Well Pump Safety shutoff

[wawajake]

A couple weeks ago my one inch brass check valve, that is the very first valve inside the house (next to my pressure tank) exploded and the well proceeded to keep running and tried to fill up my basement. Fortunately I arrived home maybe a half hour after this happened so I was able to shut the well pump breaker off and proceed to hardware store to replace check valve.
Now if this had occurred while I was away for a day in the city , this would of been very costly , as it was it was only $40 for parts and lots of wet vac work, probably some minor drywall damage.

Is there any suggestions on what sort of safety feature I could have to prevent the pump from keeping pumping when a line has burst ? My mechanical room is concrete floor and no floor drain (who builds a house without a floor drain in mechanical room !!! but I digress) .

 

[TheGoose]

Square D M4 low pressure cut out switch may do the trick. It cuts the well out after the pressure gets below 20 psi. You have to manually hold the lever until it gets above 20 again. Most of the time it causes a lot of nuisance trips.

 

[hr3]

If you have a security system in your house there is a water sensor that stick right on the floor..

 

[Willl]

Home - PipeBurst Pro - Automatic Water Protection System

 

[Egon]

Any chance there could have been some freezing involved?

 

[wawajake]

thanks for the suggestions folks................and Egon , no freezing was factor, it is heated basement and have lived here five years now typical 50 psi shutoff switch setup at pressure tank , it looks like it was defective brass casting of checkvalve , "made in china" unfortunately the replacement checkvalve from hardware store last week also made in china !
Quality valves might become a rarity in our North American homes as china gets more of our plumbing products.

 

[PILOON]

The Goose gave you the proper answer.
I attest that the system works!
Downside during a power failure if you use water and forget about that safety feature you have to reset it.
If your tank is properly set up and you have no air leaks you will never see a problem.

 

[TheGoose]

Order a "Flowmatic" brand check valve made by Danfoss or a Simmons. They are still made in USA.