Water problem with my well

[jbutsler]

Recently we have been experiencing a problem with lack of water. There does not appear to be any consistent pattern. Sometimes it will last for as long as two hours and then all of a sudden we have water. The plumber replaaced the pressure gage, checked the pressure switch and that didn't help the problem. He said he thought it might be a lack of water. Before I contact the people that drilled the well I thought I would ask for any help. It seems to me that if it were my well, we would run out of water under heavy use, like when my wife does 10+ loads of laundry. It doesn't run out then more often than not it is under no heavy water use. I have checked all the electrical connections etc so I don't think it is electrical, the bladder tank I think is fine, at least the plumber said so. I am not sure what else to do. Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Gary Slusser]

My advice has to be to not call in anyone that doesn't know wells and have the ability to get into the well for troublshoooting and/or service. Most pressure switches will never fail to switch on a pump, those that do are very rare and more often the cause is a blockage of water pressure to a switch rather than a switch failing to close the contacts. As you see you spent money that didn't do you any good and you still have the problem and less confidence to make the right decision to find and fix it.

If you have a jet pump, your problem may be a periodic loss of prime. If you have a submersible pump, the problem may be electrical from the switch to the pump motor. If you have a 3 wire pump you'll have a control box and that could be 'bad'. Something could have been sucked up against the pump inlet and overheated the motor and the thermal overload could have shut off the pump. On'n on the potential causes go...

BTW, I suggest you tell the wife to spread out the laundry! er better yet, you learn to do it and reap the (substantial) rewards of helping out more around the house... :D And if she were to complain about how you do it, DON'T remind her of her early on problems getting things right, just tell her that with experience, you'll be better and able to meet her high standards... And if that doesn't work, tell her all that water use at once isn't good for the well, your water quality or the sewer system and if you have any water treatment equipment, it can not keep up with the water volume unless you have a twin tank type softener.

Gary
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Doug Aleshire, Super Moderator 2

[nomind]

Those are excellent answers from Gary, - of course there is also the possibility that his static water level is actually dropping. I'm finding that more and more in our area. Had to lower a lot of pumps this year.
BTW, - Gary , i loved that last paragraph - - verrrry sneaky, that's now in my handy list of husband excuses :cool:

[jbutsler]

Thanks for the information. It is a submersible so I will check the control box as it is a 3 wire system. I will do that before considering contacting the people who drill wells to see if the water table is lowering. Although I can't figure out how that could be the case when sometimes it has stopped even after we have had a substantial rain fall.
I shared with my wife the comments about washing and she smiled. Maybe I should consider I need the points. Of course all the whites would be become pink when I mix them with the reds during the wash.
Thanks again for the suggestions from all of you.

[Gary Slusser]

If you were suffering a reduced water level in the well the motor thermal protection would open shutting off the pump until it cooled and cooling would take a variable length of time based on the speed of the returning water level. Neighbors' use of water can cause this, especially if individual well cones of depression intersect. So it doesn't have to be only your water use causing the problem, it can be the neighborhood's usage.

I can see from here that you do need the points, if for no other reason than the only a smile response... Quick, dinner and red roses are in order. Then the next day, or late that same evening! ask SWMBO to unleash her superior teaching skills on you so as you can learn laundry in record time. This costs little and the payback can be huge! IOWs, it's well worth the money and a simple DIYer project with a huge ROI.

Gary
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Doug Aleshire, Super Moderator 2