O.k. we have a well for our water. It is only 5 years old. I was using water last night and all of a sudden the water just shut off (no trickle, just off). Hubby checked and couldn't find anything right off that would be the problem. There was no water in the house but we had water coming out of our faucets outside. No big deal I can boil water til we can get the problem fixed. Well I wake up today and 2 of the 3 faucets are bone dry :yikes: I am afraid if the last one dries up we will have no water. ( I won't go into details of why we can't just go to the store to get water either). Does anyone have any ideas what the problem could be? Please ask your hubby's or dads too and see if they have any ideas.
home owners... well
- Thread starter a.baker
- Start date
There are sites on the internet but who knows what the problem could be; is it a clog, do we need a new pump, is it electrical (not a fuse), is it possible for a well water supply to get low (I know unheard of but has happened before since it was mentioned)???
And why did it just turn off immediately in the house but seems to be slowly disappearing from the faucets outside?
And why did it just turn off immediately in the house but seems to be slowly disappearing from the faucets outside?
Well yield increase methods are used when a well's yield has dropped too low or if a well has "gone dry" entirely (due to sediment-clogged rock fissures and unconnected water-bearing cracks which are preventing water from entering a well).
I hope this isn't the case! After research this is the only diagnosis that adds up but what do I know. If this is the case we are screwed! Because it says to fix this you need to dig it up plus some. Thats very expensive!!!
I hope this isn't the case! After research this is the only diagnosis that adds up but what do I know. If this is the case we are screwed! Because it says to fix this you need to dig it up plus some. Thats very expensive!!!
There are a lot of things that can be the problem. But seeing as you are getting SOME water in some places, it could be just a failing pump motor.
Does your system have a holding tank? If so, can you hear the pump running? Is there water in the tank?
If not, open a couple of faucets that work. Listen for the pump to run. If you hear it running, you could have a dry well or clogged pipes. (A close to dry well can cause sediment to get into the system and/or plug up any filters you might have, like a water softener....) If you don't hear the pump running, bad pump.
Good luck!!!
ETA - I HATE (like WHITE hot HATE) working on plumbing issues. LOL
So LOTS of good luck!!!
Does your system have a holding tank? If so, can you hear the pump running? Is there water in the tank?
If not, open a couple of faucets that work. Listen for the pump to run. If you hear it running, you could have a dry well or clogged pipes. (A close to dry well can cause sediment to get into the system and/or plug up any filters you might have, like a water softener....) If you don't hear the pump running, bad pump.
Good luck!!!
ETA - I HATE (like WHITE hot HATE) working on plumbing issues. LOL
So LOTS of good luck!!!
Baker...first, under normal circumstance, just for the sake of reference...all of your water will come from the same source. It's all plumbed together. The water coming from your faucets outside is the same as the water coming from the faucets inside. No need to boil it...but, again, that's under normal circumstances.
First thing that comes to my mind is that the pipes may have frozen, but I don't think you guys have seen a hard enough freeze for that to happen and it would seize all your faucets.
Second thing that comes to mine is your pump isn't running. Does your system pump water into a pressure tank or a large, unpressurized storage tank?
Here's what a pressure tank looks like:
Here's what an unpressurized tank looks like (just a big covered concrete tank):
Unpressurized tanks are old school...if the entire water system for your house is new or if the house has been built in the last 15 years you'll most likely have a pressure tank.
This would apply to both systems but with an unpressurized system you'd see a more dramatic effect simply because the tank stores more water. See, if your pump stops running you'll still get water for a little while. Not very long, but still. You'll lose water along gravity's effect...first shower heads won't work, then kitchen and bathroom faucets, then tub faucets. Last are usually the outdoor faucets because they are the lowest.
Hmmm...I made a long post trying to explain this to you and don't know if I succeeded...but start with checking your breakers. You'll have a household breaker box, a main breaker box outside, and there may be an additional cut off/breaker for the well pump itself. Check all your circuits and make sure power is getting to the pump and let us know what you find.
First thing that comes to my mind is that the pipes may have frozen, but I don't think you guys have seen a hard enough freeze for that to happen and it would seize all your faucets.
Second thing that comes to mine is your pump isn't running. Does your system pump water into a pressure tank or a large, unpressurized storage tank?
Here's what a pressure tank looks like:
Here's what an unpressurized tank looks like (just a big covered concrete tank):
Unpressurized tanks are old school...if the entire water system for your house is new or if the house has been built in the last 15 years you'll most likely have a pressure tank.
This would apply to both systems but with an unpressurized system you'd see a more dramatic effect simply because the tank stores more water. See, if your pump stops running you'll still get water for a little while. Not very long, but still. You'll lose water along gravity's effect...first shower heads won't work, then kitchen and bathroom faucets, then tub faucets. Last are usually the outdoor faucets because they are the lowest.
Hmmm...I made a long post trying to explain this to you and don't know if I succeeded...but start with checking your breakers. You'll have a household breaker box, a main breaker box outside, and there may be an additional cut off/breaker for the well pump itself. Check all your circuits and make sure power is getting to the pump and let us know what you find.
Thanks everyone for the responses (((HUGS)))! Heres an update. None of the breakers were blown. But we did find out it was the pump. There is a switch on the pump that some how got popped, maybe a safety switch. So hubby just flipped it back and we have water again! Thank goodness!!!
He did some piping to bypass our water softener though because its nasty inside, haven't bought salt in a long time, looks like a diseased puddle in Africa or something. But we still wonder, why would the switch just flip like that? When we get rain (which we have had quite a bit lately) rain water gathers into our basement around our water pump area. Do you think the humidity of the water caused the switch to flip. When this happens its not a little water but a puddle, sometimes big. What would cause the flip to switch I wonder?
He did some piping to bypass our water softener though because its nasty inside, haven't bought salt in a long time, looks like a diseased puddle in Africa or something. But we still wonder, why would the switch just flip like that? When we get rain (which we have had quite a bit lately) rain water gathers into our basement around our water pump area. Do you think the humidity of the water caused the switch to flip. When this happens its not a little water but a puddle, sometimes big. What would cause the flip to switch I wonder?
do you have a deep well with a submersible pump? the switch tripped for a reason. do you have a pressure gauge on the pump to check if it's getting up to pressure? once I was watering flowers...poof...nothing. I thought hub was playing a joke on me and turned off the hose. nope...the water simply ran dry. now, it recouped (we were having a drought year) another time I had no water, we had to pull the pump. (no easy feat with just the two of us and a deep well with a submersible pump. and it's a horribly dirty/rusty job. HEAVY, too) a wire had broken in the connection to the pump. sometimes you have water in the pipe, hence some still running from some faucets. agree with Scob...check that pressure switch. sorry to say...but I'd still be concerned. it's good to have water right now, but I'm guessing whatever tripped it before will do so again. if it's not a deep well...is this puddle getting some type of wiring wet that is connected to a GFI circuit? that'll trip it off for sure. honestly...I'd be correcting that basement leak. dig a french drain or something to get that water out of there. I'd be concerned about mold issues also.