Recently bought a house in NC near the VA border, and I have a well in the yard. It is covered by the word's most conspicuous fiberglass rocks. :) The previous owner just had the pressure tank replaced, which is under the fake rock with the well. The well pump is submersible and all I see on top are some PVC pipes with a pressure gauge. There are some remains of insulation on the pipes but not enough to do anything...I'm wondering why it's not insulated? Does it need to be insulated in this kind of area? Its warm most of the year but it is not uncommon to get a week or two in the single digits every year. Seems like the pressure tank could freeze solid if it wasn't used for a day or two. Am I correct? Or does that fake rock provide enough insulation with the ground heat? I think our frost depth is only 12". I go out of town a lot and I don't want to come back to a frozen well/burst pipe. I won't always be able to just run the water to keep it from freezing, it could be sitting for a week or two.

[center]My sump pump pit water has recently turned black and a thick, mud like gunk is coming in from the pipes to the sump pit. The pit is also putting off a pretty bad odor. Plumber has never seen this before and has no idea what the cause or fix would be but says something is definitely wrong. Has anyone experienced this before? What could it be? I’m on a well with a lot of iron and have a septic tank.[/center]