Frequently asked questions

You mostly do not from the house. Rapid cycling usually points at the pressure tank, not the pump. No water at all with the breaker holding usually points at the switch, the capacitor or the pump. The amp reading settles it.

The controls above ground are repairable and often should be. The submersible motor itself, several hundred feet down, is almost always replaced rather than rebuilt, because the labor to pull it dwarfs the part.

Some do, but a well and pump specialist has the reel, the pulling rig and the parts on the truck. A general plumber often has to subcontract the pulling anyway.

Eight to fifteen years is typical for a submersible. Frequent cycling from a waterlogged pressure tank is the most common reason one dies early.

Because you pay for lifting and lowering pipe, not for the pump. Two hundred extra feet is extra pipe, extra wire, and a heavier lift.

If it is over ten years old or already waterlogged, yes. The tank is what protects the new pump from short cycling, and fitting it on the same visit avoids paying twice for the trip.

It makes it start and stop constantly. Motor starts are what wear a pump out, so a failed tank can take years off a pump that was otherwise fine.

Commonly ten to fifteen years. They are consumable, and they are cheap relative to what they protect.

On an older captive-air tank with a failed bladder, adding air is a temporary patch at best. Once the bladder has gone the tank needs replacing.

Nobody can tell you before drilling. Wells in this part of Tennessee commonly run somewhere between a hundred and four hundred feet, but the only honest answer up front is a per-foot price and a range.

Well construction and abandonment are regulated by the state, and the driller must be licensed. Your driller normally handles the paperwork as part of the job.

Sometimes, and it is worth finding out before you drill. If a main runs near the property the connection fee can come in well under the cost of a new well.

Bacteria and nitrate once a year is the common recommendation, with a broader panel when you buy the property or if anything changes.

No. It scales kettles and fixtures and makes soap behave oddly, but it is a nuisance problem, not a health one. Bacteria and nitrate are the health questions.

No. A jug filter is for taste. It does not address bacteria or nitrate, which are the results that actually matter.

The breaker for the pump, and the reset button on the control box if you have one. Storms trip both regularly, and that fix is free.

Usually not, and you should be wary of anyone who offers to. Overnight work on a deep well is unsafe and costs more. Diagnosis at night, pulling at first light, is the normal answer.

For short outages, stored water for drinking and flushing gets most households through a night. That is worth planning for if you are on a well at all.