Pump It Up: Keeping Your Well Pump In Top Shape

There are few aspects of your home that are as important as the water that you drink. If your home uses well water, then your water pump is a key part of the system that brings you clean, safe drinking water. Replacing your water pump in the event of a failure is also an expensive and time-consuming task that can leave you without running water for several days. Luckily, most well pumps will last for 10-15 years or even longer, so water pump services are an expense that only comes up infrequently. You can also take a variety of proactive steps to keep your well water pump in top shape so that it lasts as long as possible.

Deal With Leaks Early

It may not seem like it, but dealing with small leaks around your house can be one of the best ways to maximize the lifespan of your well water pump. Well water pumps function by filling a pressure tank to a set level. The water that flows through the plumbing in your house and ultimately to your faucets, radiators, and showers is sourced from this tank. Water that is pumped into the pressure tank compresses the air in the tank, and when the pressure level falls below a preset point the point runs and fills the tank back to its threshold.

Using more water depletes the water in the pressure tank more rapidly, which in turns causes the well pump to run more often to refill the tank. Small leaks or even dripping faucets can cause the pressure tank's level to drop even when you aren't using water yourself. Pumps that run more often wear down more quickly, so even a seemingly harmless drippy faucet may be contributing to a very expensive future repair.

Don't Ignore Noises

If you have an above-ground pump, it can be easy to tell if something is wrong just by listening. If your pump seems to be making unusual noises or if the pump is running more than usual you may have a problem. Common pump issues may only cost a few hundred dollars to repair, so it is vital that any problems are dealt with early before they turn into drastically more costly repairs.

One of the easiest problems to listen for is cycling or a pump that is rapidly turning itself on and off. A cycling pump will wear out very quickly, so it is important to determine the cause of the cycling as quickly as possible. A cycling pump may be failing or the issue may be with the pump relay or the pressure tank.

Schedule Regular Maintenance

Well pump specialists will work with you to handle yearly inspections of your pump and other well components. These annual inspections are an excellent way to find small problems while they are still small and relatively inexpensive to fix. In addition to checking for obvious issues, specialists will test the output of the pump and the pressure of the tank to determine if there are any hidden problems that may be placing unnecessary wear on your pump system.