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.