A well and pump can be a great addition to your home. If you have municipal water services, a well can be used to save money. It can also help if there is ever a problem with the city's system. When no municipal water is available for your home, a well and pump may be the only way to have access to reliable water.

Of course, a well and pump are not without their own problems, and these problems will be your responsibility to notice and fix. No one from the city water department is going to come to make things right. You must either take care of it yourself or contact a professional well company to do the work for you.

When no water comes out of any of your faucets, there is definitely a problem. However, it does not always mean the well has run dry, Luckily, a number of issues may keep the water from getting from the well to the tank and into the house. Here are a few things to check if you aren't getting any water.

Breaker

The first thing to check is the breaker. If the breaker has tripped, it can keep the pump from working. If the breaker hasn't tripped, you should still make sure that the breaker is working. You can use a multimeter to make sure the correct voltage is going through the breaker. If not, either replace the breaker yourself if you are comfortable doing so or contact an electrician to make the repair.

Pressure Switch

Next, go out to the pump house and feel the tank. The tank should feel full of water. It will also be cold. If you do not feel any water in the tank, try moving it or smacking it. This may trigger the pump to kick on. When this happens, it is often a faulty pressure switch.

Locate the pressure switch and inspect it for any rust or loose connections. You can buy a new pressure switch from a local hardware or plumbing supply store and install it yourself. Follow the directions on the new switch to install it, but be sure to flip the breaker off before doing any work on it. You should also take notes on how the wires are connected to the old switch.

Air Pressure

Almost all well tanks use air pressure to alert the pump switch to kick on and fill the tank. There is a bladder inside the tank that holds the water. As water is used in the house, the bladder deflates due to the air pressure surrounding it. When the bladder is full, the air pressure is released through the air pressure valve and the pump shuts off.

Some pressure valves have an inline gauge that tells you what the air pressure is at inside the tank. Check with the owner's manual for the tank to see what the correct pressure should be when the tank is full and empty.

When the pressure is not right, it is best to contact a professional to determine the cause. If you try to release air pressure when the reading is too high, you can depressurize the system so that it does not operate properly. It is also possible to over pressurize the tank and cause internal damage.

When the breaker and pressure switch are working properly and the air pressure is correct and you still have no water, it is time to call in a professional. While it still does not necessarily mean the well is running dry, the problem is most likely more than what the average homeowner wants to deal with. It could be a leaking bladder or it could be a broken pump.

Contact us at Brown & Cox if you aren't receiving water to your home and cannot fix the problem yourself. We can take care of any pump issues, replace the bladder tank, or even drill the well deeper if need be.