when the pressure switch senses the pressure reaches a minimal point (the "cut-in" stage) and off at a pre set high pressure point (the "cut off" stage).
In some systems there is no simple off and on pressure switch but instead a pressure sensing unit that operates with a controller to permit the water pump to pump more or less water in a gradual method. This type of system is known as a "continuous pressure" system. This approach utilizes a variable speed pump, that allows the pump motor to rotate faster or more slowly, as well as pump water a lot faster or slower depending on the pressure sensing unit. These pumps have become increasingly popular however the most common is the simple on and off pump system uses a basic pressure switch.
The Well Is Pumping Air
In the event you turn on your water tap and out blasts a mixture of air and water, this is a serious warning sign that something is drastically wrong within the well. The worst case scenario is that your water table has dropped to a point that is at or beneath the well pump, and the pump is drawing in air at some point within pump cycle. An additional cause would be that the well pump drop pipe (the pipe that connects the pump to the very top of the well and the water system) is broken. Drop pipes are made of either iron pipe or plastic PVC or poly pipe. They may become damaged or corroded and develop cracks or in some cases break apart, allowing air to be drawn in. This kind of problem needs to be looked into and serviced by a skilled well or pump contractor.
In some cases, the water level is fine and there are no cracked pipes or fittings. Some ground water tables do contain various types of gasses. These gasses may be mixed in the water, yet later on emerge from solution and trigger water to spurt or sputter out of the faucet. These types of gasses might be carbon dioxide, methane, hydrogen sulfide as well as other gasses, and can be dangerous and cause serious safety and health troubles. If this is an on-going problem the well can usually be treated to remove these gasses through aeration and degassing systems.
When a pump wears out, or becomes blocked with sand, silt or iron bacteria it has to work harder than if it was in good shape. This can easily lead to an increasingly higher electrical bill. Another frequent reason for a high energy bill is when the check valve in the well goes bad. This enables water from your pressure tank to flow back down into the well, which in turn lowers pressure as well as trigger the pressure switch to switch the pump on again and re-pressurize the pressure tank. This off and on cycle may occur every couple of minutes and essentially enable the well pump to operate virtually round the clock, causing a high electric power bill.
