Turn those frowns upside down by maintaining your McHenry Water Well and Pump

The kids are so excited. They’re getting their suits on while you setup the Slip’N Slide out in front of your McHenry home. Their eyes are sparkling with excitement as you go to turn on the water. You turn the faucet but nothing happens. You turn it back the other way and still nothing.

Not realizing there is a problem, the kids start in with, “Come on, Mom.” They’re ready to slide; they’re ready to get wet. Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do about it today. Your well pump isn’t pumping and there’ll be no slipping and sliding for the kids today.

Well, you may call a well and pump professional who can make it to your house right away. With any luck, it’s just a loose wire. If that’s the case, maybe you can calm the kids with a snack while the well and pump repair technician gets the water flowing again. If not, or if it’s something more serious, such as a bad pump motor, it may take a while before the kids can start sliding through the water out front.

There is really only one solution. So, you pick up the phone and call the well repair expert and explain the problem while trying to convince a three-year-old to stop crying. That’s all you really can do once the well pump stops pumping. Of course, you could have avoided the problem altogether; you could have employed some timely well and pump maintenance.

The likelihood that you’ll find yourself without water someday is extremely low assuming you maintain the well and pump regularly. Fortunately, regular maintenance for a well and pump is annual maintenance.

All you need to do is call out your well and pump repair technician before you have a problem. Once a year, have them come out and check your well and pump. They’ll make sure the wiring is good, the tank bladder is good and properly charged and the well cap seals properly. They’ll check the motor to make sure it still has a good, long life left. They can even check the water quality.

If you follow that simple, annual procedure, you’ll probably never find the water has stopped flowing at your house. Then, whether you’re setting up the Slip’N Slide for the kids, filling a pot at the kitchen sink for cooking, taking a shower or even relaxing in a bath, when you ask your McHenry well for water, your pump will bring it to you on demand.

Quality well technicians will brave arctic cold to get your water flowing

You can hear the wind howling and the frost is creeping across your window. The backyard looks like an arctic landscape as the snow swirls and blows. It’s cold outside and it’s good to be indoors. Your plan is to just wrap yourself in a comforter and settle down with a cup of cocoa and a good book.

In the kitchen, you take the teapot off the stove and carry it to the sink. You hold it under the faucet as you glance out the kitchen window and remind yourself how fortunate you are for central heat. Then, you lift the lever and … nothing. You try again. This time you hear a bang and a wheeze and some rusty powder puffs out of the faucet.

You look under the sink in the hope something simple and easy to fix is responsible for the unexpected disruption in the on-demand flow of water. But, under the sink, everything looks fine. In other words, it looks the same way it does any other time you look under the sink.

You think to yourself, “I’d better try the bathroom sink” but you receive the same response from the faucet there. Even the bathtub and utility tubs are coughing dry powder instead dispensing water.

You call a friend who knows a little about maintaining a home. After a couple of unsuccessful suggestions, your friend recommends that you call in an expert. You have well water so you need to call in a well technician.

Hopefully, you’ll call a well company like McHenry Water Well & Pump. You need someone who knows wells and well pumps inside and out. You need someone who can fix your well on a good day but is also willing to come out and fix your well when it’s 10-below zero and the wind is making it feel like 50 below.

On a day such as this, when that well technician arrives, you watch from the warmth indoors as the well technician leans against the blowing wind and fights his or her way out to your well. Maybe, it’s a simple wiring issue and your water is quickly flowing again. Then again, it could be the well pump or the well tank, or both.

In this scenario, the work is a bit more involved. That well technician will be out there fighting the elements for a couple of hours so you can have fresh, clean water indoors while you huddle in the heat.

Ask yourself, what would you say if you called a well maintenance or repair company and they said, “I’m sorry, it’s too cold out today. Why don’t you call back when it’s a little warmer?”

A quality well repair and maintenance technician knows there are hot days when they repair and maintain wells and there are cold days – sometimes, very, very cold days. It comes with the territory. Of course, for folks like those at McHenry Water Well & Pump, it warms their hearts when they see the smile on your face knowing your water is fresh, clean and running again.

For more information about McHenry Water Well & Pump, call 815-403-3333 or visit: www.mchenrywellandpump.com.

Happy Holidays from McHenry Water Well & Pump

The holidays are a time of year when we take stock of our situations and give thanks for our good fortune. Though the world is an imperfect place, certainly, there is much to be thankful for.

At McHenry Water Well & Pump, we are thankful for the wonderful homeowners and business owners we’ve had the opportunity to serve in 2013. In many cases, friendships have developed from what started as a service call to inspect, maintain or repair someone’s well, pump and water system.

These friendships stand on the bedrock of mutual trust and appreciation. At McHenry Water Well & Pump, we consider ourselves fortunate for the opportunity to earn that trust. It’s not an opportunity we take lightly.

We also appreciate the warmth we feel in our hearts when the look of concern that greeted us at the door upon our arrival for a service call is replaced with a look of relief and thanks when the job is finished.

As we lookout for the interests of our clients, we strive to inform homeowners and business owners about the savings and convenience they can expect with timely well maintenance. In educating clients about maintaining their wells, we help to ensure that they have access to fresh, clean water the year round.

There is more money in repairs. The cost, for instance, of replacing a well pump is significant as compared to maintenance that would have extended the pump’s life. But, as we enjoy looking at ourselves in the mirror each morning with a clean conscience, we’d rather earn an honest dollar helping homeowners and business owners extend the life of their wells than waiting for their well systems to breakdown.

It’s this higher code of standards from which friendships develop. Besides, word gets around when a business has shady business practices. A business such as that doesn’t last long. Our goal is to make friends of clients for years to come.

To our friends, clients and everyone else in the Northern Illinois region and beyond, at McHenry Water Well & Pump, we wish you the happiest of holidays and a wonderful New Year.

This message is brought to you by McHenry Water Well & Pump. For more information about McHenry Water Well & Pump, call 815-403-3333 or visit: www.mchenrywellandpump.com.

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.

Well chlorination is vital – call in an expert to do the job right

If your home or office has well water, you probably know well maintenance is critical. That includes periodic chlorination of the well.

Well chlorination is vital because the well can become contaminated with bacteria and pathogens. Well chlorination is the answer though, if it’s done wrong, it can also cause problems.

You can choose between liquid, granular or tablet chlorine. However, there is another choice, a new product called Sterilene. Though not as widely available, it mixes easily with water, has no shelf life concerns, there is no premixing required to control PH, it is non-oxidative, creates no corrosive fumes during use, is NSF 60 certified and is 200 times as effective as other forms of chlorine. It’s also competitively priced.

The next question is whether you’ll chlorinate the well yourself or call in an expert, such as the experts with McHenry Water Well & Pump. You may want to give this question serious thought. If not done properly, you could clog the intake on your well pump and damage the pit-less adapter. It’s even possible to damage your plumbing. A qualified well technician will chlorinate your well safely, properly and without causing any costly problems.

Proper well chlorination, done on a timely basis, is the best way to ensure that you have steady access to pure, clean and safe water. And, properly done, it will provide you with a well that operates at optimal condition for the long haul. Well chlorination is relatively inexpensive. It’s also imperative to avoiding unnecessary repair bills.