Have you shown your Spring Grove well a little appreciation with some timely well maintenance?

It's not the snowman who is standing sentry; it's your
Spring Grove water well that is dutifully waiting for your
call and responding with the flow of water you request.
Thank your water well for its
dedication with some maintenance.

Looking out the back window into your Spring Grove backyard it’s hard to imagine that, under that blanket of snow is a champion working tirelessly on your behalf. Patiently, he waits for your call. No matter how many times you beckon him for help, he responds.

Reliable. Uncomplaining. Industrious. These are all words that aptly describe this hero hiding beneath the snow. When the need arises, he jumps to your aid. He is your well pump only visible by the wellhead that extends less than a foot above the ground. But, even that is invisible when he is buried beneath the snow.

The cold, the snow, even rain and blowing winds – none of these deter him as he steadfastly meets your need to access fresh water. When you wash your hands, fill a pot to cook some dinner, wash the dishes, the clothes, yourself: his commitment is equal to the task.

Few in Spring Grove, or beyond, are nearly as loyal. But, in return, you hardly ever think of him. Even when you turn on the water to give your baby a bath, you don’t spare him a thought. The only way you’ll ever think of him is if he fails in his task.

If he doesn’t follow through meeting your demands, you’ll curse him. But, will you thank him for his dedication over the years – year after year, month after month, day after day and from one minute to the next. When the water flowed, he was quietly ignored for his trouble.

To show your appreciation, you would call out a qualified well technician before he ever needs your help. Take care of him and he’ll almost assuredly continue to care for you. If you perform timely well maintenance, you’ll have even greater reason to continue to trust him to provide water from your Spring Grove well whenever you need it. Ignore him and, one day, though it won’t be his fault, he’s liable to let you down.

Button up your Wonder Lake house for winter, but don’t forget your well water

There's a well cap under that snow somewhere. All goes to
show that winter is no time to find out that your well, well
pump or other parts of your Wonder Lake well system
need servicing.

It’s time to button down the house. Another Wonder Lake winter is coming. Time to take down the screens and put up the storms, drain the hoses and outside faucets, check the furnace and change the furnace filter, check if you need some caulking to keep the cold at bay. Make sure your gutters are clear so icy water doesn’t back up under your shingles. But don’t forget your well outside, either.

You want to eliminate the leakage of warm air to the outside while the cold air has a chance to get in. You want the furnace to keep you warm on cold winter nights. And you want the water to run when you turn on a faucet; you want the water it dispenses to be safe and pure.

Why worry about your well water now? The answer comes in layers – layers of ice and snow.

If something goes wrong with your well or well water, you’ll probably want a qualified well technician to come out and put things right. But, if your well cap is under a couple of feet of water, well, the first thing they need to do is to locate the well cap.

How much of your yard will they have to shovel clear to find the well cap? Will ice make it difficult to open the well cap? These issues can delay the process when the water is off, or when the water isn’t safe.

Well, actually, if the water isn’t safe, you’re liable not to know it. You’ll bathe in the water without knowing your well water has dangerous bacteria or viruses. You’ll wash your dishes and clothes without knowing that the well water can make you sick. You’ll drink the water and, if you knew it was bad, the mere thought would make you sick.

So, get out the storm windows on the house (Northern Illinois Windows can clean and install those storms for you and give you a clear view out the window to see the fresh-fallen snow, and they can also clean your gutters). Clean the gutters. Check the furnace. Caulk those leaks. Put the outside hoses away. But, don’t, don’t, don’t forget to check your Wonder Lake water well.

Little monsters aren’t Trick-or-Treating – they’re microbes you may find in your Spring Grove well water

These little monsters are kind of cute but you wouldn't like
the microscopic monsters you might find in your Spring
Grove well water.

It’s almost Halloween and check out these little monsters. The monsters? No, these aren’t the adorable little monsters you’re accustomed to Trick-or-Treating at your Spring Grove door. One looks like a hairy jelly bean – no eyes, ears or mouth but it does have tendrils dangling from its bottom. Some look like short gummy worms. Some look like ameba and others like funky squid. What they all have in common is that they’re really, really small – microscopic, in fact, and, Oh, you’re liable to find these little monsters in your well water.

Actually, you won’t find them unless you take the time to look. And, keep in mind, these microbes are so small that there’s no way you can look at your water and see them. Don’t bother filling a glass and holding it up to the light; you still won’t see them. These are bacteria and other types of microorganisms that you may be drinking when you drink your well water.

The short gummy worms are Coliform Bacteria, or they could be Fecal Coliform Bacteria. The prior is naturally present in the environment and, by themselves, are not dangerous. But, many of the others, including Fecal Coliform Bacteria, are distinctly not good to consume. The level of Coliform Bacteria, that good bacteria, can help to indicate the presence of other microorganisms you’d rather not find in your Spring Grove well water.

It’s not hard to figure out where the Fecal Coliform Bacteria come from. The answer is in their name and there’s nothing pleasant about that, including the results if you drink water with Fecal Coliform Bacteria in it, as is the case with the hairy jelly beans (E. Coli Bacteria). Digestive problems are all but assured. In the worst cases, drinking water laced with Fecal Coliform Bacteria or E. Coli Bacteria can be fatal.

The ameba- and funky-squid-like microbes are protozoa, a pathogenic organism that can cause typhoid, dysentery, cholera and other types of gastroenteritis. Other pathogenic organisms that you may find in well water are viruses.

Viruses, viewed at a microscopic level, can look like spiders, spores, balls of broccoli and others like ribbed gummy worms. Some are like long worms and some look like castanets. Whatever they look like, they’re very bad in your stomach. These little buggers are trouble in your stomach.

All this talk about monster microbes is frightening. But, you don’t have to worry, just as long as you’ve had your Spring Grove well water tested and chlorinated. Do that, and you’ll keep the monsters away – at least you’ll keep the bad, little monsters away. The only little monsters you’ll have to worry about are those coming to your door for candy.

Why does my Wonder Lake well water smell?

If your Wonder Lake well water smells bad, the well may need
some maintenance.

All this warm weather makes it nice to be outdoors. You can take a walk through your Wonder Lake neighborhood, place some hoops, place with the kids. Whatever you do, you’re liable to want a nice cool drink of water. Is this the part where you get a bottle of water out of the fridge because, well, the water from the faucet, that comes from the well outside, just smells a bit funny.

That bottled water isn’t too expensive, is it? Of course, you have to load it into a shopping cart and bring it home, store it and refrigerate it. Wouldn’t it be easier just to get your water from the well outside – let the well pump carry the water in from your Wonder Lake well?

You may have assumed that the smell of your water is a universal problem here in Wonder Lake. If you have made that assumption, you’re mistaken. Most homes in Wonder Lake have well water that really has no odor. If the water does smell, the problem is, most likely, with the individual well.

When your well water smells, it usually smells like rotten eggs. This is caused by hydrogen sulfide in the water. The water may smell like oil or asphalt. This may be caused by magnesium from the magnesium rod in an old water heater that is used to retard corrosion. But that isn’t as common.

If your well water smells, you should have your water tested. Even if your water doesn’t smell, you should have it tested each year. You should also have your well chlorinated annually. For that matter, your annual well maintenance should include checking the pressure in your well tank, checking the connections on your electronics and otherwise looking you well system over. This is a great way to ensure that, even if your water doesn’t smell, you’ll have water on demand from your well all year long.

Though hydrogen sulfide isn’t usually a health risk. It’s unpleasant and can also include a discoloration of the water. But, if the well water does smell, it could indicate other problems, as well, and some of these could be more serious.

For instance, you could have bacteria in your water that is unhealthy. In this way, water that smells could work as a convenient warning system that something else may be wrong with your water. The problem is that, even if the water from your Wonder Lake well doesn’t smell, you could have bacteria or other problems with your water. Either way, chlorinating and testing your well, as part of an annual well-maintenance procedure, is a great idea.

Does your Spring Grove well need some extra maintenance? It depends …

A little extra well maintenance can save
you from costly well repairs in the future.

The well outside your Spring Grove home requires maintenance. It’s an amazingly reliable piece of equipment but, if you don’t maintain it, it will break down, the water quality will deteriorate and it will cost you more in the long run.

It’s a good idea to have maintenance performed on your Spring Grove well at least once each year. This should include a visual inspection of key components, adjustment of the air pressure in your water well tank, and chlorination of the well. Do these processes every year, or have a professional come in and do them for you, and it’s far-less likely that your well will ever break down and leave you without water. And you’re more certain to drink water that’s clean, pure and healthy. However, your well may require even more maintenance.

Why would your Spring Grove well require more maintenance that a neighbor’s well? First of all, it’s a question of how the well was installed. When drilling a well, and installing the well equipment, there is a right way to do it and a wrong way. You need to ask how good of a job the well company did when they installed your well.

When a well is installed it’s essential that it’s set in an area where the ground slopes away from the well, not toward it. Surface-runoff water is not something you want mixing with the water that you drink and use in your Spring Grove home. Even if the water was pure enough falling from the clouds one rainy day in Spring Grove, water runoff will carry elements on the ground when it enters your well. These elements could include natural and man-made toxins, fertilizers, pesticides, fuels, degreasers, paints, motor oil and other pollutants.

Then there is always the question of how you protect the integrity of you well. Don’t mix any of those pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, degreasers, paints, motor oil, fuels and other elements near your well. When you dispose of solvents, do so properly. If you pour them out on the ground, they’ll soak into the ground and you might just find them coming back into your home through your water supply. Bring hazardous waste to a collection facility that handles these chemicals.

When you inspect your well, you may, for instance, look inside the well cap for signs of insects. Earwigs look for these kinds of moist, dark places to breed and setup house. If you see insects inside your well, you’ll know that you have to do something to get them to move along. But, if there are toxins, pesticides, bacteria or other hazardous chemicals in your well, chances are, you’ll only find out by sending a sample of the water out for testing. That beats finding out because someone in your home is sick.

Your Crystal Lake well is their home: have insects set up house in your well?

Would you want to drink water from your Crystal Lake well
if this family of earwigs is in the well cap? And earwigs are
only one of the species of bugs and insects that may make a
home in your well.

You bath in the water from your Crystal Lake well. You wash laundry and dishes in the water from your Crystal Lake well. You drink the water from your Crystal Lake well. Your loved ones drink that water, too. Is it safe to drink? One reason the answer may be ‘no’ is that you may find insects living in your well.

Of course, insects aren’t the only threat to the quality of the water that comes out of your well. Your well could have bacteria, pollutants, pesticides and other foreign elements that reduce the quality of the water – that could even make the water hazardous to drink. But, insects are also a potential problem for your well water’s quality.

Insects that may make a home in your Crystal Lake well include:

• Book Lice
• Camel Cricket
• Carpet Beetle 
• Ground Beetle
• Cellar Spider
• Cobweb Spider
• Ghost Spider
• Spitting Spider
• Dark-Winged Fungus Gnat
• House Centipede
• Earwig
• Little Black Ants
• Moth Fly
• Parasitoid Wasp
• Silverfish

Imagine that your pour a glass of water in the sink of your Crystal Lake kitchen. Then you notice a Silverfish or a Dark-Winged Fungus Gnat in the glass. Would you pick the insect out and then drink the water anyway? Probably not. So, why would you want to drink water from your well if your well is playing host to one or more of the insects listed above?

Unfortunately, many insects are searching for just the kind of environment that is found inside a well. For instance, Earwigs consider that moist, dark environment, found on the underside of your well cap, an ideal place to make a home – to make baby Earwigs.

To ensure that insects aren’t turning your water supply and Crystal Lake well into their home, the best thing you can do is to ensure that your well cap seals tightly at the top of your well. It’s also a good idea to keep debris away from the well. In consideration of the latter, idea, look at it this way; if the debris attracts them to the vicinity of your well, they’re liable to get the idea of moving from the debris to the well.

You should have your water tested annually. It’s a good idea to do this while performing annual well maintenance. If you do find insects living inside your Crystal Lake well, you’ll want to clear the insects, and dead-insect parts, out of the well as best you can. You’ll want to flush the system to clear away insects you were otherwise unable to reach and you’ll want to have the well chlorinated to kill the bacteria created by the insects. All in all, it’s better to keep the insects out of the well in the first place.

Without well maintenance, Lakemoor water pours like crude oil

That's water coming out of that pipe. It's
so black that it looks like crude oil but
it's not - it's water from a Lakemoor
well that is grossly overdue for well
chlorination and maintenance.

No, that is not “bubbling crude” coming up where “Old Uncle Jed was shooting at some food;” that’s well water coming out of a Lakemoor well. The water looks like “Black Gold, Texas Tea” because no one has bothered to maintain this well since …, well, probably since this well was drilled.

Few Lakemoor wells get this bad. Even if maintenance isn’t done as often as it should be, the wells are maintained well enough that, at the worst, the water is a little off color when next it is chlorinated. Unfortunately, the color of the water is not the real problem, though it is hardly palatable. The problem is what’s in the water.

Water that black, coming from a well that was seldom chlorinated, is very likely to contain viruses, bacteria and parasites. That’s possible even if the water comes out of the well nice and clear. But, the likelihood of contaminated water increases when a well is as neglected as this well was.

The well technician chlorinating this well said that the water ran black for 20 minutes. It then ran brown for another 20 minutes. And, after all that, when he moved the pump a little in the well, bumping the casing, the water turned black all over again.

With a well this bad, it’s necessary to brush and descale the well before flushing again and chlorinating. Brushing and descaling is a process where a special liquid is added to the well and then agitated. Then, it’s left to sit for 24 hours before it’s pumped off.

In the case of this Lakemoor well, the well technician said it was a darn good thing that he decided to pump the water over the top rather than flushing it through the plumbing in the house. If he had done the latter, he’d have spread that much throughout the plumbing.

While few wells, in Lakemoor or elsewhere, get this bad, a well this bad offers a stark lesson for everyone with a private well. If you let your well go for 10 or 15 years, your well water may be as black as this. But, even if you don’t, the process that turned this water black has already started. It’s just a question of how long you’ll let it go.

Well technicians, even health departments, recommend that you chlorinate your well annually. Looking at this picture, it seems like a very good idea.

What does a bladder have to do with why my Crystal Lake well is working?

If the well tank bladder breaks the
water will stop flowing in your
Crystal Lake home.

The water comes out of your Crystal Lake faucet, what’s the problem and what does a well tank? Just because the water flows from your well today doesn’t mean it will flow tomorrow. And, the problem could be a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

In the case of your well pump bladder, this time bomb is made of rubber. It’s inside of your well tank and it’s a critical part of your well system.

A well-tank bladder is designed to maintain the proper amount of pressure in the well tank. A well technician will adjust the air pressure that is on one side of the bladder. If the bladder doesn’t have the correct amount of air pressure the bladder is liable to stretch. If it stretches far enough, or often enough, it’s liable to rupture.

A ruptured well-tank bladder is not a good thing – not good at all. It’s impossible to maintain the proper air pressure in a well tank that has a ruptured bladder. It confuses the pressure switch. The pressure switch doesn’t know when to call on the well pump to pump more water up from the well.

Instead of running when needed, the pressure switch will call on the well pump repeatedly for more water. As the well pump and well pump motor are called upon to turn off-and-on repeatedly, a process called cycling, the well pump motor will get hotter and hotter. Eventually, your Crystal Lake well pump motor is liable to burn out.

When the well pump motor burns out, the gig is up. It won’t run and you won’t get any water when you use a faucet in your home. It’s a short chain reaction from the well-tank pressure, to a ruptured well-tank bladder to a cycling and overheated well pump motor, to a burned out well tank motor.

The cost of checking and adjusting the pressure in your well tank is nothing compared to the cost of replacing a well pump and well pump motor. On the other hand, the next time you call your well technician out to maintain and chlorinate your well (You do have your well technician out annually, right?), they’ll check your well-tank pressure as part of the process.

You might call maintaining and chlorinating your well, as well as checking the well-tank pressure, inexpensive private well insurance. It’s insurance that ensures your Crystal Lake well is more likely to keep providing water when you want it.

Should I buy a house with a private well?

There are many considerations when buying a new home. One is whether you want city water or if you're OK
with a private well.

When you’re a potential home-buyer, there are many factors to consider. For instance:

• How is the school district in the town?
• Do you like the layout of the home?
• Can you afford the payments?
• What are the taxes for the home?
• Does the home have city water or a private well?

With that last question, is more than just whether you will choose one or the other; it’s also a question of which is better for you.

City Water vs Well Water

Private Well Water Quality: With a private well, you could have bacteria or viruses and other dissolved solids in the water. These are not inevitable, which means that, if you properly care for your well, you can virtually eliminate the threat of bad water quality from your well. First and foremost, you’ll want to chlorinate the well annually. It’s also not a bad idea to have the water quality checked each year by sending a water sample to a reputable laboratory or government agency that can thoroughly check the quality of your water.

City Well Water Quality: With city water there is also a risk of bacteria, viruses and other unsavory particles in the water. With the city water, however, someone else is charged with maintaining the water quality. If they do a good job, you shouldn’t have a problem. But, we’ve all heard about communities that had boil orders in effect because the water wasn’t safe. Just because you have city water doesn’t mean you’ll never have problems with water quality.

Cost of City Water vs Well Water

Private Well Water Cost: With a private well, the cost of maintenance and repair falls squarely on your shoulders. If something breaks – for instance, if the well pump breaks – it’s your responsibility to fix it or hire a well technician to repair it for you. It’s also your responsibility to maintain the well – to chlorinate and perform other maintenance and checks that will keep your well system operating properly with safe, quality water.

City Well Water Cost: With city well water, you’re reminded each month of just what it costs to use water in your home. The amount you’re required to pay each month depends on where you live and how much water you use. But, don’t get too comfortable with the amount you pay for City Sewer & Water; before you know it, the city will come along and pass a rate increase.

Crystal Lake living is better when your well water flows

Crystal Lake is a great community but, if
your well water doesn't flow, you might
not feel that thrilled at the moment.

Living in Crystal Lake, you feel blessed. You have a beautiful home in a beautiful town. But, when things go wrong with your home, your enthusiasm for Crystal Lake can dwindle, such as if the water ceases to flow.

You go to the sink and lift the faucet with time-tested confidence. The faucet always responds on demand. You lift the lever and water comes out. But, not this time. Your train of thought is suddenly disrupted when you realize nothing has happened. You lower and raise the handle a few times and still nothing.

Living in some areas of Crystal Lake, such as yours, you rely on a private well. So, when the water stops, you can’t blame anyone else. You can’t call the city and ask them what the problem is and when they’ll have it fixed. It’s your well and it’s your problem. This probably means that you’ll have to call a water well technician. Until they arrive, however, you’re without water.

Fortunately, wells are fairly reliable. This explains why you’re so shocked now that your well has failed and the water doesn’t flow. As reliable as they are, however, private wells do break down.

There are essentially several reasons that a well will cease delivering water. They include:

• Electrical Failure: Electricity is a key component in the operation of a well. If the electricity is interrupted the water is interrupted, too. In some cases, a well is struck by lightning and this can short out components disabling the well. You can also blow a circuit breaker (go check your circuit breaker now but, if the circuit keeps tripping, someone needs to find out why).
• A mechanical part has broken: this can include the motor burning out, a pipe breaking (not real common) or the well tank bladder rupturing, which will cause the motor to cycle and burn out. There are other components that can break but these are the most likely.
• Something was installed incorrectly: If the well was providing water and stopped, if the problem is improper installation, this probably means that something was damaged as a result. This is why it’s essential that you rely on someone who knows their way around your well – such as a well technician – for installation, repairs and maintenance.
• Age: Your refrigerator will eventually wear out. Your microwave will wear out far too soon. Your well pump and well tank will wear out, too. It’s inevitable. In fact, it’s a good idea to have a well technician take a look at your well system annually to make sure it’s in good shape.

One way to avoid problems that unexpectedly interrupt the flow of water in your Crystal Lake home is to have your well checked regularly Once again, annually is best. While the well technician is checking your well, they can perform well maintenance, including chlorination, to reduce the risks of a water-flow interruption. In the process, they’ll also extend the life of your well-system components.

Why is your Long Grove water well pressure falling?

The water pressure at your Long Grove home or office
won't drop without a good reason.

The well outside your Long Grove home was so reliable, for so long, that you hardly gave it a second thought. But, now, your well water is running slower and you don’t know why.

At first, you weren’t sure. In fact, you chalked it up to your imagination: “I’m sure that’s the way the water has always run.” But, overtime, you began to realize that this wasn’t your imagination; your well was running slow or, at least, the water coming out of the faucet wasn’t coming out with the same force and volume you were accustomed to.

Once you realize that it’s not a figment of your imagination, your next thought is the most drastic: “THE WELL IS GOING DRY!!! If you’re at that point now, take a deep breath and relax; the odds that your Long Grove well is actually going dry is minimal. There is probably a different explanation and one that is far less dramatic than a dry well.

It’s far more likely that the reason you’ve seen a drop in water pressure is related to something to do with your well system. For instance, you could have a problem with …

• A short-cycling well pump
• A leak competing for your water pressure
• A clog somewhere in water well system

A short-cycling well pump is often an intermittent problem. In other words, you’ll have times when the water pressure is better than other times. The problem could be that the water pressure switch isn’t operating correctly. You could also have a bad bladder, or improper air charge, in your well tank. Without proper air pressure or with an occluded line going to the pressure switch, the well system isn’t getting an accurate read on when the well pump should run. Cycling makes the well pump and motor work overtime. As they work, and heat up, they can begin to wear out.

Something competing for your water pressure generally refers to a leak somewhere. Or, it could refer to a toilet that is constantly running. The leak could be inside the well or underground where you can’t see it.

Your pipes are clogged is a problem that, rather obviously, would cause a problem with water flow. Old pipes can rust (which could cause a leak) and sediment can accumulate in the pipes until, instead of a standard 3/4” pipe opening, you may have a fraction of that. You may also have a clog in the pressure switch line.

Whatever the problem, you can try to track down the cause yourself. But, be careful you don’t cause a bigger problem trying to fix the issue yourself. Or, you can call an expert – a water well technician – who knows their way around a well system and can get your well pressure back to the flow you’re accustomed to in your Long Grove home or office.

Damaged or otherwise, your Long Grove well needs a springtime inspection

This well shouldn't be leaning as it comes out of the
ground. Probably, a snowplow ran into it during the
winter. The owner probably wants this Long Grove well
checked out.

Imagine looking out of your Long Grove back window on a late-March afternoon. The snow has long-since melted but you just hadn’t noticed this before. You’re looking out in the backyard when you notice something odd.

About 50 feet beyond the backdoor, just off the driveway, is a silver pipe, with a smaller pipe beside it, that extends out of the ground about a foot. On top of the pipe’s is a silver-metal cap that is shaped like a teardrop. You’ve seen it out there how many times without ever really looking at it. But now, it looks different.

It looks bent. The cap is sitting up from the pipes and there is space between them. You’re wondering why that doesn’t look right when it suddenly dawns on you – ‘The snowplow.’

During the winter, you have a company come out and snowplow your driveway. As you look at the well you can see ruts in the grass extending towards the well. It’s obvious what has happened; the snowplow went off the driveway and hit the well.

So, with a banged up well pipe and well cap, is this something you need to worry about? The answer is yes. Not maybe yes but most assuredly yes.

It’s obvious that your well needs attention because of the space between the pipes and the well cap. What this means is that the well is no longer capped. Ground water could, potentially, get into the well. Vermin can also crawl into the well and contaminate the water.

At the same time, someone needs to inspect that pipe to make sure it isn’t cracked, which can also allow contamination by ground water and vermin.

Even if there was no apparent damage to the well, every year, when spring arrives in Long Grove, you want to have your well inspected, and chlorinated. You’ll keep the vermin and contaminants out and you’ll also ensure the efficient operation of your well while extending its life.

This is the pump puller you need when other pump pullers can't reach the well

You don't have to tear up your lawn, or tear down your fence, to get at your well to pull the well pump. This nifty gadget will do the job without any damage or bother; it's the industry's most versatile pump puller. Check out the video below to see how it works, as demonstrated by John Matthesius with McHenry Water Well & Pump.

Learn the anatomy of a well

Somewhere under your property there is water. Inside your home, you have faucets that will bring forth water when you turn or lift a handle. Some kind of magic takes place in between to make the water rise up from the ground and pour out of the faucet. That magic is performed by a device known as a well.

A well is a remarkable instrument. Quietly and unseen it performs its job day in and day out. It works as well in the middle of the night as it does in the middle of the afternoon.

If you have city water, the city has a well further from your home that performs the same task, though on a larger basis. With a private well, you’re dependent on your own well to make this magic happen. With city water, the price is paid monthly when a bill from the city arrives in the mail. With a private well, there is no bill. However, there is a cost. That cost is lower if you do a good job of maintaining your well.

If you don’t do a good job of maintaining your well, you’ll spend more in the long run. You’re also liable to find that the magic of the well is interrupted. You’ll notice this when the water stops flowing. Or, you may, or may not, notice this when the water has a bad odor or is even tastelessly unsafe.

So, what is the anatomy of this magical well – the bringer of water? The essential parts of a well include (sections in quotation marks are taken from the American Ground Water Trust list of definitions and explanations):

• The Well: The well is a hole in the ground that provides access to an aquifer as a means of bringing ground water up to the surface for consumption and others uses in homes, offices, etc.
• The Well Pump: Other than when using a jet pump, which is generally installed above ground, the well pump is usually found in the well where it pumps water up through the pipes and through the rest of the well system.
• The Well Casing: The well casing is a “cylindrical device (steel or plastic) that is installed in a well to maintain the well opening and to provide a seal. In most states casing is required for at least the first 20 or 40 feet of water wells. Well drillers typically install well casing in 20 foot lengths.”
• The Pitless Adapter: The pitless adapter is a “device installed in a vertical well casing to allow water to be piped horizontally below the frost line to its use point (usually a home).”
• The Aquifer: The aquifer is a “three dimensional sub-surface geometry of a geologic rock formation … that contains ground water in the spaces between sediment grains, in voids, or in fractures …. (a) geological formation or structure that has the capability to store and/or transmit water to wells and springs.”
• The Pressure Tank (or Well Tank): The pressure tank is a “tank installed as part of a water system to minimize the on-off cycles of the well pump. Pressure tanks typically store a few gallons of water and obtain their pressure from the well pump.”
• The Well Pressure Switch: The well pressure switch detects when the air pressure inside of the pressure tank is below a certain setting and then turns on the well pump. When the pressure in the well tank rises beyond another previously determined setting, the pressure switch turns the well pump off. In this way, the pressure switch maintains the pressure in the pressure tank between a certain range.

All these parts conspire to perform the magic that brings water into your home or office, assuming you’ve maintained proper well maintenance.

How long can you count on your Port Barrington well pump? Depends …

If your Port Barrington well pump fails, you'll find
yourself out of water.

That well pump outside has quietly drawn water from your well, and pumped it into your Port Barrington home for years. You’ve come to depend on it without even thinking of it; you just assume the water will flow when you want it.

Your faith in that well pump was well placed, if you’ll pardon the pun. It has worked, without complaint, for more than a decade. And, never once did it fail to deliver when you called on it for water. The question, however, is ‘how long can you continue to count on your well pump to deliver water into your Port Barrington home?’

In most cases, a well pump is well made. It will work for years providing water to your home without a hitch. But, inevitably, your well pump will fail. It simply won’t last forever.

When is it time to replace your well pump? There is that obvious time when the water has stopped and, with a tone of desperation in your voice, you’ve called a well technician out to your Port Barrington home. The well technician spent a while out in your yard working and then you hear a knock on the door. You find the well technician standing there with a silver cylinder in their hands.

They say something to you along the line of, “Yep, she’s bad – all burned out.”

The next questions are in reference to cost and time – how much will it cost to replace your well pump and how long will it take until your water is back on. Hopefully, the well technician has a replacement well pump handy, in which case it shouldn’t take too long.

In other cases, the well technician will come out to perform the annual well maintenance for your Port Barrington well system …

You are having annual well maintenance performed, right? Of course, you are. If not, there’s a good chance you had to have your well pump replaced prematurely and this would be a different story all together.

But, going back to the point above, you may have your well technician out to do some maintenance and the well technician will inform you that your well pump isn’t working as good anymore. The well technician might suggest that, rather than wait, this is a good time, while the pump is out of the well anyhow, to replace it.

Getting back to our question – ‘how long will your well pump consistently pump water into your Port Barrington home? That depends on another question referred to above: how good of a job have you done taking care of it?

The McHenry County Health Department concurs – you should have your private well water tested annually

If you check out the McHenry County Health Department
Website, you'll see they agree; you should have your well
water tested annually.

In this blog site, we’ve tried to warn about the importance of maintaining your well. Private well maintenance is important because, as a private well, you can’t count on a city or village public works department to take care of your well. It’s your well and it’s your problem.

If you don’t take care of your private well the well equipment – the well pump, the well motor, the well tank – these and other parts of the equipment can breakdown and leave you without access to fresh water. Additionally, without private well maintenance, you may find that you and your family, and your children, are drinking and bathing in unhealthy water.

Well, we’re not the only ones passing along these warnings. The McHenry County Health Department’s (MCHD) website echoes our warnings. The website points out that you should “Have your water tested annually.”

The MCHD warns about checking that your well cap is tightly secured and sealed to avoid contaminants, such as “surface water, vermin …, fertilizers, herbicides, pets.”

As the MCHD points out, “Contaminated drinking water many not always look, taste or smell differently than safe drinking water.” And, as the website continues, if your private well is contaminated, a cleanup is not an easy, or inexpensive, proposition.

Though contaminated water doesn’t always smell, taste or look bad, when water has a strange odor, taste or appearance, that is a sign that there might be a problem with your well water. If you see “particles in water,” have it checked. But, really, you shouldn’t wait until a problem is apparent.

The best bet is to have your water checked, as mentioned above and in the MCHD website, annually.

Testing your well water will look for bacteria, nitrates, and inorganic and organic materials in the water. As the MCHD website states in its “DO’S AND DON’TS …’ section, “DON’T assume your well water is safe to drink.”

There are laboratories that will test your private well water at reasonable prices. The MCHD will also test your water. You can contact the following government offices in McHenry County where you can bring samples of your private well water for testing:

• Algonquin Township Office, 3702 Route 14, Crystal Lake (847) 639-2329
• Door Township Office, 1039 Lake Street, Woodstock (815) 338-0125
• McHenry County Dept of Health, 2200 N Seminary Ave, Woodstock (815) 334-4585
• McHenry County Dept of Health, 100 N Virginia St, Crystal Lake (815) 459-5151
• McHenry Township Office, 3703 Richmond Road, McHenry (815) 385-5605
• Nunda Township Office, 3703 Richmond Road, McHenry (815) 459-4011
• City of Marengo, City Hall, 134 E. Prairie Street, Marengo (815) 568-7112
• Harvard Police Department, 201 W Front Street, Harvard (815) 943-4431
• Richmond Township Office, 7812 South Route 31, Richmond (815) 678-0077
• Grafton Township Office, 10109 Vine Street, Huntley (847) 669-3328
• McHenry Analytical Water Laboratory, 4314 W Crystal Lake Rd A, McHenry (815) 344-4044

The MCHD website is located at: https://www.co.mchenry.il.us/county-government/departments-a-i/health-department/environmental-health/private-water-supply

Why does her Johnsburg well water taste metallic?

It looks clear but the water from that Johnsburg water tastes metallic.

The water at Heidi’s house in Johnsburg tastes great. She’s occasionally bragged about that to friends who live where they have city water. Heidi’s water comes from a private well out back. So, when she brags, she usually says something along the line of, “Our Johnsburg water tastes wonderful and, the best part is, we don’t have to pay a water bill every month.” But, lately, Heidi’s water has tasted a little funny.

In fact, if you pressed Heidi, her husband or the children about it, they’d probably say that the water has kind of a metallic taste to it.

What would make the water from Heidi’s well taste metallic? One likely culprit is iron. That may explain why, when she uses the water to make tea or coffee, the metallic flavor overpowers the beverage and gives it a kind of inky appearance.

Her water could also have a metallic taste because it has low pH (potential Hydrogen) levels.

The good news about the prior potential problem is that iron is not necessarily bad for your health. As humans, we actually require some iron in our bodies to maintain our health. The EPA guideline is 0.3 milligrams of iron per liter of water but that’s only a guideline. Even with more, you’re probably okay. But, too much iron in your water can cause problems, such as:

• Buildup of iron can lead to clogged water pipes
• Too much iron in the water can stain dishes, sinks, laundry and other household items that come into regular contact with the water
• Along with an offensive metallic flavor in water, it can also present an unappetizing dark appearance to food

The question, of course, is how did the iron get there?

One way contaminated water may get into the well is through seepage. A key component to prevent seepage is the well cap. This is the part at the top of the well you see in your backyard. If sealed properly, the well cap keeps ground water out of the well. A particular threat is melting snow that can build up around the well cap. But, if the well cap is good the melting snow won’t get into the well.

If the well cap is bad, seepage isn’t the only potential problem. For instance, with a bad seal, a well cap can allow bugs, such as earwigs, to make themselves at home in your well. And who wants to drink a glass of water that served as a swimming pool, and more, for a colony of earwigs?

Another way for iron to get into the well is through corrosion. Frankly, in this case, the well is susceptible to rust. The pipes are exposed to air and water and that makes them rust. Over time, the rust begins to build up and flake off. Falling into the well water, the rust dissolves and is carried into your home as tiny metallic molecules in your water.

What can you do about iron in your well water? The most common solution is a water softener. A water softener removes minerals, including iron, from the water. If operating correctly, a water softener can eliminate your problem with metallic-tasting water.

Chlorinating your well can also remove the iron bacteria from your water. This is one reason you should chlorinate your well each year. But, iron bacteria in the water is only one reason to chlorinate your well; you also want to chlorinate your well to remove other bacteria and micro-organisms from your well water.

If the pH levels of your Johnsburg well water are low, there are also treatments that will neutralize this problem.