What to Do if You Have No Well Water

It’s easy to take the functionality of your well for granted, especially if you’ve never had any issues with its ability to produce water before. But over time, wells can see decreased output, especially in times of drought, when water levels start to decrease in general in the area.

So how do you know if your well has run dry? Look for the following signs:

• Your home’s tap water has started to take on a murky or muddy sort of appearance that it did not have in the past
• You’ve noticed a sudden change in the taste of your drinking water
• The spigots around your home have had issues with sputtering due to the increased presence of air running through the plumbing

If you’ve noticed any of these issues starting to happen with your water supply, it’s a good idea to go and check the depth of your well water. This is a relatively simple process—just remove the well cap and drop an ice cube down into it. Count how long it takes before you hear the ice splash in the water. Then, use the following formula to determine the depth of the water in feet:

16 x (Time) x (Time) = approximate depth.

What happens if I do have a dry well?

So what can you do if your well has, in fact, run dry? There are several options available to homeowners in these circumstances, which will help you increase the yield of your well without needing to drill a brand new one, which is much more expensive and could be difficult to accomplish on your property, depending on its size and location.

For most wells, the pump is located underwater within the well (hence the name “submersible pump”). When the water starts drawing below the level of the pump, the pump starts pushing air into the system rather than water. You could simply have a professional come over to your property, officially measure the depth of the water and then lower the pump back below the water level. If this is an option, it’s the best one you have to quickly and inexpensively fix the issue.

It could be that the age of the well is the primary problem you’re dealing with. The lifespan of a well is usually 20 to 30 years, as over time the yield of the well will decrease due to the buildup of scale and sediment. If you have an older well that’s showing this output decline, hydrofracking could be a possibility to bring that yield back up. This shoots water at high pressure levels down into your well to open up cracks and fractures in the rock surrounding it to improve water flow.

Finally, there are methods of deepening water wells to increase its yield. In doing so, you’ll open up brand new fractures that could contain water in the ground. This may or may not be a feasible option for you.

For more information about what to do if your well isn’t giving you any water, contact a company providing water well services in Monroe, NC.

Categorised in: Water Well Services

This post was written by Writer