OUR WELL PUMP IS MORE THEN 10 YEARS OLD. WHAT SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED ABOUT ?
The first thing that you would prob ally want to identify is knowing weather your existing well pump is the more common type submersible well pump. Or is it the jet pump type.
Submersible well pumps are located inside the Wells bore hole. Usually a round steel pipe protruding above the ground some where in your yard, often referred to as the well head. That pipe should have a PROPER WELL CAP fastened to the top of it.
Some times the well head casing is in side of a well vault located under ground or is some times it is just under the surface in the yard. Hope fully protected by a PROPER WELL SEAL. Submersible well pumps are used in 73 % of the wells in Pennsylvania.
Jet type well pumps usually are located in side the home. Installed at floor level, on a block or on a well water tank. Hope fully high enough off the floor to keep them from ever being damaged by the mishap of a flooded basement.
Jet pumps you will hear running when they cycle off or on to re-supply the well water holding tank. The jet pump will have a single or double pipe going into the well water source. Jet pumps are often noisy and do not produce enough pressure and volume to meet most of todays modern homes water demands.
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SUBMERSIBLE WELL PUMPS will perform well and last usually 10 to 12 years under normal water conditions. Often with ideal water rated conditions submersible well pumps will perform nicely and last 15 to 20 years.
The key factors in any well water pumping installation is the quality of the water from the well water source and the proper sizing and installation of the pumping system.
JET TYPE WELL PUMPS will perform in an adequate manner for the home that has only minimal water requirement demands. Low volume and low pressure are usually the normal operating values for these type of well water pumping systems. How ever larger horse power and pump section do allow jet pumps to produce higher flow and pressure values. But energy efficiency values make the way of operating costs for submersible well pumps more desirable.
The over all life of a jet pump is much less then a submersible well pump. Usually bearing will wear out faster and become more noisier in a period of 6 to 8 years of normal usage.
THE IMPORTANT DECIDING FACTOR IN THE QUESTION OF BEING CONCERNED ABOUT THE AGE OF YOUR WELL PUMP IS THIS.
Does it still have the power you need to perform well for the water usage demands that your home requires ? When new it may of had the ability to pump 10 to 14 g.p.m. (gallons per minute) but now it may only be less then 5 g.p.m.
Does your well pump provide enough power and volume to properly operate and back wash your water conditioning or softening or filtering system?
Pumps like all other things mechanical, do wear out. There over all pumping values (pressure and volume) do erode over time.
Additionally remember this. Well water levels within the well it self may have reduced quite a bit. The water table may of went down. Meaning that the pump no longer is rated to produce the water required to meet your homes current demand. Lower water tables require larger pumps to do the job. Your original 1/2 horse power may now need to be replaced by a 3/4 horse power to match or increase the values you may need.
A properly trained water system technician plumber is the right person to answer those questions for you.
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