Last night around 11 pm I turned on the water and nothing came out. Only an hour before that my husband and I had each taken showers and the water pressure was fine with no sign of trouble at all. My husband went out to check the well pump and he said it was just running continuously and was very hot and no water was coming out of the faucets in the house. He said the pressure gauge was on zero. He turned off the pump at the breaker box. This morning around 7 am he went back outside and turned the pump back on just to test it. As soon as he turned it back on water started coming out of the faucet in the house like normal. He then turned the pump back off because we are pretty sure it will end up overheating again.

Here is some history on this well pump. It is a very old pump. It says Dayton on it, but it is too dirty to read any numbers. The pump is in a well pit and also has a holding tank. We have been having some trouble with it occasionally in the past year. We had to get a pressure switch replaced about a year ago. Then about 6 months ago we had to get the pressure gauge replaced. Then about 3 months ago the water went out, but it ended up being that the breaker had tripped for some reason and turning the breaker back on fixed it.
When repairmen have been here they tell me the pump is on it's last leg and could go out at any time. They say it could go out in 6 months from now or 6 years from now, it is hard to tell for sure. I am hoping it can be repaired because one of the well guys told me my well pump is outdated and they don't make that kind of pump anymore about would cost over $5000 to $7000 to update it to todays standards.


So I guess I have a couple questions. What might have caused my pump to overheat last night and stop pumping water. And why does it seem to be working this morning? Is there a chance if we turn it back on it wont overheat again? Should we leave it off until the repairman gets here? Does that number of $5000 to $7000 seem reasonable to update a well?


Thanks to anyone that answers. If you need any more info just ask and I will try to answer. Thankfully the repairman called and said he would come here sometime this afternoon, but while I am waiting I would love any advice.

 

First off I am by no means a well/pump pro but I have experience with my own wells.

The pump getting hot could be caused by cavitation. It will sound like there is gravel in the pump but it is just air bubbles in the water. (see here: Cavitation) However the fact that it regains pressure after you turn it back on is a bit confusing. Did you have to re-prime it or is it a submersible well?

$5-7000 seams a bit out line for replacing the well pump but then I have not seen the existing setup. Sounds like they are quoting a whole new well/pump/tank system. I would get at least a 2nd or 3rd opinion/bid.

 

I bet the 5-7k price was to have a whole new well bored. Replacing a pump is much, much less expensive. Replacing the parts you have don't really indicate a problem with your system as such. It's probably just that the system is old. The good news is that you have a new pressure switch and gauge now.

Do you have one pipe going down into the well or two?

If you have one pipe going down into the well it is possible that you have a self priming pump and simply run out of water in the well. With no water in the well the pump just ran and ran causing it to get hot. Letting it sit overnight gave the well time to recharge (fill back up).

 

Thanks for your answers! The well guy just came out (not the one that told me it would be $5-7000 to update my well). I guess you were right that our well dried up last night causing the pump to keep running and get very hot. Then overnight I guess the well filled back up to the point that the pump was able to pump the water out. I am going to get a new pump installed on monday because the pump is running on borrowed time. This guy didn't understand why the other guy quoted me such a high price and told me he would have to update the whole system because my pump was so outdated.

Do you think it is a bad idea to put money into this shallow well that got so low on water? We have had no rain in so long, and the guy said it should fill back up after it rains a few times.

 

If your well is shallow enough that you run out of water when it doesn't rain then I would look at getting it deeper. However, not knowing your area that may not be possible. Ask your well guy if it is a good idea and if it would be cost effective.

 

We actually have a deeper 130 foot well connected to our house, but a few years ago the holding tank ruptured and the pump ran and ran and finally burned out. It happened in the middle of winter and we just shut off power to the well and switched over to the shallow well. We ended up liking the water that came from the shallow well better, so we never did anything about switching back to the deep well. The deep well is about a half mile from our house in the middle of a corn field and we just kind of forgot about it and continued to use the shallow well over the years. The shallow well is much closer to our house, maybe 50 feet away. We went out to the deep well yesterday and looked in the pit and it is totally flooded. The repairman quoted me around $3000 to make it usable again. I was quoted $1000 to replace the pump in the shallow well. I would prefer to just replace the pump in the shallow well because of several reasons. It is cheaper, it is closer to the house, we cant get to the deep well if there is a problem when crops are planted, we like the water better. But I am hesitant about the shallow well because of the fact that it is close to drying up. We are having a really bad drought here in southern Indiana and have not had rain for so long. The repairman said several people in my area are having trouble with wells running dry this year that have never had that trouble before. And with a few good rainfalls the wells should get replenished, I would just need to use water sparingly until it rains. What would you do in this situation?

 

Seems like my reply was deleted? I will try again.

"What would you do in this situation?"

Depends on your family.

My wife can't stand to be inconvenienced for ten minutes. If the cable stops, she gets upset. So I would be using the deep well.

There are many rural people in my state that only have shallow wells because that is all they can afford. They somehow manage to get along when a drought comes and they lose water for a few weeks. My wife would not understand how they could do that.

Since this seems to be the first time you are having such a drought, I would be inclined to stay with the shallow well -- but here is the gamble -- have you observed climate change in your area? I have noticed it here.

I'm not going to get in the politics of why or how, but there is a lot less rainfall here than there used to be. Consequently many people that used to be able to put up with shallow wells have paid the money to drill deep ones.

It's a risk, whichever way you go. Spending money on a shallow well could be flushing it down a dry hole. It could also be the best way out.

 

I would not replace your current pump. It is working and it might continue to run for years. Just start setting money aside for a new pump when the need arises.

If you do want to replace the pump now I would get prices from someone else. $1'000 seems high to simply replace a pump. A pump is about $250 if you went out and bought it yourself.

Quite often the cause of running out of water is a toilet that runs continuously, or it could be that your two showers close together was just too much to expect from the well during a drought. You may be fine in the future if you try to balance out your water usage. One person takes their shower in the morning and the other takes theirs at night. Do one load of laundry a day instead of several loads on Saturday morning right after taking a shower and washing dishes.