Keep your well pump humming with care: but if you need a new pump

You barely hear it. Maybe it’s just a slight vibration in the pipes but you know it’s working because, when you turn on a faucet, the water comes out. Behind that reliable flow of water is a pump that carriers the water from your well and into the house or office.

Lift the handle in the kitchen and nothing happens and you’ll suddenly recognize the importance of that pump. If the water doesn’t flow soon, you may have to choose another place to stay or work for a while. Indoor water is more than a convenience; it’s a necessity.

Properly maintained, a well pump should last 15 years or more. In fact, with regular maintenance, well pumps have been known to last 30 years and more. Without that maintenance, your water pump can burn out in a fairly short period of time.

Your well system is a finely tuned mechanism. The electronics, the pressure tank and the well pump all have to work in unison, day in and day out, to ensure the water supply is available upon demand. Annual maintenance is all it really takes. You don’t have to have it checked every other month or twice a year – just once a year. That annual maintenance is generally enough to keep your well working like a well-oiled machine, and that includes your well pump.

It doesn’t hurt, of course, if you’ve had a better quality well pump installed. Discount well pumps, such as the ones sold at the big box stores, may save you a little money up front. But, in the long run, you may pay much, much more. In fact, even among professionals who install well pumps, there are differences in the quality of the well pumps they install.

STA-RITE is a commonly installed pump. It’s not a bad pump. STA-RITE well pumps are made with good-quality craftsmanship and decent materials, though many of their casings are made of a composite material.

Grundfos, however, really makes the Cadillac of well pumps. Their craftsmanship is exceptional and, from the casing to the parts inside, Grundfos uses stainless steel for its well pump parts. Each part is expertly machined to the tightest tolerances. Additionally, Grundfos well pumps are competitively priced.

Without proper maintenance, any well pump will experience a shorter lifespan. With proper maintenance, including checking the charge in the pressure tank to avoid short cycling, a superior well pump has the best chance of lasting 30 years or more.

A little maintenance will take your pressure tank a long way

If you have a well, there’s a pressure tank in your basement or crawl space that’s essential in providing the fresh water you drink and use to wash. But, if you’re like many people here in Northern Illinois, you seldom give that pressure tank a passing thought. If something goes wrong with your pressure tank, however, it could quickly come to the forefront of your attention.

If you walk past the pressure tank, also known as a water tank or a storage tank, often enough without ensuring that it is serviced regularly, eventually you will have a problem. The water tank requires annual maintenance. If the storage tank isn’t serviced annually, not only is the pressure tank at risk but your water pump is at risk, as well.

Inside the water tank is a rubber bladder. A certain amount of air pressure is required in the tank to make sure the pump doesn’t start to short cycle.  That would force the pump to start and stop repeatedly and will burn out the pump prematurely. In the meantime, without adequate air pressure inside, the water tank bladder is stretched in ways it’s not designed to stretch. Often it tears. If that happens, the storage tank is ruined.

Properly maintained, a storage tank can last 25 years or more, though they’re generally warranted for five years. Without proper maintenance, if the air charge in the tank drops significantly, the water tank bladder can stretch and rupture and will likely take the pump with it.

It sometimes seems that pressure tanks that aren’t serviced regularly last just longer than their five-year warranty. At McHenry Water Well & Pump, we install Well-X-Trol brand pressure tanks. Well-X-Trol tanks come with a seven-year warranty. The longer warranty is an indication of the superior quality of a Well-X-Trol tank.

Well-X-Trol water tanks are made with heavier gauge metal that has better constructed seams. They also have heavier bladders that are more durable and more securely attached. But, the goal isn’t that your pressure tank will last for only five years or seven; the goal is for your storage tank to last 25 years or more. With regular maintenance, there is a good chance that it will.