Well going dry?

The orange water is really the result of running the tank completely out of water, the rust slime then had the chance to dry out and when water was re-introduced to the tank and pipes some of it went into solution with the water. Run the hose for a while and it will go away.

Rancher
 
Can you see the water in the well when the pump stops pumping water? If so,and unless that pump is set above the water level that you see the well is not being over pumped.

SAM
 
But, if there's rusty scum floating on the surface of the water in the well shaft, drawing down the water level in the well would lead to both the pump no longer pumping water, when the level reaches the pump intake, and for orange water in the lines when the pump resumes operation. If this is a low-producing well, a new pump won't help a bit.
 
I can still see water in the well when the pump shuts off. Unfortunately, I can't clearly see the pump, so I'm not sure if part of it is above the waterline or not. My best guess is that it is still submerged.

The rusty water is not consistent, I've only seen it after the water pressure has gone to zero and then come back up. It does go away pretty quickly.
 
I'm not sure how thick a layer of rust scum would be in a well, but you're describing something that I've seen in wells I ran lawn sprinklers from, and in each case, limiting the flow of water kept the pump running, and pumping water, and no rusty water, either.
 
That rusty colored water can be both from over pumping the well and the tank draining. I would bet that the pump motor is shot. If that water level was at the intake of the pump at fifty feet, you would definitely hear a gurgling sound in the well.

SAM
 
jtp said:
I can still see water in the well when the pump shuts off. Unfortunately, I can't clearly see the pump, so I'm not sure if part of it is above the waterline or not. My best guess is that it is still submerged.

The rusty water is not consistent, I've only seen it after the water pressure has gone to zero and then come back up. It does go away pretty quickly.
Click to expand...

Same thing happens to me when the tank goes dry or the water has been shut off. I've always thought that it was just rust/sediment getting knocked off the inside of the pipes due to the sudden re-introdution of water and pressure thru the pipes after they were "dry" for a while.
 
When you drained off the pressure yesterday, that totally emptied the pressure tank. That stirs up sediment in the tank bottom. Flushing by turning on the power to the pump for say 5 seconds while the drain and/or garden hose is open and letting all the water drain again flushes the bottom of the tank. You have to repeat that until the last bit of water out the hose each time gets as clean as it can. IOws the dirt leaves the tank with the last bit of water each time.

Since you didn't flush the tank, the dirt came out the tanks through the fixtures until it was gone. If it didn't go away, then it's from the well.
 
The best tool for your problem is an amp meter. With the meter checking amps while the pump is running, it will be pulling close to max amps. I will assume a 1hp motor which will be pulling 9.6 amps. If the overload protector in the motor opens, the amps will drop to zero and the pressure switch points will still be together. If the pump runs out of water the amps will drop to around 7. The switch points will again be closed. If you don't have one, the service guys should. Make them perform this test before you let them just change out your pump.

bob...
 
How often do pumps cut out when they run dry? I'm not sure I've had anything trip when I discovered I was running a well dry. I always cut back the flow rates, so I wasn't repeating the event too often.
 
It takes a while for one to get warm. I have never let one run long enough to find out. There are a lot of home owners who can probably answer that question. They don't know the damage they are doing to one by letting it do that. They think the overload is a safety device (that will survive millions of cycles) which it is, but each time it trips, a little more damage is done to the windings.

bob...
 
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