Why is there No Water from the Well?

If you have a private drinking water well and turn on the faucet and nothing happens, you will have to determine how to get your water back “on.” There are a number of reasons why a well might suddenly stop producing water, but basically they all break down into:

• Frozen Pipes 
• Electrical or power failure, 
• Equipment failure 
• Well failure 
• Depletion of the Aquifer or other groundwater problems 

If on a very cold day you turn on a faucet and either get nothing or just a trickle comes out, suspect a frozen pipe, first. If your well supply line or the water main is not frozen, you may have water in part of the house, but not others. The most likely pipes to freeze are against exterior walls of the home, or are exposed to the cold, like outdoor hose bibs, and water pipes in unheated interior areas like basements and crawl spaces, attics, garages, or kitchen cabinets. Pipes that run against exterior walls that have little or no insulation are also subject to freezing. In sub-zero weather wells with separate well houses can freeze. Keeping the temperature in a well house above freezing will prevent this.

There is no quick way to fix frozen pipes and calling a plumber does not help until the pipes warm up and you can see if any pipes burst. Make sure you know how to turn off the water in case you have a burst pipe (cutting the well power switch will do it). Turn the heat up, open cabinets under the sinks in the frozen bathrooms and kitchens and use ceramic heating cubes if you have them to warm up the area where the pipes are frozen. Plastic piping is considerably more tolerant of freezing than copper pipes. There is a real shot that a plastic pipe can freeze without bursting if all the connections and elbows are sound.

If it’s not frozen pipes and you have the modern and increasingly common drilled well with an immersion pump in the well and some equipment in the basement, the next thing you should do is go downstairs and take a look. Though I admit that it is hard to differentiate problems just looking at the equipment in the house, sometimes you can.

First check the electrical power. Well pumps run on electricity- no power, no pump. If you have power check the electrical panel for tripped circuit breakers (the pump takes two) or blown fuses. Lightening can short out a pump, but so can a wire worn by friction or wire that worked itself loose by vibrations. This all happens and are relatively easy fixes by a professional. A well driller or licensed contractor is who you should call. They should be licensed for your county or state. Many jurisdictions require a license to work on wells, but not all. In areas where there is no state license ask if they are certified by the National Ground Water Association. In some states, NGWA certification is a requirement to get a drilling license. Look for a full service well company- they should drill wells, install pumps, replace water lines, and repair and replace water system equipment.

The components within the basement include the pressure tank and any water treatment equipment. The pump moves water into the water pressure tank, which moves the water through the house pipes so that the pump does not have to run every time you open a faucet. The pressure tank typically maintains the water pressure between 40-60 psi (or sometimes 30-50 psi- it can be adjusted slightly but the actual range is preset when you buy a switch).

After the pressure drops below 40 psi, the diaphragm pops and the electrical contacts touch and the switch turns on the pump and the pressure in the tank increases. When the top pressure is reached the contact is broken. The pressure switch can last a fairly long time, but lots of things can go wrong with it.

Read the pressure gauge on your pressure tank. If it is not showing a pressure of 40-60 psi (or 30-50 psi) that could be a sign that the pump is not turning on. The question is why. The pump could have failed, the well could be dry or not have enough water to operated (there is a cut off on the pump to protect it when the water level is low), the pressure switch could have failed to pop or the contacts could be corroded. Hope the problem is the inexpensive and easy to fix pressure switch. Many models have a manual bypass lever. If yours does you can force the pump on using the lever. If the pressure starts to rise then you need a new pressure switch. The last one I bought was $25.

If the pressure on the gauge was in the desired range, it could be several things. First tap the gauge with the back of a screw driver (gently) and see if the gauge moves. The gauge can clog with sediment so can the pressure switch. Also, you might want to carefully take off the cover to the pressure switch to see-remember there is 240 volts in there and do not touch the contact or better yet cut the power first.

The pressure tank could be water logged, or if you have a tank with a bladder it could have burst or sprung a leak. Check the pressure on the pressure tank using a tire pressure gauge. Is the reading on the gauge in agreement with the tank gauge? Drain the water out of the pressure tank. You should hear a ping from the pressure switch. If the electricity is on and the pump is working it should turn on and water should start to fill the pressure tank or flow into the house. If the bladder has sprung a leak or burst you will need a new pressure tank. However, the pump is the piece of equipment subject to the most wear and tear and often fails.

Unfortunately, to examine a pump you need to pull it out of the well. Never pull an immersion pump out of a well without the proper equipment. If you are going to pull a pump to check it, you might as well replace it (the pump itself is not the most expensive portion of the operation). Make sure you have a licensed well driller with the right equipment. Make sure they have the equipment to pull a pump from directly above to smoothly remove it. Pulling a pump requires more skill than dropping one in. If the you are careless in pulling the pump you can catch the casing (which in most of Virginia  typically only runs down 50 feet) and destroying the well.

Well problems are rarely sudden. For the plumbing system to function properly, the recharge rate in the well would have to equal at least the pump rate. The recharge rate or the well recovery rate is the rate that water actually flows into the well through the rock fissures. If the well cannot recharge at the same rate at which water is being pumped out of the well, the system would suffer intermittent episodes of severe water pressure loss or possibly water loss. If you have water first thing in the morning and again when you get home from work, but the supply seems to run out especially when doing laundry or taking a shower. Then you may have a groundwater or well problem. Call the extension office and a well driller.