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Guide to Drinking Water Wells, Well Types
Well Diagnosis & Repair
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InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.
Guide to all types of water wells: well construction, troubleshooting, & repairs. This article series describes how to identify types of wells and water pumps, and how to diagnose & fix water well problems or water pressure or water quantity problems. We describe various types of drinking water sources like wells, cisterns, dug wells, drilled wells, artesian wells and
well and water pump equipment. We provide advice about what to do when things go wrong.
Green links show where you are. © Copyright 2013 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Author Daniel Friedman.
Types of Private Wells & Water Sources & What to Watch Out For
Our complete list of detailed articles about each type of water well is found at the top of this page.
Water pressure loss diagnosis starts at WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR.
Also see Water Tank Types and before assuming that a water quantity or flow problem is due to the
well itself.
Basement Wells
Our complete list of all types of wells & well construction, diagnosis & repair articles is found at the end of this page. Before we discuss modern drilled or driven point wells and hand dug wells found outdoors, let's get this odd case out of the way first. In some older homes you may find that the water well is a drilled or hand dug well located in the building basement or crawl space.
Wells located in the basement or crawl space of a building
are sometimes found, usually at older, pre-1940 buildings. On occasion it appears
that the well was originally outside the building but the building was expanded over it.
Early American construction sometimes located a well (or cistern) in a basement so that
a mechanical hand pump could be located indoors (perhaps in a kitchen). This
pair of photographs show my clients discovering that the plastic in the center
of the basement floor covered a flimsy wood cover which covered a hand-dug
stone lined well in the home's basement.
Some concerns for basement wells include the problem that if the building
needs to be treated for termites there are extra costs because the well is certainly
located too-close to the building. Also if the building has a problem with
basement water entry, depending on the type of well in the basement,
there may be a risk of well contamination.
For a modern drilled well which has
been "built over" during a building expansion, it becomes impossible to pull out
and replace the well piping, foot valve, or submersible pump unless someone has
cut a trapdoor into the ceiling/floor above.
Well problem diagnosis continues with the articles listed below.
WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR starts at WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR
Life Expectancy of Water Pumps - Well Pumps: how long should a water pump last? What affects pump life?
Life Expectancy of Wells & Water Tanks how long should a water well and its water supply last. Also see OLD WELL - RETURN TO SERVICE.
More about measuring the actual depth of a well is at DEPTH of a WELL, HOW TO MEASURE.components last? |
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about wells, cisterns & springs
Question:
I was in the process of buying this home when we discovered this pipe hiding on the property.
Do you know what this is?
Is it some kind of underground oil storage tank? Thanks - F.L. 11/3/2012
Reply:
From looking at the fencing behind the vertical steel device in your pictures I infer that the diameter is around 6-8 inches - which would make this more likely a steel well casing, not an oil storage tank.
What was mysterious or maybe misleading was that apparent oil-stain like discoloration around the steel pipe elbow and close nipple connected near the top of the casing.
Here are some further investigation steps you can take to convince us we know what this is:
- look at and into the top of the casing for piping, wires, visible water
- drop a string or weight, perhaps with a rag attached, down to the bottom of the casing, measure the depth, and pull it back out.
If oil were contained in this system you'd see it and smell it on the rag when you pull it back out. (Water hangs out at the bottom of an oil
container so the rag would pass through any oil first)
- look inside the building for signs of old well piping at the basement or crawl space walls
- see our article on how to spot abandoned oil tanks - at OIL TANK, BURIED, FINDING
Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia
Questions & answers or comments about the differences among types of water wells.
Ask a Question or Enter Search Terms in the InspectApedia search box just below.
Technical Reviewers & References
Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.
- Mark Cramer Inspection Services Mark Cramer, Tampa Florida, Mr. Cramer is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors and is a Florida home inspector and home inspection educator. Mr. Cramer serves on the ASHI Home Inspection Standards. Contact Mark Cramer at: 727-595-4211 mark@BestTampaInspector.com
- John Cranor is an ASHI member and a home inspector (The House Whisperer) is located in Glen Allen, VA 23060. He is also a contributor to InspectApedia.com in several technical areas such as plumbing and appliances (dryer vents). Contact Mr. Cranor at 804-747-7747 or by Email: johncranor@verizon.net
 Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 info@carsondunlop.com. The firm provides professional home inspection services & home inspection education & publications. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors. Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission for InspectAPedia to use text excerpts from The Home Reference Book & illustrations from The Illustrated Home. Carson Dunlop Associates' provides:
- Commercial Building Inspection Courses - protocol ASTM Standard E 2018-08 for Property Condition Assessments
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Special Offer: Carson Dunlop Associates offers InspectAPedia readers in the U.S.A. a 5% discount on these courses: Enter INSPECTAHITP in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
- The Home Reference Book, a reference & inspection report product for building owners & inspectors.
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- Smart Tank, Installation Instructions [ copy on file as /water/Smart_Tank_Flexcon.pdf ] - , Flexcon Industries, 300 Pond St., Randolph MA 02368, www.flexconind.com, Tel: 800-527-0030 - web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://www.flexconind.com/pdf/st_install.pdf
- Typical Shallow Well One Line Jet Pump Installation [ copy on file as /water/Jet_Pump_Grove_Elect_Jet_Pumps_1.pdf ] - , Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf
- Typical Deep Well Two Line Jet Pump Installation [ copy on file as /water/Jet_Pump_Grove_Elect.pdf ] - , Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf
- Water Fact Sheet #3, Using Low-Yielding Wells [ copy on file as /water/Low_Yield_Wells_Penn_State.pdf ] - , Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Cooperative Extension, School of Forest Resources, web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/XH0002.pdf
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
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