Frequently Asked Questions

Every region has geologic and hydrological conditions, which greatly impact well construction. Depths vary, and methods of construction vary. Even specific site conditions can influence the price. Never attempt to base your selection of a contractor on a per foot price. We all tend to offer a per foot price, but pay attention to detail. Items like the state permit, the screen, grouting , test pumping, and numerous other breakout items all add in to the overall cost. One must be wary of the contractor with a quote written on the proverbial napkin. Insist on a detailed proposal, and try to solicit more than one quote. Carefully examine the proposals and attempt to get everyone to quote apples to apples. Try to get the competing companies to estimate the depth in which they would expect to drill at your location. Any quote, which deviates from the others, should raise a flag. Find out why.

Once you feel informed, now use your instincts. Which company seemed to work the hardest to earn your trust? Which seemed to be the most informative? Next, who had the best price? Going back to your instincts, does the “low guy” make the most sense? Often, the low bidder is low for a reason. You’re usually getting less.

Jet pumps suck (literally & figuratively)! They most often are associated with shallow wells, or sand points. These systems were not typically thoughtful in their design. Surface contaminants can appear in these wells far easier than a properly constructed deep well. They tend to be shallow, and they create a vacuum to pull the water up to the surface. There is a deep well version of this system that incorporates a principal of pushing water through an orifice (jet) to create a vacuum on the upstream side of the flow. This boosting of the vacuum allows these pumps to pull water from deeper in the ground.

Jet pumps are relics. They are inefficient. The shallow well version cannot work when water depths get beyond 22 or 23 feet down. The deep well version has so many potential problems, listing them is not worth it in this discussion. Prohibitively costly to repair in the deep well version, one is often placed in the unfortunate position to construct a new well. Today’s submersible pump systems push water to the surface. This is a far more efficient means to produce water. The removal and maintenance of these pumps and their wells is far more attractive. The wells are safer, in terms of your health. The modern deep well offers longer service life and less expensive maintenance considerations too.

Rarely. Many of the well drillers of the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s drove the well casings into the ground with a drive point using a simple and primitive pounding method. The drilling method limited well casings to 2 or 3 inches in diameter. This diameter is too small for a 4 inch diameter turbine-type submersible pump. If the casing installed was 3 inches inside diameter, then maybe you’re in luck! One company offers a time-tested product that we occasionally use to convert an old well. Virtually all of today’s wells are 4 inches in diameter and up.

The first question asked should be, “How old is the well?” and/or, “When was the well or pump last worked on?” Like any machine or appliance, a well or pump cannot last forever. A lot depends on the owner’s water usage. Other factors like sand or sediment in the pumped water can harm a pump. Mineral buildup in the plumbing or plugging of the pump itself can occur. You may even have a small leak that is developing into a larger leak. There is pipe inside the well that is a pressurized conduit for the water. It can go bad in time. Do not change the air pressure in the tank. Do not change the on/off settings on the pressure switch. Most importantly, don’t listen to supposed smart guys. Have it checked by a water well professional.

Sometimes simple things can occur. Often, we get calls claiming a loss of pressure. We ask the owner if there is a water softener or sediment filter in the system. If yes, we ask them if they can temporarily bypass this equipment. It’s amazing how many filters are plugged up. Owners need to maintain the filters. Never run your water softener out of salt. Each time you do, you potentially destroy the capacity of that equipment. Other types of filters like sediment, iron removal or reverse osmosis filters need to be closely watched. You stray from the recommended maintenance and operation guidelines; you create yourself a mess.

First thing you should note is the appearance of the water. Did it become dirty or colored? There could be a hole developing in the underground portion of you plumbing or even in the well. A hole caused by a fracture or corrosion could be jetting and agitating accumulated minerals. Also, see if you can identify whether the pump remains running with no usage of water.

Everyone could help himself or herself by learning to listen to, and remember their well’s operating characteristics. The control switch should be clicking to turn the pump on after several gallons of water have been drawn. It can be expected to run at least 30 seconds once the pump starts. You’ll know it’s running by watching the gauge pressure climb. So you don’t have a working gauge? Get one! It is very hard to diagnose problems without one.

If it seems the pump continues running for minutes or hours, even with no water being used, there’s a hole or a fracture somewhere. The water is going elsewhere. If the pump switch keeps clicking in rapid succession, you have a tank problem. If you see sporadic times of normal pressure followed by times of no pressure, you could have a pressure switch failing, or even bad wires somewhere.

Sporadic pressure or periodic changes may also be indicative of a fluctuating water level in the well. A pump’s performance can be affected by those changing levels. If air or gas bubbles appear in the water, the water level has dipped below the intake level on the pump. It is starving for water, and the impeller is cavitating. A cavitating pump can’t produce a lot of pressure. The same holds true for the previously mentioned jet pump system. If the water is too far down there, the pump is spinning its wheels with nowhere to go.

Rarely do wells technically go dry. The water level may drop to critical low levels that impact the output performance of the pump. We need to determine how deep the well is. Then we need to determine the depth of the pump intake in relation to the well depth. The easy answer is to set the pump deeper into the well. That is, if the well has a submersible pump installed in it. Deep well jet, and shallow well systems are usually abandoned at this time.

Several factors need to be present to set a pump deeper into a well. Is the well deep enough to add to the setting length? Is the well producing enough water to justify the deeper setting? Sometimes not… Once we see what is actually happening in your well, we often attempt to rejuvenate your well by a number of processes available to us. There are some wells that never did produce enough water. The geology available isn’t favorable for any further work. Sometimes, you just have to drill a new well.

Not always. Your particular well may not produce the desired flow rate necessary for your demands. Any well driller can drill and find water. Some are better at drilling and producing a well that far exceeds demand. It’s not always the well driller that determines how much water you can get. Mother Nature can play a hand that throws the best of us.

Your best response is to contact a reputable local driller who can access the drilling reports from the original construction. Older installations may not have reliable records. If that’s the case, we can provide an inexpensive test pumping analysis to determine the limits of your well. Sometimes, we can even set up some equipment and actually improve the well production. A little effort sometimes has its rewards.

There’s no way to predict every installation. Let’s just say this. Today’s construction standards make it possible for a well to last for generations. The use of plastics, brass/copper and stainless steel create complete corrosion resistant construction. The well may plug up from minerals, but we have a number of ways to clean and rejuvenate these wells. We are still fixing 100-year-old wells! Pump systems are subjected to a number of negative environments that may reduce the operating life. The pumps that have been properly and lightly used can continue running upwards of 40 years. Not all… But some.

The biggest factor in the service life of a pump is usage. The design is almost bulletproof if the water pumped is clear. Sand wears a pump out, and almost every well gives up some sand over the years. Part of the equation is the on and off cycles. The best environment for motor longevity is to let it run. Turning an electric motor on and off is hard on it. Of course continuous running isn’t practical or affordable.

Believe it or not, the pressure tanks are often the culprit in a failed water system. The volume of air and pressure in the tank are critical. A simple pressure switch turns the pump on and off. The pressure tank air and water volume, share a close relationship with the pressure switch. If those tanks lose all the air, you may wear out a pump motor quickly. Even if the air pressure isn’t calibrated properly to the switch parameters, you can still damage a pump. Do not randomly put air in a tank. Do not randomly change the pressure by adjusting the switch. Let the pros do it.

You have a leak. A well pump is equipped with a check valve, which prevents the reversal of water flow back down the well when the pump is off. Those check valves can leak. That’s the obvious place to look. Otherwise, there are numerous other potential places for leaks. It may even be the underground line from the well to your pressure tank. Before calling a well driller for a diagnosis, you may first want to check your plumbing fixtures, toilet tank valves, and irrigation lines and zone valves (if you have them).

Sometimes, but not always. There are two sources of the common rotten-egg smell (sulfur). One is a natural occurrence from clay found in the earth your well is drilled into. It can be removed with filtration products that use activated carbon. A quality water softening system that is properly sized can help a lot too.

The other, more complicated source is bacteria fouling. In extreme cases these bacteria are coming from surface sources. Something has allowed organisms into the well. Usually this occurs through poor construction standards, missing or damaged well caps, broken casings, or flooding. This situation is concerning, if there is a presence of coliform bacteria. This requires water testing. Thankfully the vast majority of odor problems are caused by harmless sources in the soils. Natural bacteria exist in the earth that give off gases smelling like sulfur. Treatment of the well with chlorine, or other biocidal chemicals can kill off, or help control the odors.

If you have had an occurrence like a vehicle striking the well, discovered a missing cap, or experienced a flood on your property, pay attention to your water. Sudden appearance of odors may be a signal. Have your water tested by a testing laboratory or water well professional soon.

Gradual increases in odor, or continuously present odor can indicate less serious conditions. When smells are reported, the first things we ask are:
1. Do you smell the odor more so in the hot water? Your source may just be the water heater. Today’s energy efficient appliances are not always well thought out. Water heaters that save energy simply don’t heat the water as high as they used to. Water heaters now act more like an incubator for bacteria. Flush the heater yearly, and periodically turn the heat to high for a night. In extreme cases, chlorinate the water heater.

2. Have you been keeping salt in your water softener and maintaining the filter(s)? Poorly maintained equipment can lead to very nasty smelling conditions. Long forgotten filters exist in thousands of basements across America.

3. Who smells it? The husband or the wife? Women have notoriously better noses. Sometimes, from a man’s perspective, the women are a little fussy. We run into occasions where nothing gets the smell out to everyone’s satisfaction. People living on publicly supplied water are often fortunate to have water that doesn’t smell bad. There is a reason, and it has nothing to do with filters or the construction of the well. Most public suppliers allow the water to stand for long periods of time in reservoirs and water towers. The water sits in an open atmosphere, and the bad smelling gases have time to dissipate.

Do you notice a lot of staining and iron in your water? Do you see particles and grit in your sink or tub? Every well has minerals in the water that contribute to plugging issues. It could be the intake or passages in your pump are plugged up with scale and iron sludge. Some wells are downright horrifying when an owner sees how much crud can accumulate. Other times, the buried line into the home has become restricted. It could even be your filtration equipment or interior plumbing. A good well driller can identify the problem quickly. Well cleaning and line cleanout is a common maintenance issue for some properties. One house may be fine, and the next house is a mess. Water conditions can change in a very short distance. A well driller has little or no control over determining the quality of the water during the construction process. Anyone that does is not being completely truthful.

Duh! First of all, turn off the power to the well and call a well contractor immediately. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RUN WATER! It is possible that sand, rocks and plastic pieces have fallen down into the well. Those things could suck into the pump intake and wreck the pump. Even worse, the falling debris can impossibly lock the pump into the well. In extreme cases, the pump cannot be pulled out of the well and serviced. It’s stuck forever! That means only one thing – drill a new well:(