The Well

To live where we live one either has a well or one has water trucked in and stored in your big plastic tank. This is our well. The rusty pipe in the lower left is the well head. The well goes down 700 feet. At the bottom attached to 700 feet of pipe and wire is a pump that about 3 feet long and 4 inches in diameter. This pumps water into the big black tank. This tank holds 2500 gallons. Inside the tank are two floating switches. The lower switch starts the pump when the tank water level gets low. The higher switch turns the pump off when the water level gets close to the top of the tank.

You can see white lines down the side of the tank. These lines were caused because at one time the top switch was not consistently turning off the pump and the excess water over flowed the tank. The previous owner got a wooden ladder (leaning against the tank). Using the ladder one could climb up and shake the switch when it would not shut off. I have replaced the switch and the problem has gone away. I still keep the ladder there and every once in a while I climb up and check the inside of the tank.

The small tank is a pressure tank and there is another pump near it. This second pump builds the pressure within the small tank and the house water system. This pump shuts off when the pressure reaches 60 lbs per sq inch.

Since being here I have replaced the pump at the bottom of the well. It took two men two days and a special truck to pull the old pump and replace it. I have also personally replaced one circuit breaker and a floating switch within the large tank.

Being off the grid for water has a certain expenses and problems associated with it. If that black tank goes empty it is an immediate problem. The first time I woke up in the morning and there was no water I was stressed. That day it was just cold and the pipes were frozen. Within a couple of hours everything was back to normal. I have since wrapped most of the exposed pipes with insulation. The day I was really stressed was when I learned I had to replace the pump at the bottom of the well. That was a $3000 experience.

Win, Win

"Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat." Lily Tomlin