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Home water well systems have been the quick solutions for serious water needs.
While public and commercial sources remain the common options, constructing a private water well guarantees an endless water supply, regardless of the season.
After installing one, you need to practice some management tips to ensure that the wells remain functional for the longest time.
For this purpose, here’s an article to help you identify some proven ways to manage home well water systems. So, read on!
1. Install a Hand Pump
Hand pumps are simple and economical solutions in providing excellent and non-stop water supply. Even without electricity and high-end machines, you will be able to fetch water by pumping them out.
Apart from this, installing a hand pump is a good option for covering open wells. This way, it protects people, especially children, from falling into the pit.
More so, the presence of pumps keeps the water source functional. With the moderate decline in groundwater levels, there’s a higher chance that wells may dry up if not used continuously.
To avoid that, you need to install efficient hand pumps. There are many companies you can rely on for good-quality hand pumps.
For instance, when you visit the website https://pump.eppwellsolutions.com/, you can get information on various types of pumps as well as answers to commonly asked questions regarding pumps and pump systems that can guide you in the proper installation and maintenance.
2. Test Your Water Regularly
One way of managing well water systems is to guarantee that the well water is safe and clean for consumption.
While you can still use non-potable water in watering plants, washing cars, and doing the laundry, having drinkable water at home is a necessity. To ensure that your well water is safe to drink, you need to test it regularly.
You may refer to the following options for this purpose:
Water Strips
These are small, single-use strips dipped in water samples to test their quality. In many cases, these products change color to indicate whether it’s clean or not. Apart from their ease of use, they are also generally affordable.
pH Meters
These are basically used to test the alkaline and acidity levels of water. Some of the newer models can also test the cleanliness and quality of water.
Lab Tests
These could be the most sophisticated option in testing your water quality. They are typically costly but could provide the most accurate and reliable results.
Many of these lab tests could even provide the most specific reports, including a detailed analysis of the presence of a particular type of bacteria. In most cases, these tests provide widely accepted drinking water standards.
If found to be unsafe for drinking, you may implement some ways to make them clean and potable, including boiling, filtration, distillation, and chlorination.
Testing your well water is a must if you plan to use it as a primary and secondary water source, most especially if you’re considering building a homestead or an off-grid home.
This should be part of your priority list to ensure access to safe drinking water and a well-managed water source.
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3. Inspect Your Well and Its Surroundings
Apart from water quality, you may also need to inspect your well from time to time. The frequency of your inspection may differ depending on many factors.
For instance, the type of soil and the existing weather conditions could be considered in deciding how often you’d check on your well water system.
Rainy and stormy seasons may prompt you to inspect your wells more regularly. Likewise, muddy soil will also require you to do the same thing.
Check the structure of your well. If it shows cracks, corrosion, and mold buildup, you may consider reconstructing or repairing it, whichever is deemed fit.
As part of the regular well inspection, you need to have a proper set of plumbing tools and equipment for instant repairs, including a good flow meter, water level probe, well liner, digital multimeter, and some replacement parts.
Having the tools is not mandatory if you own a well. However, owning some, if not all, of them, is a bonus and thus makes your repairs and maintenance manageable, especially if you’re situated days away from the contractors.
Here are some tips you may also want to take note of to ensure that the location of your well is safe, clean, and easily accessible.
- Keep away fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals that may contaminate your well.
- Mow around your well’s surroundings to thin out the grass and prevent damage to the structure in the long run.
- Check the area for the presence of large tree roots. This is vital in making the space clean and spacious enough for a good structure.
- Look out for landfill and gas-drilling areas near your property. You need to keep a 100-meter distance from these possible contaminants and damaging structures as a rule of thumb.
For a complete and better inspection, you need to hire a licensed well-drilling contractor every three years.
4. Conduct a Well Yield Test
As part of managing the home well water systems, you need to conduct a good yield test to understand and quantify the water pressure flow rate.
Conducting a good yield test is essential to know if there are troubles in the well’s mechanism and functions.
If what turns out is far different from what is expected, calling a professional well inspector is recommended.
For that purpose, here are the steps you need to follow to conduct a yield test:
- Turn on the water source
- Measure the flow of the water
- Inspect if the pump is running continuously
- Record how long the water is running through the plumbing fixture
- Run 150-300 gallons of water
- If water runs through the fixture, record the gallons produced
- If water decreases, check and time the flow again
- If water and its pressure didn’t function, compare the measurement against the standard measurement
Doing a yield test may not be simple on the first try so it’s best to do this with your contractor around.
5. Reinforce Your Home Well as Necessary
Reinforcing your home well is necessary if you want to protect it from possible damages caused by earthquakes, corrosion, and water damage. For better well structure, you may consider the following:
- anti-sediment plugging
- replace or extract a good screen
- install devices to reduce water flow
- install corrosion-resistant casing
Apart from these, you may also consider putting up a sealed well cap for open wells.
If you are in the planning stage of building another home well system, you may want to craft a design that’ll prevent water from building up in the opening of the well, regardless of whether it’s covered or not.
6. Hire Professional Well Water Contractors
Hiring professional well water contractors for significant repairs and serious maintenance of your well is always a good investment.
Apart from the tools they use, they generally have relevant experience for the job. Because of this, they can provide long-term solutions to any issues in your good structure.
In many cases, qualified good contractors can do the following tasks:
- install, replace, and repair pumps and wells
- run maintenance checkups
- case and cement well structures
- bore, drill, and excavate the area for repair, installation, and maintenance
In choosing a professional well contractor, you may also look for their previous well projects. You could ask their former clients or read reviews online about their past works.
This way, you’ll have ideas on the strengths and weaknesses as well as the quality of their services.
When dealing with contractors, remember to check whether they have adequate liability and worker’s compensation insurance to protect you.
You may also need to ask for a signed, written agreement stating what both of you agreed on regarding the repairs or installation of your home water well systems.
7. Find Old Wells
While this may seem harmless at first, knowing that old wells could be entry points of bacteria and dirt that may contaminate your well water. Because of this, you need to find the abandoned wells and ensure that they’re completely covered.
If you’re looking for the out-of-service wells, you may use the following clues as they suggest these well’s locations:
- Sticking out pipes
- Depressions and excavations on the ground
- Presence of concrete pits
- Presence of old windmills
- Presence of old good house
You may also need your area’s old maps and look for good markers if physical clues couldn’t be found.
In covering the old wells, you may need a piece of special equipment and experience in doing so, so you may seek the services of a pro for this task.
Wrapping Up
With the depleting water sources and an increasing number of drying wells year after year, constructing an efficient home water well system has become necessary. Yet, to ensure that it remains in excellent running condition for a long time, you need to have the appropriate management practices.
These won’t guarantee that no problems will occur in the future, but they’ll decrease the possibility of damage that would waste your time, money, and effort.
Suppose you want to build a well or install a pump anytime soon. In that case, go back to this article and use the insights it provides.
Collectively, these tips and tricks will help you improve your existing water source system and help you prepare your property for possible pump and well construction.
