In some areas, well water might be found very deep down under the ground. This is especially true in areas that are very dry or mountainous. A submersible water pump allows people to drill their wells up to 400 feet below the surface to get to high-quality water.
Here are some things you should know about submersible water pumps in Hillsborough County, FL.
How do these pumps work?
Submersible water pumps are cylinder-shaped devices that usually are around the size of a baseball bat. After the well is drilled out, the pump gets attached to a PVC plastic water pipe and lowered into the casing in the well until it reaches the water.
Because the pump is located at the bottom of the well instead of the top, the water can be pushed up hundreds of feet. Compare this to suction pumps, which rely on air pressure to force well water up into the water pipe and above the ground. At ground level, the pressure can only lift water about 25 feet.
Once the water pumped up by the submersible pump gets inside the house, the well tubing fills up a pressure tank controlled by a pressure switch. That switch is mounted on the pipe where it comes into the tank. Whenever you use water inside the house, the pressure in that tank goes down, which causes the pressure switch to seek more water from the pump. It then begins pumping and fills up the tank until maximum pressure is achieved, finally shutting down until the pressure goes down and the entire cycle repeats once again.
How to tell if the pump is failing
Submersible pumps last a relatively long time—usually 20 to 25 years. During that time they usually don’t need a whole lot of maintenance. They tend to operate quite efficiently, meaning they’ll have a low impact on your electric bill, and are also quiet, both because of how they’re designed and because they operate so far underground.
So how do you tell if the pump is starting to fail? If the pump stops working, everything in your home that uses that water will also stop. This means your sinks, washing machine, shower and dishwasher will all be without water. But there are some early warning signs that can help you avoid these issues.
The most obvious sign of pump failure is turning on a faucet that does not provide any water. Check to see if the circuit breaker that covers the pump is on, and if not, turn it on and see if the water works.
If you notice the water looking muddy or cloudy, it could mean there is sediment building up in the well where the water is coming from. Pumping this water even for a short time could result in heavy damage to the pump, because that sediment could be corrosive.
Finally, spitting or sputtering water could indicate broken check valves or cracked water pipes, which can only be identified after you’ve pulled the well.
For more information about submersible water pumps in Hillsborough County, FL, contact Advanced Pump & Well Service today.
Categorised in: Submersible Water Pump