Well Pump Repair When You Are the Water Utility
Free to homeowners — the contractor pays us for the introduction, you never do.
The short of it
On a private well you are your own water utility: nobody monitors it and nobody tests it for you. Most faults turn out to be the pressure tank or the pressure switch rather than the pump, which matters because the pump is the expensive part to reach.
Go straight to the one that sounds like yours:
- No Water From the Well: What to Check, in OrderNothing at the tap on a private well is a short list of causes.
- A Well Pump That Short CyclesRapid on-off cycling is almost always the pressure tank, not the pump — and it destroys the pump if it is left alone.
- The Pressure Tank: What It Does and How It FailsThe tank is why the pump is not running every time you open a tap.
- A Well Pump That Will Not Shut OffContinuous running means the system can never reach cut-out.
- Sand and Sediment in Well WaterGrit at the tap is a well problem before it is a filter problem, and it wears the pump while it is happening.
- Submersible or Jet: Which Pump Do You HaveTwo designs, different depths, different failure modes, and a different answer to what a repair involves.
- Looking After a Private WellNobody tests your water for you.
- You are never chargedContractors pay us when we route them a call. There is no cost to the homeowner, ever.
- Every figure names its sourceThe numbers on this site come from public data and the page says which, so you can check them.
- We say where we coverCalls are routed by ZIP code to independent contractors.See the coverage
- We say when not to callIf the fix is a few minutes of your own time, this site tells you that instead of selling you a visit.
42.5 million people in the United States get their water from a private well. Nobody tests it for them, nobody reports an outage, and nobody else is going to notice the pump failing.
What this site is
PumpDepth is a referral service, not a contractor. We connect homeowners with independent contractors. Contractors are required to hold whatever credential their state or municipality demands. Every state page sets out who licenses plumbers there and where to check, so you can confirm before work begins. We carry out no work, we sell no equipment, we do not set prices, and we never charge homeowners anything — the contractors in our network pay us when we route them a call.What this site is for
Almost everything written about household plumbing assumes a public supply. On a well, the supply is equipment you own: a pump, a pressure tank, a switch, and a hole in the ground with a water level in it. When something fails there is no utility to call.
USGS puts self-supplied households at 42,501,500 people against 282,517,400 on a public supply — 13.1% of the country.
Source: US Geological Survey, Domestic Water Use, and the county-level data release for 2015.
The four things that go wrong
Nothing at the tap is power or the pressure switch far more often than it is the pump. Rapid on-off cycling is nearly always the tank, and it destroys pumps while it continues. A pump that never stops is a leak, a worn pump or a well that cannot keep up. Sand at the tap is the well itself and it is wearing the pump on the way past.
Where your pump is decides what a repair costs
A jet pump sits in your basement. A submersible sits at the bottom of the well and has to be pulled to be touched. Telling them apart takes ten seconds and explains why a contractor tests the tank and the switch before anything is lifted.
And the part nobody does
Penn State Extension recommends testing annually for total coliform and E. coli, pH and total dissolved solids every three years, and a professional inspection every ten. Almost nobody does the last one, which is why so many of these calls are emergencies.
Source: Penn State Extension, Water Well Maintenance and Rehabilitation.
Where we route calls
Tap your state for the towns and ZIP codes we route in, and the figures behind them.
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Iowa
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Massachusetts
- Maryland
- Maine
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this site is public and attributed. You can go and check any of them.
- HousingUS Census BureauAmerican Community Survey 5-year estimates — the housing figures on every town page, and the table each one comes from is named on the page.
- Water useUS Geological SurveyCounty water-use estimates, used for what normal household consumption looks like where you live.
What happens when you call
No form, no quote tool, no waiting for an email.
- You tell us what the water is doingOne short conversation. If it turns out to be something you can fix in five minutes, we will say so.
- We route the callWe match your ZIP code to an independent contractor who already covers your area — not a call center three states away.
- They quote, you decideWe do not set prices and we never charge you. The contractor pays us for the introduction.
- 3,569towns with a page of their own
- 38states we route calls in
- $0what a homeowner ever pays us
What to do first
Four things worth doing first. They cost nothing and they can keep a small problem small.
- Shut off the water closest to the problemUnder a sink or behind a toilet there is usually a small valve on the supply line. Turning it clockwise stops that fixture without shutting off the rest of the house.
- If you cannot find it, use the mainUsually where the supply enters the building — a basement wall, a crawl space, or a covered box near the street. Then open the lowest tap in the house, which drains the standing water out of the pipes instead of out of the leak.
- Water and electricity: stay out of the roomIf water has reached an outlet, a panel or an appliance, switch that circuit off at the breaker before going near it. If you cannot do that safely, do not go in, and say so when you call.
- Photograph it before anything is movedInsurers ask for it, and a contractor can tell more from a photograph of the leak than from a description of it.
And one case where the answer is not to call us. If the water is surfacing on the street side of your meter, that is the utility's line and not yours. Report it to your water utility — they do not charge a homeowner to repair their own main.
On a well, nobody else is going to notice it failing.If the pressure has gone or the pump is cycling, that is worth a call today rather than next week. We route to contractors who work on wells specifically and cover your area, matched on the ZIP code you give, and you are never charged. Nor does it have to be the well; any plumbing work is routed the same way.
Call (888) 493-0912
