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Well Pump Repair in Delaware

181,640 people in Delaware get their water from a private well rather than a public supply — 19.2% of the state, against 13.1% nationally. Every one of them is their own water utility.

The short of it

Private wells serve 181,640 people in Delaware, 19.2% of the state and against 13.1% across the country. Nobody tests that water or maintains that pump except the household it belongs to.

Source: US Geological Survey, Estimated Use of Water in the United States, 2015.

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 that means here

Delaware ranks 11 of 38 among the states we cover for the share of its population on self-supplied water. That is above the national figure, so private wells are a larger part of ordinary life here than in most of the country.

	People	Share
On a private well	181,640	19.2%
On a public supply	764,294	80.8%

Source: US Geological Survey, Domestic Water Use, and the county-level data release for 2015.

Where the wells are, inside Delaware

A state average hides a great deal. These are the Delaware counties with the highest share of people on self-supplied water, and the spread between them and the state figure is the point — well work is a rural trade even in states that are not.

County	On a private well	Share of population
Sussex County	73,311	34%
Kent County	51,340	30%
New Castle County	56,989	10%

What goes wrong, and in what order to check it

The fault list on a private well is short, and most of it is above ground where you can see it. Nothing at the tap is usually power or the pressure switch before it is ever the pump. Rapid on-off cycling is almost always the pressure tank. A pump that will not stop is a leak, a worn pump, or a well that cannot keep up — and it is the one to act on quickly, because all three destroy the pump while they continue.

Whether the pump is in the well or in your basement changes what any of that costs in labor, which is why a contractor rules out the easy-to-reach parts first.

Nobody is testing this water but you

A public supply is sampled constantly and reports to its customers once a year. A private well reports to nobody. Penn State Extension recommends testing annually for total coliform and E. coli, adding pH and total dissolved solids every three years, and having the well professionally inspected every ten.

The same guidance treats a fall of 25% or more in yield as the point at which rehabilitation is in order rather than replacement.

Source: Penn State Extension, Water Well Maintenance and Rehabilitation.

Checking a plumber in Delaware

Delaware licenses are issued by the Delaware Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners, which publishes a public search you can use before work begins.

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