If you’re on well water, it can be a great thing, until your well pump is not working. Well pumps can stop working for several reasons. The most common one is when the power goes out.
When the power goes out the electric well pump stops working and so does your well water. Do you have a backup plan if your well stops pumping?
There are a number of possible causes for well pump failure. In order to determine what course of action to take, you’ll need to assess the probable cause. It may be as simple as resetting a tripped switch in your home’s electrical breaker box, or replacing a burnt out fuse.
You can check to see if you have power to the wellhead if you have an electrical voltage tester. If so, it’s most likely your well pump that needs replacing.
Fortunately, our well pump had a five year warranty that was still good. After our last well pump debacle recounted further below, where we had to get a new pump after just 18 months, we got an extended warranty on the last one.
Well pumps last an average of 20 years.
Reasons Well Pumps Stop Working
- Power outages
- Power surges tripping breaker box switch
- Burnt out breaker box fuse
- Lightning strike
- Pump wears out
- age
- shorts in wiring or motor
When your well pump is not working, here are some more well pump troubleshooting tips. This article on how to protect your well pump from lightning may help as well.
Well Water Can Be Wonderful
We love our well water. It’s drawn from 250 feet down, is great tasting and not “hard” at all. No fluoride or chlorine to worry about, no water bill, except for the nominal electricity cost for the pump. And up until one unfortunate last Friday, we were fairly used to the idea that whenever we turned on the spigot handle, it would always be there.
Our first well and Franklin well pump lasted 25 years before it finally went out. Then in the next year and a half, it stopped working once more. The first time it was the pump, which did a great job for 25 years. The second time it was installer error, but we’ll get to that later.
We recommend an extended warranty on new well pumps.
Well Pump Not Working After a Storm
Our latest well pump incident occurred immediately following a thunderstorm in late August of 2021. We’d never heard of lightning frying a well pump. I mean our pump is 256 feet down, so how did it get hit by lightning? But we knew that must be what happened, given the storm that blew through.
So we asked the well experts and also researched how it is that lightning damages a submerged well pump. Here are some of the causes and results of lighting strikes in and around wells.
Keep in mind that a well pump damaged by lightning may not fail immediately. Rapid Service LLC of Columbia, CT says, they often get calls days after a storm before the pump finally fails.
A well pump may not fail immediately following a storm as damage can accrue
Signs That a Well Pump is Not Working
We turned on the tap and the water pressure was really low. As we continued to run it, the low pressure stream of water dwindled to a trickle and then to nothing. Since it was immediately following a storm with heavy thunder and lightning close by, we knew immediately that it was likely the well pump.
“Well pumps are often times one of the first things to be struck by lightning during a thunderstorm.”
~R.E. Sanders Plumbing Company
How Lightning Can Strike Well Pumps
- Direct lightning strike to well head that travels down the wires to the well pump, damaging or completely frying the wires.
- Lightning striking the ground near a well and traveling water veins with an electrical surge to the pump.
- Intense vibration can cause cloudy or discolored water
Almost all lightning strikes happen at or near the home’s electrical system and travel to the well pump.
Signs of a Lightning Strike to a Well Pump May Include:
- Well pump is not working following a storm
- Burnt smell to well water
- Burnt smell around wellhead
- Black or char marks in or around well, pipes and/or pump and wires
- Well pump trips your breaker, especially if repeatedly
- Pump starts but then stops; may occur multiple times indicating a faulty wire that could be fried
- Well water is cloudy or discolored, caused by:
- lighting striking ground around well can vibrate well, loosening minerals from pipe walls
- influx of water from heavy rains
- Gradual decrease in water pressure even days after a storm
- Pump motor stops working
Our original well pump was never struck by lightning and lived out a long and productive life. That story follows.
Your homeowners insurance should cover lighting strike damage to your well and pump if it’s over your deductible.
How to Prevent a Lightning Strike to Your Well
Some sources recommend ways to avoid lightning damage, such as installing ground wires, rods or lightning arresters at the wellhead.
R.E. Sanders company says, “The problem with this recommendation is that almost all lightning strikes happen at or near the home’s electrical system and travel to the well pump.”
“The best way to protect your well pump from lightning is to turn off the breaker that feeds electric to the well pump.”
~R.E. Sanders Plumbing Company
Our Well Pump Replacement by Raymond Brown Well Company
Obituary: Well Pump Dies at Age 25
All of a sudden, no water! It was a holiday weekend coming up and no water to drink, shower with, wash, or flush. Dang!
Out of this unfortunate circumstance, we were fortunate to have our subcontractor plumber come out and with our help (we promised to act as assistants since he was coming on a holiday weekend without his helpers), we had everything back to normal by Saturday evening. Whew!
We weren’t caught completely flat footed. We had some back up water stored, like the Reliance 6 gallon containers and a “Water Bob” storage container half filled and nesting in our hardly used bathtub (we favor showers :-)). Those work great and we had enough to flush, and sponge bathe, and wash a few dishes.
You can read more about indoor water storage containers in this article. Meanwhile, back to the well… which on this particular long weekend, was more of a wishing well!
Decorative Well House – The Well of Our Imaginations
Now wouldn’t this be a lovely way to decorate the inner well casing! A beautifully constructed and crafted timber and stone well house.
Our Real Well
So wells aren’t pretty unless you make them more ornamental like that dream well house above. But ours is not that visible where it is, mostly hidden behind some evergreen bushes.
Watch out for black widow spiders. They tend to hang out in places like wells.
Roughing it With Stored Water
For drinking water and coffee, we melted ice cubes first rather than use our stored water, even though it’s potable. Unless the power is out too, then we leave the ice, to help keep the freeze cold.
No big deal, other than feeling a bit grody by the second day from not showering. “Sponge baths” are better than nothing, but of course nothing beats a hot shower.
Overall, our interim preparation for a well pump not working was reasonable but we gave ourselves a C- because we could definitely use some improvements. As it was, we were about 30 hours without running water. If it had been a regional power outage for an extended period (like several days to a week or more), our prepping would get more of D- or maybe even an F.
We were not as prepared as we thought! We tend to gear up preparations when we know storms are coming, but…. BUT, preparedness means being prepared for emergencies and most emergencies come without warning.
Preparedness means being prepared for emergencies and most emergencies come without warning.
Planning and Prepping
Now that our well situation is fixed, it’s too easy to slip back into the “normalcy bias”. You know… where we just presume that what is will continue to be and no anomalies or “black swans” messing with the normalcy. It’s too easy to relax into everyday life and comforts, and to lose the lesson.
Solar Well Pumps
So while this event is still fresh on our minds, we’re looking into backup strategies to get well water even if the power (or just the well pump) shuts down, such as a solar well pump.
We now have a few options on our wish list, however, it would be the cost of the well pump plus the labor cost of a plumber to install it. If you’re a good DIYer, you might be able to do it, but at the depth of our well, and not being on friendly terms with plumbing, we’d rather turn that task over to a pro.
However, we’ve found one company that engineers a solution for all kinds of homesteading and off-grid water needs: RPS – Rural Power Systems, and their solar well systems for a well as deep as ours would run between $1,600-$3,000.
Check On Solar Tax Credits
Yep, it’s expensive and I whistled at that price. BUT… freedom is priceless, and solar well pumps are an off-the-grid investment. There may be tax credits available for this investment as well, so something to check on. In NC it appears to be an 80% tax credit. You can check your state solar tax credits here.
If you have knowledge and experience of solar systems for wells, please let us know. We’d be glad to add it to this article.
Rain Barrels for Water Storage and Gardens
For cheap DIY water barrels for rain harvesting, you can buy inexpensive food grade 55 gallon drums or modify, used wine barrels. If there’s a winery in your area you can likely get a real wooden wine barrel for a discounted price. We got some from a local winery for $50 each, then retrofitted them with a spigot.
Where to Find Used 55 Gallon Drums?
We get this question whenever we share on this topic on social media. You can sometimes find cheap 55 gallon drums on Craig’s List. A Gardens All Facebook community member said they buy them for $5 fr