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Well Pits to Contain Water Equipment & Well Access
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InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.
This article describes Well Pits to Contain Water Equipment & Well Access. 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.
Well Pits for Access to Well Heads, Pressure Tanks, Pumps, Controls
Also see Water Tank Types and before assuming that a water problem is due to the
well itself, see Water pump and pressure tank repair diagnosis & cost an specific case which offers an example of diagnosis of loss of water pressure, loss of water, and analyzes the actual repair cost.
What is a Well Pit & Why are Well Pits Used - sketch & explanation
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Well Pits for drilled wells
are excavations, usually outdoors, which were dug below to below the frost line (in freezing climates)
to house the well top and sometimes the pump and water tank.
The photo above shows a messy
well pit interior with a plastic bucket over a well casing and a glimpse of the water pressure tank. At page top we have a collapsing well pit with no cover whatsoever - a serious falling hazard.
The sketch shown above, courtesy of Carson Dunlop, demonstrates use of a well pit of capping and accessing drilled
wells was used in order to provide ready access to the equipment while also assuring that the water line
between the well and the building it serves was protected from frost. While the sketch places the water pump and pressure tank inside the building, in many instances the well pit may contain all of these items.
Well pits are very common in many
areas all over the world.
Watch out: Safety Warnings Regarding Well Pits
- Well pit covers: As with our concern for dug well safety, a well pit should have a child-safe
cover to prevent falling-in and injury.
- Well Pit shock hazards: You should also be very careful of electrical shock hazards when entering a well pit. Often the well pit is wet or perhaps even flooded. In such cases be sure to turn off electrical power before entering in or working in the well pit.
At a property where we broke a water supply fitting we needed to shut off the water pump. The water pump and its controls were in an outside well pit. On opening the pit cover and seeing a foot of water therein we knew better than to jump down into the pit to turn off the pump switch. We used a dry broomstick to push the switch to the off position. We could also have found the main electrical panel and found and turned off the pump circuit there.
- Watch for collapsing well pits such as the frost-damaged masonry block pit walls shown at page top.
- Watch out for flooding well pits - especially if the well cap is located in the well pit floor. A well pit that floods risks leaking unsanitary surface water into the well - be sure that the well cap is water tight in these cases, and take steps to keep water out of the well pit.
At a property inspection we observed a well pit housing the well head itself as well as water pump and pressure tank. The well casing had no cover installed. It was raining. Water was running across the property from a pony stable down into the well pit and into the well.
Manure-runoff was entering the drinking supply, making it unsanitary and possibly quite dangerous to the building occupants. The well needed to be sterilized, tested, and provided with a water-tight sanitary cover. The well pit needed to be protected from surface runoff from the stables. The building occupants needed to be informed immediately that their water was unsanitary.
A rough sketch of a well pit and a compression-type well sealing cap can also be seen at
Components of a Well with a Two Line Jet Pump? |
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Technical Reviewers & References
Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.
 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' home inspection education products include
- The ASHI-adopted Home Inspection Training Program, and Commercial Building Inspection Courses
- The Home Inspection Home Study Course, and publications such as
- The Home Reference Book, a reference & inspection report product for building owners & inspectors.
Special Offer: Carson Dunlop Associates offers InspectAPedia readers in the U.S.A. a ten percent discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Just enter HRBUS10 in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
Note: InspectAPedia.com ® editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
- The Home Reference eBook, an electronic version for PCs, the iPad, iPhone, & Android smart phones
- Home Inspection Report writing materials, including the Horizon Software System that manages business operations, scheduling, & inspection report writing using Carson Dunlop's knowledge base & color images. The Horizon system runs on always-available cloud-based software for office computers, laptops, tablets, iPad, Android, & other smartphones.
- The Illustrated Home illustrates construction details and building components, a reference for owners & inspectors
- Access Water Energy, PO Box 2061, Moorabbin, VIC 3189, Australia, Tel: 1300 797 758, email: sales@accesswater.com.au Moorabbin Office: Kingston Trade Centre, 100 Cochranes Rd, Moorabbin, VIC 3189
Australian supplier of: Greywater systems, Solar power to grid packages, Edwards solar systems, Vulcan compact solar systems, water & solar system pumps & controls, and a wide rage of above ground & under ground water storage tanks: concrete, steel, plastic, modular, and bladder storage tanks.
- Cheating on water tests: Testing Water for Real Estate Transactions - make sure your water test is valid
- 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 components last?
- Shock or Chlorinate a Well, How to - Procedure for Shocking a Well to (temporarily or maybe longer) "Correct" Bacterial Contamination
- 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
- Water pump and pressure tank repair diagnosis & cost an specific case offers an example of diagnosis of loss of water pressure, loss of water, and analyzes the actual repair cost
- Water pressure tank failures & water pump short cycling diagnosis and repair
- Water Requirements, Home & Outdoor Living
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
 The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
Or choose the The Home Reference eBook for PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPad, iPhone, or Android Smart Phones. Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAEHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
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- Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, have provided us with (and we recommend) Carson Dunlop Weldon & Associates' Technical Reference Guide to manufacturer's model and serial number information for heating and cooling equipment
Special Offer: Carson Dunlop Associates offers InspectAPedia readers in the U.S.A. a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Technical Reference Guide purchased as a single order. Just enter INSPECTATRG in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
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