Possible Well Pump or other issue?

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krstewart29

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Our house is 17 years old and our well is very deep (per well report, 450'). We assume the well pump is original to the house. We have lived in the house for almost 8 years now without water issues.

2-3 weeks ago we ran out of water. My husband went down and checked the water pressure and it was less than 20psi. We reset the circuit breakers and the pump immediately turned on and filled up the tank. Our water had a lot of sediment in it for a few hours and then it eventually cleared. No issues again until yesterday. Yesterday we ran out of water again during a shower, the tank read 19psi, but this time an hour or so later the water came back on and filled up the tank again. And again we have lots of sediment in the water (when the water came back on, there were black specs in the water and this is now almost clear again).

What would be the next steps here? Should we call out the plumber? Are these initial signs that our pump is going, or could it be some other issue?
 

Valveman

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If the pump is still running when the water flow stops, your well is not producing enough water. If the pump has stopped running when the water flow stops, then starts again all byh itself, you are tripping the overload in the motor and it may need to be replaced.
 

LLigetfa

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We reset the circuit breakers and the pump immediately turned on and filled up the tank.

By "reset", does that mean the breaker was tripped or did you turn it off and then back on? If a pump cannot produce enough flow and there is significant sediment, the poor flow may cause the sediment to collect at the top of the pump. This sediment may settle back in the pump and jam it up.

A very deep well may require a pump that is strong enough to lift the water the needed height should the level in the well drop. It is possible that as the level drops, the flow reduces to a trickle and the pump overheats.

If a well that produces sediment is drawn way down, the pressure differential on the aquifer may draw in more sediment than usual. It could be that the sediment has now built up to the intake of the pump and that the motor is now buried in sediment, robbing it of cooling flow.
 

Craigpump

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Sounds as though there maybe a Pump Tek on the system that is being reset when the breakers are turned off & then on. If that is the case, then you probably have a well with a low yield that maybe a good candidate for a hydro-frac. The sediment is coming in from a fracture in the rock when the water is being drawn down in the well, this sediment is very abrasive and will eventually wear the impellers in the pump causing the pump to lose it's inefficiency....
I have seen many dry wells already this year in Western Ct, so I wouldn't be surprised if that is your situation as well.
 

krstewart29

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The well guy came out today and confirmed it was the pump and he also serviced our well system. Now we have another problem, if we run the water with our softener/filtering system, we have almost no water pressure! If we bypass our softener system, it is dirty water. Will this work itself out?
 

krstewart29

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Forgot to add, we have plenty of water. Our well is 450' deep, pump is set at 150'. Now I guess we call the company that services the filter/softening system.
 
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