Santa or a well guy: Christmas Eve is no time to lose your water in Johnsburg

There was a note of panic in Virginia’s voice when Dick checked his voicemails – “We don’t have any water!!” There was more, but Dick got the point.

From Dallas, more than 900 miles away from Johnsburg, IL, there wasn’t much Dick could do. He tried calling home but Virginia didn’t answer and he received a message stating that her mailbox was full. So, Dick made one more call and hurried to the plane – the 777 he would pilot to Chicago’s O’Hare Field.

Virginia didn’t receive Dick’s call because, at that moment, she was down in the basement pounding on parts of the well equipment hoping that would somehow make the water flow again. It didn’t and she had no idea that Dick had called in the meantime.

As the sun fell below the horizon this Christmas Eve, Virginia reassured the kids – Billy, 3; and Missy, 4 – that everything would be OK. Mostly, Virginia was just trying to reassure herself, though.

Then she sent the kids up to the playroom to play and watch television while she went downstairs to poke, prod and pound some more. If she had stayed upstairs, she might have heard the knock on the door. She didn’t.

After a while, resigned to the futility of pounding on the well equipment, Virginia came back upstairs and turned on the television in the living room. Time passed – maybe even an hour. Suddenly, she heard the children coming down the stairs like a pack of wild animals. As they ran, she heard them yelling, “He’s out back! He’s out back!”

Virginia met them at the bottom of the stairs and finally quieted them enough to ask, “Who’s out back?”

“Santa,” said Missy as Billy nodded in agreement. “Santa’s out back.”

Virginia gave the children a skeptical frown. Seeing the doubt in her mother’s face, Missy took her by the hand and pulled her towards the kitchen. Reluctantly, Virginia followed.

Standing in the darkened kitchen, Virginia was alarmed to see that, indeed, someone was out in the backyard. The kids were yelling, “See, it’s Santa.”

She quieted the kids again and told them to go up to their rooms. Turning to sneak up by the window, she didn’t even notice that the kids stood rooted in their spots totally ignoring the order. Virginia didn’t notice the kids because she was focused on the shadowy figure moving around out back.

The person had a thick winter coat with its hood up over the back of the person’s head. With the heavy boots at his feet, Virginia could see how the kids might think this was Santa.

She noticed that the figure kept bending over as though they were doing something out there. As Virginia thought to take out her phone and call the police, the shadow stood upright in the backyard and turned towards the house. Virginia stepped back deeper into the shadows.

When she looked again, she couldn’t see him. Then, there was a knock on the backdoor. Virginia jumped a little and then went to the door.  When she opened the door, she looked into a familiar smiling face, though she couldn’t place where she knew him from.

“Hi, I’m John,” he said. “Dick called and told me you didn’t have any water. I knocked before, but I guess you didn’t hear me. I wasn’t sure if you had left.

“Anyhow, I thought I’d take a look. Good thing I did, too. One of the wires to the pump motor broke loose.”

As if she hadn’t quite grasped what he was saying, Virginia suddenly said, “Oh, you’re the well guy.”

John smiled again, “Yes, I’m the well guy. When Dick called, I figured you didn’t want to go Christmas Eve without water so I came over. Do you want to check the faucet?”

Just then, the kids stepped forward and, in unison, asked, “Is it Santa, Mommy?”

Virginia was lifting the faucet handle when she heard the question. She also heard a cough from the pipes and then … the water began to flow. Turning the water off, Virginia turned to the kids and said, “Yes, in a way, this is definitely Santa.”

John smiled again, tipped his hat and as he turned to leave, he said, “You folks have a Merry Christmas.”

Hire a professional to maintain your Spring Grove well – your personal public works department

Jogging is great for the body but, after a

workout, you want to drink water that is

also good for the body. In Spring Grove,

this includes chlorinating your well to

ensure that the water is safe and clean.

Cities, such as McHenry, Woodstock and Crystal Lake, have public works departments that are fully staffed with workers who monitor and maintain multiple water treatment plants. At your Spring Grove home, however, there’s only you to monitor and maintain your private well. Some of your Spring Grove neighbors probably do a fairly good job of maintaining their wells. Many, however, are less likely to be up to date when it comes to chlorinating their wells.

Those who do maintain their wells properly, probably rely on a professional to perform the well maintenance and to chlorinate their wells. This is a very good idea.

Why should you maintain and chlorinate your well?

Nasty things can happen to your water supply if it isn’t maintained. Well maintenance includes ensuring that the well motor, well pump, the well tank and the electronics that make it all work are in good condition. Properly maintained, those well components can continue to supply your home with water for years to come. And they’ll do it more economically as you avoid costly repairs and premature replacement of well parts.

Additionally, well maintenance and timely chlorination of your Spring Grove well will help to ensure that the water you drink, bath in and use to wash clothes and dishes is safe water. Wells are chlorinated to fight off bacteria and foreign matter that can make your water unsafe for consumption. And who wants to bathe in bacteria-ridden water?

Why should you hire a professional to maintain your well?

When it comes to checking the well motor, well pump, well tank and electronics, a professional knows what they’re looking at. They’ve seen what those well components look like when they’re in good shape and they’ve seen what they look like when they’re in bad shape. They know how a properly operating well should function. In other words, they have the experience that provides perspective between a properly operating well and a well that isn’t operating properly.

More than that, a professional knows how to perform well maintenance. They know how to adjust the bladder in your well tank while checking its condition. If something needs attention, they know how to remove, repair and/or replace necessary parts of your well equipment.

When it comes to chlorinating your well, this is a step that many homeowners, including those in Spring Grove, assume they can easily handle themselves. After all, what is there to chlorinating a well? You open the well and dump some chlorine in, right? Not so fast.

Actually, simply dumping chlorine into the well can cause problems down the road. The chlorine is corrosive on the well pump and connections. When you next need to replace the pump, you’ll discover that you can’t take the fittings apart; they were damaged by the chlorine you dumped into the well.

A professional will add the chlorine without getting it onto the pump and connections. In other words, they’ll protect your well so it’s easier to work with later. When they’re done, you’ll be able to use the water – to drink, to wash with and to bathe in – with confidence.

It turns out, you don’t need an entire public works department to maintain your private well. But, you may want to turn to a professional for a little help.

Have a tall, cool glass of water with confidence when you chlorinate your Johnsburg well

If you don't chlorinate your Johnsburg well each year, there's
no guarantee the water you're drinking is safe.

It feels good to get some work done around your Johnsburg home. You’ve worked up a bit of a sweat. You’ve worked up a thirst for a tall, cool glass of water, haven’t you? Will you go to the faucet, or the refrigerator door, and pour yourself a glass of water from the tap – from your well?

Maybe you haven’t thought about it, until the question came up now. You just assumed the water was fine. After all, it looks fairly clear. Take a whiff of the water. How’s that? No, all water doesn’t smell that way.

If you have a private well, such as many of the folks in Johnsburg, you can’t count on the village to make sure the water is safe to drink. If you haven’t taken care of your well – and that starts with an annual well chlorination – you might not even want to let the kids bath in that water.

See, if the municipal public works department is taking care of the water, there’s a good chance they’ve kept a regular schedule of chlorinating the village well. More than that, they’ve probably had the water tested, from time to time.

Without a regular, annual chlorination of your Johnsburg well, bacteria may have found a home in that glass of water you’re about to drink. If not bacteria, there are other elements that can make your water less than completely safe to drink.

Having a private well, it’s up to you to make sure the well water is regularly chlorinated and tested. You’ve probably got a neighbor who will tell you, “It’s easy. Just pour some chlorine into ‘the hole’ every year. That’s what I do.”

The problem is that your neighbor isn’t chlorinating his well properly. Is he taking precautions to avoid pouring the chlorine onto the pump and pipe connections in the well? If not, someday, when the well pump wears out, he’ll have a heck of a time disconnecting the well pump and fittings. The problem is that chlorine has a tendency to corrode and eat away at metal objects.

So, if you’re going to chlorinate your own Johnsburg private well, you’ll want to avoid damaging the pump and fittings. You’ll also want to flush the well after you’ve chlorinated. Some things seem easier than they really are or, at least, it’s essential that they’re done properly.

Another concern when chlorinating your own well is the possibility of damaging your own plumbing pipes. Most homeowners don’t know that there are two grades of copper – Type L and Type M. Type M is a low-grade copper and extra care is required because the chlorine can eat through the copper and cause leaks.

Type M copper has red lettering and markings on the outside of the pipe. The pipe wall with Type M copper is only half the thickness of Type L copper, which has blue lettering and markings.

A safe bet is to hire a qualified well technician to chlorinate your well. If you do that, you’ll know the well is properly cared for and you’ll drink that glass of water with confidence knowing you don’t have to worry about bacteria in the water.

Without proper well maintenance, your Johnsburg well could be on borrowed time

If you own your own well, you can't count on the city

to maintain your water supply. Timely maintenance

is essential.

You’ve lived in Johnsburg for how long now – 10 or 20 years? And you’ve never had a problem with the well water before? So, why should you worry about it now? After all, don’t ‘they’ say, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”

Just because something isn’t broken doesn’t mean it won’t break. Besides, no one is saying that, if it’s not broken you should fix it. Simply put, without proper well maintenance, your well is living on borrowed time. One of these days, you’ll turn on a faucet, in your Johnsburg home, and nothing will happen.

Imagine if you bought a car and never changed the oil. For a while, it would run fine. But, one day, as you’re driving down the road, you’re going to have problems. Either the engine will overheat and stop running or it will stop running because the heat welded all the parts into one iron block.

The well outside your Johnsburg home works much the same way in that it’s designed to operate, just as a new car is designed to operate when it comes off the showroom floor. Without proper well maintenance, your well is going to work for a spell, but its days are numbered. Eventually, the well motor will burn out, the bladder inside the well tank will rip (which will cause the motor to cycle constantly until it burns out) or the electronics inside the well will corrode and leave you dry.

Additionally, if you’re not having the well water chlorinated, you and your family could be drinking and using water that’s unfit for man or fish. Without timely well water chlorination, your well water may contain unhealthy levels of bacteria.

If you’ve used your well for 10 years without any serious well maintenance, consider yourself darn lucky. If you’ve used the well for 20 years without well maintenance, or problems, that’s downright miraculous. And, keep in mind that, if you’re not the original owner of the home, the well and its components could be significantly older than that. Did the previous owner do a good job of maintaining the well?

If you’re in doubt about these questions, with winter only a couple months away, this is probably a very good time to have your well maintained. Johnsburg winters are often rough – lots of snow and cold. They’re even rougher if you’re stuck inside without any water.

Time for Saufen und Speil and well maintenance of your Johnsburg well system

As Saufen und Speil approaches this September, the last days of another Johnsburg summer are waning. When the parade, raffles, games, food and fun are done, folks will return to their homes with thoughts of raking leaves not far from their minds.

With the passing of summer, it’s time to start thinking about having the car winterized so you’re ready for the winter that will arrive shortly after autumn. It’s also a good time to have the water well at your Johnsburg home checked and maintained.

Yes, your well does require annual well maintenance. If you didn’t realize this there’s a good chance your well is long overdue for well maintenance.

What does well maintenance involve? The first part of well maintenance is making sure the water will continue to flow when you want it to flow. Most homes in Johnsburg have private wells so this is a critical consideration for homeowners in town.

To keep your well flowing, the trick is to make sure that your water well system is operating properly. That includes checking the well motor, well pump, wiring and, above all, the well pressure in the well tank.

There is a bladder in the well tank that must – repeat – must be maintained at proper pressure. If the well tank pressure is wrong it can lead to other costly problems, such as burning out the well motor. With the wrong pressure in the water tank the motor can run too long and too frequently. This is especially the case if the improper pressure results in a tear to the well tank bladder.

Well maintenance also means ensuring water quality

An integral aspect of well maintenance is the chlorination of the well. This can also involve sending a sample of the well water to a lab to have it checked out for bacteria and other harmful elements. A well chlorination should be done annually.

Some people chlorinate their own Johnsburg wells. That’s fine as long as they do it properly. But, those people might be surprised to find that they’re doing damage to the well system if the chlorination is done wrong. It’s more than simply pouring the chlorine into the well. If the chlorine is poured over the well pump and connections, over time, the chlorine will corrode exposed parts of the pump and connections. The next time a pump wears out, the person replacing the pump will have a heck of a time getting the old pump out.

A proper well chlorination will also involve flushing the well system after the chlorine is added. Once again, turning to a well-system professional is a good way to make sure this procedure is done right.

McHenry Water Well & Pump float a hit in Fiesta Days Parade

The McHenry Water Well & Pump float was a big hit at the Fiesta Days Parade because John Matthesius put a lot of work into the float and because there was a big turnout of volunteers, including: (From L to R) Wayne Seeley and Buzz Schert (in back), C.J. Adams, Beau Bristol, Tracy Bristol, Makayla Bristol, John Matthesius, (Front to back) Gavin Bristol, Jodie Bristol Bristol,  Sarah Bristol and Mike Kutnick. Rich Rostron is on the safe side of the camera.

They were the hit of the McHenry Fiesta Days Parade Sunday, July 19. The McHenry Water Well & Pump float was one to remember – the company truck, driven by owner John Matthesius, pulling a float adorned with a claw-foot bathtub. You don’t see that in a parade often. And, better yet, it was functional.

More than functional, the claw-foot bathtub was in use. From start to finish, Wayne Seeley, of Visual Horizons (type of company) ‘bathed’ in the claw-foot bathtub.

The float was Matthesius’s baby. He worked on it for several months – searching high and low to find a claw-foot bathtub he could use. He then mounted the tub on a platform above a tank of water and ran pipes so the shower would flow.

Behind the tub, at the back of the float, Matthesius mounted a bubble machine. This meant that, the entire parade route, the float was pumping out bubbles as Seeley bathed in a one-piece Victorian-style bathing suite.

Along the parade route, the most-often repeated phrase was, “Look mommy, that man is taking a bath.”

Between Seeley bathing and the bubbles, the float was a particular hit with the younger set. Judging by the laughter, the adults also appreciated the humor.

As Matthesius drove, and Seeley bathed, others also assisted with the float. The volunteers, like Matthesius and Seeley, were members of the MC3 McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce business networking group, as well as some family and friends.

Sitting in front of Seeley and the tub was Rich Rostron, with Rich Publicity, a provider of content driven marketing. Rostron handed out candy and popsicles to volunteers who handed out the candy. Those volunteers included Buzz Schert of Alpha Laser Engravings and Beau Bristol with Garage Doors & More. Schert was assisted by his C.J. Adams. Bristol was joined by his wife, Tracy Bristol, brother, Gavin Bristol, sister-in-law, Sarah Bristol, and their children, Jodie and Makayla Bristol.

One of the most important volunteer positions on the float, however, was Mike Kutnick, a realtor with Berkshire Hathaway Starck Real Estate. Kutnick sat in the front of the truck next to Matthesius. Kutnick was the navigator. While most accepted the primacy of this position, Rostron had the audacity to question the importance of Kutnick’s role.

“Navigator?” Rostron asked. “It’s a parade. You follow the float in front of you.”

In response, Rostron received a condemning ‘you-just-don’t-understand’ look from the others … and then silence.

Other volunteers have operated the float with Matthesius previously, such as when he was in the Wonder Lake 4th of July Parade. He’s also taken the float out in the (other) parades.

“Other than Rostron’s whining about the navigator, everyone had a great time,” said Matthesius. “Next time, we’ll put Rostron in the tub. He’s due, anyhow.”

McHenry Water Well & Pump - hit of the Fiesta Days Parade

Call a well technician when your Spring Grove well water smells

Sure, the water is still flowing but now it seems to smell a little funny. What’s that all about?

It would be nice if you could pick up the phone and call the City of Spring Grove Public Works Department but, here in Spring Grove, many residents and businesses have private wells. If that includes you, it means that, when the water smells, it’s your problem.

When the water smells, how do you get rid of that odor? To fix the problem when water smells you first need to determine why the water smells. Water odors occur for a reason. To determine the cause of water odor you should have the water checked. Someone with city water counts on the city to ensure the water is safe. With a well system, it’s your call and a good idea to bring in an expert; it’s time to call a well technician.

One of the first questions a well technician will ask when arriving at your Spring Grove home or office is, “When did you last chlorinate your well?”

Well chlorination can ensure that a well doesn’t become contaminated with bacteria and pathogens. The chlorine will also help to neutralize the sulfur odor that is probably responsible when your well water smells.

There are other factors that can cause the water to smell. For instance, you could have hydrogen sulfide gas in the well or you may have a fouled bladder in the pressure tank. Whatever the case, a qualified well technician will quickly locate the source of the problem and offer a solution.

It’s not a bad idea to have the water tested, too. This is not terribly expensive and the well technician can take care of it on your behalf.

Finally, while chlorinating the well, your well technician can go beyond clearing up any water odors; the well technician can also perform a maintenance check on your well system. This will include checking the air pressure in the well tank, ensuring all the electronics are working properly and that the well motor is operating properly.

One word of caution – you may be tempted to chlorinate your well yourself. Many people do. However, if it’s not done properly, you can cause corrosion on the pipe fittings in the well. This can work out as a costly mistake the next time you have to change the well motor.

Annual well maintenance will keep the water flowing in your Port Barrington home

You lift or turn the handle and water flows from the faucet. It’s almost like magic. Of course, we tend to take it for granted; it happens every time we do it. We come to expect it. And, on that day when it doesn’t happen, when we turn or lift a handle in our Port Barrington home, it’s a disconcerting experience.

We find ourselves asking a simple question – ‘Why doesn’t the water flow?’

For homes that are connected to city water, there’s a good chance that the problem is with the city. You’ll just have to wait until they figure it out. Possibly, when the water does start to flow again, you’ll have to abide by a boil order – the water isn’t safe straight from the faucet.

In Port Barrington, however, homeowners generally rely on private wells to supply their water. If the water doesn’t flow it’s a personal problem. The city isn’t going to rush out and fix the problem. Maintaining and repairing the well is the responsibility of the homeowner.

Maintenance is a key factor in this equation. If a Port Barrington homeowner stays on top of the well, figuratively speaking, and keeps up with timely maintenance, such as checking the pressure in the water tank, ensuring that the electronics are working properly, that the motor is in good condition and that the well is chlorinated annually, repairs are an uncommon occurrence.

Well repairs are far more common when well maintenance is left by the wayside. Without regular maintenance, that disconcerting feeling you get when something is supposed to work and it doesn’t, is far more likely. One day the water just might not flow.

Some people try to maintain their wells themselves. However, it’s really recommended that homeowners call in a professional. For instance, when chlorinating a well – a vital process to ensure the quality of the water is up to snuff – some homeowners simply pour the chemical into the well. There’s more to it than that.

Improperly done, the chlorine can build up around the well motor, electronics and connections causing problems down the road. And if well repairs are required, the situation is considerably more difficult and costly when a well technician comes to the rescue.

Well maintenance is an annual affair. If you have proper well maintenance professionally performed on your Port Barrington home’s well, in all likely hood, you’ll go years with the water continuing to flow.

McHenry Water Well & Pump wishes WL MPOA all the best for another 50 years

Is it time to replace the pressure tank in your well system?

When your well’s pressure tank fails, you’ll find it a bit difficult to get the water from the well and out of the faucet of your Spring Grove home. Your well has a pump, it has a pump motor, it has a pressure switch. All of these parts are essential to the operation of your well system. But, a pressure tank is equally important to the operation of your well system.

One sign that you may need to replace the pressure tank is when you notice the flow of water at the faucet isn’t as solid as before. You might even find it a bit erratic. This doesn’t mean that you need to replace the pressure tank but it’s a possibility.

Other factors can cause problems with the water flow in your Spring Grove home. For instance, a faulty pressure switch could be the culprit. You may also have a problem with a well pump or well pump motor that are fading. But, it is possible, when the water flow isn’t right, that you need to replace the pressure tank.

The pressure tank does exactly what its name sounds like – it applies pressure so the water flows up and out of the faucet on demand. But how does the pressure tank apply pressure?

It’s really rather simple, and ingenious; the pressure tank has a rubber bladder inside. On one side of the bladder is the water. On the other side is air. A qualified well technician will set the air pressure in the pressure tank according to specs. The pressure will change, somewhat, as the water is pushed up through the pipes and out the faucet. When the pressure switch notices the change in pressure, at a pre-determined point, it switches the pump motor on, which drives the pump to pump more water into the pressure tank.

If something happens to the bladder inside the pressure tank, the well system can’t keep the proper pressure in the pressure tank. That’s when you need to replace the pressure tank.

Generally, what happens to the bladder inside the pressure tank is that it tears. It may also stretch. These problems often occur because the air pressure wasn’t set correctly inside the pressure tank. If the air pressure is maintained at the proper setting, there’s a good chance you’ll go a very long time before you need to replace the pressure tank in your Spring Grove well system.

You need a little pressure in your life – a pressure tank helps keep your water well flowing

You have enough pressure in your life, don’t you? The job, the kids, finances, enduring another McHenry County winter: you’d probably welcome a little less pressure right about now. But, just when you think you can’t take anymore, you turn the faucet and nothing happens.

“Oh great – now what?” you ask yourself.

It turns out you could use just a little more pressure in your life. Yes, you need some pressure to keep the water flowing.

How could pressure keep the water flowing? It turns out air pressure is a vital element in your water well system. In particular, you need an air charge in your water pressure tank. That pressure will push the water up and through your pipes so that, when you turn the faucet, water comes out as expected. Without pressure in your pressure tank, eventually the water stops flowing.

The water well system won’t work without your pressure tank. The well pump, another essential part of the water well system, pumps the water up from the well and into the pressure tank. Inside the pressure tank is a bladder. A proper level of air pressure on one side of the bladder, keeps the water flowing on demand.

The pressure tank should have a certain amount of air pressure in the pressure tank. A qualified well technician can ensure that the air pressure is set correctly.

If the pressure tank has the wrong air pressure, bad things can happen. For instance, if the bladder is torn, it won’t hold air pressure in the pressure tank. In the meantime, the pressure switch doesn’t understand that the bladder is torn. It keeps turning the well pump on and off. This cycling will eventually burn out the well pump motor.

When the pressure tank is in proper working condition, and the air pressure is set right, your water well system is amazingly reliable. When it’s not, it can be surprisingly costly. If it isn’t maintained properly, you may find yourself needing to install a new pressure tank, as well as a new well pump and well pump motor.

There’s plenty of water in the ground here in McHenry County. But, if your water well system isn’t working right, you might as well be in the Sahara.

Time to install a well tank if your well tank isn’t well

A water well tank may not be sexy but it sure isn't sexy when the water well tank fails.

There are a couple of tell-tale signs that you need a new well tank. One such sign of a faulty water tank is a fluctuation of water pressure at a faucet in the house. You lift the handle on a faucet and, instead of that steady stream of water you’re used to, the pressure seems to ebb and flow.

Another sign of a faulty well tank is when you hear a clicking sound coming from downstairs, in the crawlspace or in the basement – wherever the well tank is located. That clicking sound comes from the pressure switch. The pressure switch regulates the pressure inside the water tank.

When the pressure begins to fall inside the water tank, such as when you turn on the water upstairs, the switch recognizes the drop in water pressure inside the water tank and turns on the well pump. When pressure comes back up inside the well tank, the pressure switch shuts the well pump off.

A well tank usually goes bad because its bladder has a rip. This often happens because the air charge is not regulated to the pressure switch setting for the well tank. With the proper air charge, the rubber bladder flexes as it was intended. But, when the air charge is wrong, the bladder stretches beyond its normal range. That, and frequent changes of pressure inside the well tank, will often lead to well pump failure.

Once the bladder is torn, there is no way to maintain the correct pressure inside the water tank. The pressure switch is constantly turning on and off. In the process, the well pump motor gets hotter and hotter until it, too, fails. In the meantime, you’re noticing there’s a problem with your water pressure because your well tank is out of whack.

Sometimes, the solution is to add an air charge to the water tank. If the bladder is torn, however, the well tank will require replacement. Hopefully, you’ll resolve the issue with your tank before the well pump, pressure switch or well bladder go bad.

A qualified well technician will either add air to the tank or, if needed, install a new well tank. Then, the well technician will ensure that it’s operating properly so that the well system is efficient and so that the well tank bladder will last longer. That means, they’ll adjust the system so that it operates at the correct pressure. A properly adjusted well tank will optimize draw capacity and pressure at the faucet.

It’s time for Well Tank 101 – well tank basics

A well tank is an essential part of your home or office well system, assuming you’re not tied to city water. Inside the well tank is a reservoir of water waiting for that moment when you turn on a faucet upstairs or otherwise use some water.

The well tank maintains a certain amount of pressure – usually between 40 and 60 psi – so that, when you turn on the faucet, the water is pushed through your pipes to maintain a flow of water. At the same time, a pressure switch notices the drop in pressure inside the water tank. That pressure switch sends a message to the well pump – “Hey, we need a little water here” – and the well pump starts pumping water up to the water tank.

The amount of air pressure inside a well tank is determined by the setting of the pressure switch regardless of the size of the tank. A larger tank contains a larger reservoir of water, which is helpful if you use more water.

When all these parts are working correctly – the water tank, the pressure switch and the well pump – it’s like an aqua symphony. The music plays every time you turn on a faucet, flush a toilet, wash clothes or dishes or do anything else that requires a supply of water from your well. But, if things aren’t working properly, if part of the symphony is out of key, it effects the other parts of the water well system.

For instance, if the air charge isn’t set correctly, it will put additional strain on the well pump and the bladder inside the well tank. The bladder can tear. If that happens, the well tank will water log and the pump will burn out.

If the well tank bladder is torn, the system can begin to short cycle. That’s when the well switch can’t keep the pressure at the proper psi inside the well tank. The constant cycling – where the switch is turning off and on repeatedly, and turning the well pump on an off repeatedly – can burn out the switch and/or the well pump motor.

While these problems are potentially costly, in the meantime, you’re noticing that it’s hard to get a steady flow of water out of the faucet. If the problem gets bad enough, you may find you’re not getting any water at all.

Well maintenance is the key to keeping your system happy and running properly. However, if something goes wrong, the sooner you replace a pressure switch, well pump motor or water tank the better. All the better to replace one of them than to have to replace them all. The key is to keep a proper air charge in the well tank.

This isn’t the best time for a Lakemoor well pump installation but if you need it, you need it

When a Lakemoor well fails this time of year, a well pump installation is often a little more complicated. Working with frigid water, in sub-zero temperatures, with a cold wind cutting across the yard takes a particular kind of fortitude. It’s also inherently difficult because, at temperatures below 32-degrees Fahrenheit, a not-so-subtle change happens to water.

This combination of freezing water, air and wind tends to make a well technician’s hands numb while performing a well pump installation. While John Matthesius, of McHenry Water Well & Pump, doesn’t necessarily charge more in the winter, the process can take longer. That’s why it’s generally a better idea to have a well pump installation in the warmer months.

Of course, if a well pump installation is needed, it’s needed, even if it is January or February and it’s below zero outside. When the pump fails, a well pump installation is required, assuming a well pump repair isn’t feasible.

You may ask, “How do I know when my well pump will fail and I’ll need a well pump installation?” You don’t. However, if you have regular maintenance of your well pump, while extending the life of the well pump, and the well tank, a well technician will have a chance to take a look at your well pump. The well technician may be able to tell you that the well pump is getting a little tired.

Armed with knowledge of the condition of your well pump, you can make a decision to hold out another year, while also hoping Lakemoor doesn’t have another bitter and long winter. Or, you can decide, maybe it’s better if my well technician performs a well pump installation now. ‘Now,’ of course, refers to last summer or fall.

If you haven’t maintained your well and well pump, hopefully, it will last through the winter without problems. If not, you can call your well technician to come out and do the maintenance now. Or, if the pump fails, you can make an emergency call for a well pump repair.

Even well maintenance is better performed in the warmer months. Proper well maintenance includes chlorinating the well. Properly done, this also includes flushing the well after chlorinating. Water flushed out of the well tends to freeze on the surface.

Bitter cold tends to sort out the fittest wells in Spring Grove

The cold, particularly the kind of bitter cold we’re experiencing in Spring Grove lately, adds additional layers of challenge to everyday life. It thickens the oil in car engines and challenges batteries to turn those engines over to start. Parts are hard and brittle – more apt to break.

The torch is to unfreeze the nuts and bolts on this well.

The cold is also hard on Spring Grove wells. If the cold takes the upper hand, shutting down a well, the challenges for those living or working in the home or office the well supplies have another challenge to add to shoveling driveways and walks, bundling to stay warm or safely driving on icy roads; they suddenly find themselves without access to clean, fresh and potable water.

No showers, no water for cooking, no washing clothes or dishes, no flushing toilets – when the water doesn’t flow in your Spring Grove home, you suddenly discover how much you depend on it. That’s all the more true when you’re virtually trapped inside by sub-zero cold and drifts of snow. But, of course, that’s one of the times when your well is more likely to fail.

Throughout the year, well technicians try to warn people to maintain their wells. Of course, just because your well is maintained doesn’t guarantee the cold won’t win the fight but it dramatically changes the odds. In other words, if your well isn’t well maintained, it’s almost as though it’s sitting there waiting for the cold to come. Next thing you know, you turn a faucet handle, flush a toilet or try to draw some water from the kitchen sink and … nothing.

The problem with repairing a well in this kind of bitter cold is that it makes the process that much more difficult for your well technician. First of all, will they have trouble locating the well under the snow? Once they find the well, they have to use their fingers to hold small and intricate parts. The cold does a funny thing to finger dexterity.  It makes holding and manipulating those small parts all the more difficult.

A simple process of threading a screw into a threaded hole at 80 degrees is a major challenge when it’s below zero. Gloves will help keep the technician’s fingers warm but they generally charge too high a price in dexterity.

Often, the well technician has to work while enduring a driving wind that has wind chills to 50 below and lower.

John Matthesius, with McHenry Water Well & Pump, remembers when he was younger and working for his father back in the early ‘80s. The temperature dropped to 28 below. The wind chill factor was 82 below. It was hazardous to go outside for too long. And then the phones started ringing. And they kept ringing. The cold was more than many wells in the area could handle.

“I had to take a map and put pins for each call,” said John. “Then I went out on the most direct route possible. I’d spend half an hour. If I couldn’t get the well going in that time, I had to move on and come back to them. There were just too many people without water.”

While well technicians appreciate the extra work, they really don’t look forward to working in those conditions. As far as John is concerned, he’s hoping last winter, and the cold we’ve felt this week, aren’t indications of a bitter cold winter ahead.

Still, if your well fails, regardless of the cold, it’s comforting to know you can call John to come out and get the water flowing again.