What Should I Do If My Well Water Breaks?

There may be nothing wrong with the municipal supply; your well could be responsible for your lack of water pressure. That’s where Boylan Water Well Service & Supply comes in.

What is more unpleasant than dirty hands? Having no water to wash them. Presumably, this issue is something you can remedy at home — but to ensure that’s true, first, you’ve got to find the source of the problem.

Frankly, there are tons of reasons a lack of water can happen (although it shouldn’t happen often). The problem may be originating with your well water system…or it may actually be coming from a completely different ​source, such as your plumbing system. This guide aims to provide steps anyone can take to learn how to figure it out!

Start by Eliminating the Most Common Causes First

Even if you have zero water pressure in your home, you may not need to call a pro for help getting it flowing again. You might find out, for instance, that your “dead” well pump just wasn’t powered properly and that you can resolve whatever it is in the way.

Let’s troubleshoot the problem together.

1. Check all the water fixtures in your home to see if any of them will still run.

This step is to find out if the entire house is experiencing the same thing with no waterpressure. Is there running water somewhere else in the house? If only one faucet is acting up, your well pump is probably not to blame — this is likely a plumbing issue.

2. Check your iron filter system for clogging.

Go next in the process of elimination, past your Iron Curtain or other iron filtration unit. Next, check to see if your water is running again. This type of noticeable improvement at this stage means you will have to schedule an iron filter repair at some point. For now, you can still use water, but it will not go through your iron removal system.

3. Check your water softener for failure.

Every water softener has a lifespan. When it’s nearing the end of its life, it can begin to impact how much water pressure you can get from your well. To check if this is the reason, bypass the water softener and check if the problem is gone. If you silly get a strange spike of water pressure/flow, unfortunately, your water softener is going to require a professional’s repair. Again you can still use your water in the interim, but it will not be softened as it will not run through the new softener.

4. Check the pressure gauge well.

You should have a gauge on your well pressure tank that will plainly indicate how much pressure you’re getting from the well.

Head over to your pressure tank and find the gauge. If it reads zero, you have real confirmation that the problem is coming directly from your well water system—as in, either your well itself isn’t producing water (in which case, there’s not a lot to be done) or your well pump isn’t functioning correctly. (Don’t panic — not until you can pinpoint exactly what’s going wrong.) Just keep going through the checklist for now.)

5. Check the pressure switch.

Next, check the electrical contact points on the well pressure switch. (Here is a general guide to troubleshooting pressure switches.) Metal contacts on the pressure switch should be free and clear with no dust buildup or they may not conduct electricity.

Be careful! You are at risk of being electrocuted because the power feed of up to 220 volts feeds the control of the pressure switch. Shut off all power before doing anything with the well system, even if you’re just going to be watching from a distance — and always, always kill power to the pressure switch before you take the cover off it.

6. Check if there is power to the well pump.

Once you’ve ruled out all of the above, it’s time to check the circuit breaker box. He now switches the circuit breaker for the well pump to the ON position. Toggle it between OFF and ON once, even if it already appears to be on, in case it was not completely engaged before.

When Your Well Pump is the Problem

A submersible well system should not provide low or no water pressure. Outside of still having a shallow well system, and that you already have done the above checks, something in not right with your well at this time.

Well Water Pump Problems and Troubleshooting Steps

Let’s continue speculating about what’s causing the pump not to work:

• Power down your well pump completely. Don’t skip this step!
• Find your yard well and move with caution.
• Carefully take off the well cap.

Check the wiring for electrical arcing and burnt or short wires.

• If you discover a burned or shorted wire, this is at least one factor affecting your water flow-rate.
• If everything seems to be connected correctly, go to step 5.

Replace and seal the well cap again, and reapply power.

If it turns on, listen to your well pump run. If you hear it power off after a few seconds, only to turn back on again, this is a potential sign the well pump motor is damaged.

But if it’s safe to do so, cut the wires at the site of the well so that you can monitor the electrical current. If you can see that no energy flows through the circuit, you can know (for sure) that this is (at least part of) the problem.

Typical Forms of Failure for Submersible Pump

If your well pump keeps losing pressure, there’s a good chance one or more of the following is true:

• Your well isn’t filling up with water, actually.
• Your check valve hasn’t been working, and that makes your well seem empty.
• There’s a leak in the piping that connects the holding tank with the water pump, so water production at the pump is bad or nonexistent.
• It’s time to get your well pressure tank recharged.

Your well pump is aged out and no longer functional.

Unfortunately, there is no early warning when a water pump decides to stop working. So be ready for your pump to fail any moment—but you can extend your well pump into heaven by spending on your pressure tank quality and your well pump maintenance.

When You Have No Idea What to Do

Not getting reliable water pressure even after going through the above steps? Call us here at Boylan Water Well Service, if you need more assistance. Our number is 505-438-3416.

From emergency well services including up to and including well pumps replacement, we do it all! So if you need a repair or a new well, we can send a water pump expert to figure out what’s wrong to take care of it.