Well pump sizing

[camshawn]

You need to know how high the pump will lift water and the flow you need. The pump needs to be sized for both. You compare these numbers to the pump cure to make sure the head/ flow is within the HP rating of the pump selected or the motor will fail. A water well/ pump shop will pull the HP you need from their head based on experience. The other way to size the pump is to guess what you need and look up the pump curve on the internet. Cam

 

[jyoutz]

My 680’ well has a 5” casing, and is 400’ from the house. You don’t even want to think about what the 2hp submersible pump cost to replace. $1000 doesn’t seem too bad since you have received decades of good service from your current pump.

 

[mikester]

Hi folks,
The 40 year old well pump in our house in NC is getting flaky and it is time to replace it. The pump is in a pump house, it is a 1hp vertical pump. The well is about 100 ft deep and about 100 ft from pump to the house, don't know how deep the water table is. A replacement vertical 1hp pump is around $1000.00!!! Do I really need a 1hp pump? Can I just build a stand for a horizontal pump and do a little re-plumbing and get a cheaper pump? Any input would be appreciated.

$10

 

[Valveman]

The pump is sitting on top of a piece of 1-1/4" PVC about 12" above the ground. It is a level run to the house, maybe up 2 ft. There is that single pipe going down into the well that the pump sits on and one pipe heading to the house.

Sounds like a deep well jet pump. Like was said switching to a submersible can have many advantages. But I am afraid you may have only 2.5" casing. The casing will need to be at least 4" diameter to use a submersible. If it is 2" or 2.5" casing you are stuck with an ejector at the bottom and a vertical deep well jet pump up top.

 

[Egon]

Pictures of different surface pump set ups.

 

[Valveman]

I think yours may have the motor on top like a vertical jet pump.

 

[IXLR8]

Here are a few pics of the pump. You might be correct Valveman.

 

[Valveman]

Yep. Looks like 2" casing which means you are stuck replacing the with same kind of pump. Those are good pumps though and work well with a Cycle Stop Valve.

 

[ning]

Next question, then: what do you mean by "flaky"?
Does it work sometimes, not others? Or is it just not building as much pressure?

It's possible a rebuild may be sufficient.
Regardless, there's probably a lot less effort since it's sitting on top and you don't have to pull something out of the ground.

 

[IXLR8]

"Flaky" translated:
About 6 months ago the well pressure tank lost all it's air and the pump was short cycling. I put air in the tank, after replacing a dried up Schroeder valve, which stopped the short cycling, but it didn't sound good. Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon and there was no water in the house and the pump motor was HOT, like couldn't touch it hot. Miss's is at the house in NC, I'm at our home in VA. I had her turn the breaker off for the pump and check the pressure switch. That looked good. I had her check a few other things and then turn the breaker back on. When she turned on the breaker... the motor made a humming noise but nothing happened. Motor didn't turn. I told her to shut off the breaker. She called a plumber who came out the next day while she was at a doctors appt. When she got home from the appt., she had water!!?? She called the plumber and he said he pulled something apart and cleaned it up and it is working. He said it might work for 4 hours, or it might work for another 40 years. Since this does not look to be a 'normal' pump we were trying to be proactive and find a replacement. According to the label, the pump is an AOSmith unit. I can't find anything online that even looks like it.