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What Are the Most Common Well Pump Repair Issues in Columbus?
The water in Ohio’s capital city of Columbus is considered hard to very hard. Due to the hard water present in the Columbus area, many people believe that having a well gives you advantages over having municipal or city water flowing into your home, which is the reason that many people want to use well water rather than municipal water. There are some advantages to having well water over city water, but there are also some things that you want to keep in mind when you are using well water rather than city water in your home.
Wells can also have quite a few issues that might arise over time with both how the well works and the quality of water that you get from it. Knowing how to properly operate a well throughout your lifetime will be vital to ensuring that you can offer your family a clean source of water in your home as an alternative to hard water that has large deposits of calcium in it.
Keep in mind that a well will take a bit more maintenance over its lifetime than many people think. You will have problems that you need to think about how you will solve throughout the years. Sometimes, you will have to hire us to look at the well to solve the problem and fix it completely. However, you will still need to have a basic understanding of the problems that can occur with your well, even if you’re not the one fixing the problem. You need to be able to know when to call us, too.
There are two other common problems that most people will have with their wells. Oftentimes, water pressure in your tank will drop too low to provide you with proper running water in your home. Other times, the water pump will need to be replaced because something on the pump is broken or not working to its full capacity. Replacing your water pump is easily the most expensive part of owning a well over the lifetime of your home. You will need to budget for the cost to keep your well working in the long term.
If you notice the water pressure in your home is consistently low, that may indicate a problem with your water pressure tank. If the water is moving slowly through your pipes, then the water pressure in your home might be running too low to be able to adequately supply you with showers or running water to do laundry, dishes, or similar tasks. The idea behind the entire design is that you are supposed to use your pressure tank to save your water pump from turning on every single time you want to use your well for running water.
When your well pump goes bad, you will notice a variety of signs that it might need fixing or replaced. Some of the issues that you will come up against include:
- Fluctuations in your water pressure
- Strange clicking noises when you use your faucets or other utilities in your home
- Faucets that sputter because air pockets are trapped in them
- Scalding hot water when you shower
- Higher electric bills as it’s taking more energy to run your utilities in your home
If you need your well pump replaced, it will cost an average of about $1,650 in Columbus, based on the size of the well, the pump needed to fix it, and the materials needed to get the pump working again.
You might also notice that sometimes you have dirty water pumped into your home. Usually, this water will contain unwanted dirt or sediment. This is caused by the plumbing in your water well being installed too close to the ground. Make sure that you have a minimum of about 10 to 20 feet of space between the pump and the bottom of the well. You must leave this much space at the bottom of your well if you want to avoid pumping up extra dirt or sediment along with your well water. Another option is to install a sand and sediment trapper in your well to stop all dirt and sediment from mixing in with your family’s water in the first place.
Another well pump repair issue that people may have in Columbus may be due to freezing temperatures during the winter season. Freezing temperatures may cause pipes to freeze, which restricts water flow from the water pump to your tap.
What Factors Cause Premature Well Pump Failure in Columbus?
While many people say that the well pumps will last for 15 years, that’s not always true. That’s just an ideal scenario. The reality is that many things can go wrong with your water pump, causing it to require early repair or replacement:
- Water pumps will fail early due to corrosion inside the cooling systems or imbalanced water-pump shafts.
- The shaft is leaking.
- There is an issue with the cooling system that causes the pump to fail sooner than it otherwise should.
- The pulley on your pump becomes bent, which causes your pump to fail.
- You are having problems with your cooling system, which has become damaged.
- If the pulley on the water pump becomes bent, the water pump will become damaged and will potentially fail.
- Your water pump overheats due to corrosion in the system.
- Water pumps with leaks have coolants leaking out of them which cause additional corrosion.
- Worn-down bearings can cause the water pump to also wear out.
- The movement of the impeller can sometimes cause it to separate from the shaft.
- Using the wrong coolant can cause leaks that cause corrosion issues.
- The tensioners on the belt can wear out, and the belt will loosen, which will cause the water pump to fail.
- Worn belts and tensioners can cause a loose belt that can break or pop off if the pump doesn’t turn as fast as it once did.
You want to monitor your water pump to ensure that none of these parts of your well malfunction, which can cause your water pump to fail sooner than you otherwise anticipated.
How Much Does Well Pump Repair Usually Cost in Columbus?
The cost of fixing your water pump will depend largely on the type of pump you need for your well. The prices vary greatly because of the cost of getting a well pump in Columbus. There are cheaper options for pumps. For example, small hand pumps that can be installed on your well will usually end up costing between $100 and about $250. Semi-automatic pumps cost between $300 and $500, which are still cheaper than regular well pumps.
However, if you get a fully installed, standard well pump, you can expect to pay about $1,650 in the Greater Columbus Area.
The following are some of the factors that you will want to consider when you get your well pump worked on or replaced:
Labor Costs
The labor costs for installing your pump will be part of the tab you have to pick up when you have a new water pump installed. The average plumber will charge about $80 to $130 per hour when you live in Columbus.
Parts and Materials
You will end up paying about a 35% markup over wholesale prices for us to order the parts and install them into your well along with your water pump. However, it’s convenient if you don’t want to go out and buy the wrong parts and don’t know how to install them all yourself. Paying for our experience is worth it in many cases to many patrons. It’s a one-stop shop for all of the parts that you need to get your water pump installed and fixed in one place. That convenience is often worth the additional markup that you must pay.
Location
Depending on where you live, our hourly cost is $45 to $200, a vast range of pricing for a plumbing service. The rates will vary and differ based on the part of the country you live in and the going rate of services in that area. In the state of California, you can expect to pay approximately $300 as a flat rate for a plumber to come service your well.
These are just some of the factors that will contribute to the cost when we go to your home.
How to Avoid Costly Well Pump Repairs in Columbus?
It would help if you had your well checked and serviced annually for various issues, including mechanical problems, cleanliness, and the presence of bacteria in the water supply. Some types of bacteria and viruses include coliform bacteria, nitrates/nitrites, and any other contaminants of local concern (some areas have an issue with arsenic or radon, for example).
You should have your water tested once a year, at a minimum, if you are concerned about the level of toxins that are in your water. If you find toxins above the safety levels for what is federally accepted, you will need to test your water more than once to ensure that it is safe for your family. You also want to make sure that your well water meets federal standards (or higher) for cleanliness and lack of contaminants. If you find additional contaminants in your well water, you will need to figure out if it is time to replace your pump or if something else is wrong with your well’s setup.
Be sure to contact a waste management specialist to ensure that you are putting your sewage and your other waste in a place far enough away from your well that you are not contaminating your water. Contaminating your water supply can lead to severe illness.
