Which well pump is the best?
If you are like most homeowners, you’re trying to minimize future expenses and headaches. You want the best bang for your buck and you want it to last as long as possible! In this brief blog we’ll help you tackle the question of which submersible well pump is the best one.
First, you need to know so basic info. How much pressure does the pump need to provide? How much flow? What voltage power to you have available? Check out our recent blog on selecting the right submersible well pump to help you answer some of these questions.
The next bit of advice is that while a high quality submersible well pump does not have to be expensive, a cheap pump is never high quality. Skip the hardware stores, they are convenient, and filled with the lowest quality you can find. This article will help point you in the right direct to locate great quality equipment.
Assuming that you’ve checked out the links and put pencil to paper, you probably have a pretty good idea of how deep your well is, what the design point of your pump should be and you are thinking you’d like a great quality pump like those that FPS, Goulds or Grundfos make. The plan is starting to gel!
Now, you need to ask yourself some questions about water quality. Is the water dirty? Full of minerals that cause scale? Does the water have lots of sand? If your water has any of these you’ll want to choose a pump like the FPS Triseal that has plastic/composite impellers NOT tight tolerance stainless steel impellers. Why? Because the sand and other debris can cause those beautiful stainless steel impellers to just lock up solid! Don’t worry, those composite plastics have been carefully researched, designed and manufactured to give you many many years of trouble free service!
Perhaps you have other circumstances that are unusual like warm water, bad power or a well that runs out of water during some seasons. Make sure you account for this and tell your contractor! Wells with warm water can be easily dealt with by installing larger motors. The same is true for areas that have poor quality power (one of the number one killers of pump motors!). Installing a 3 HP Motor on a 2 HP pump doesn’t make the pump produce more water or waste energy, it just means that hte 3 HP motor is running lightly loaded and can handle some low voltages or voltage/current imbalances without harming the motor. Another solution to bad power can be the use of a VFD/Constant pressure controller that can clean up the power to your well pump! If your well runs out of water, then a Pumpsaver or Pumptec can be installed to keep the pump from being damaged by running dry. Knowing the challenges your pump is up against can help you mitigate the problems before they damage your new investment.
Choosing a great pump and then hanging it hundreds of feet down your well on the cheapest pipe you can find is like purchasing a high performance race car and draining all the transmission oil out before you go for a drive. You or the contractor installing the submersible well pump should do the job right if you want this pump to last a long time with minimal headaches. Install a flow sleeve on the pump to ensure proper motor cooling. Verify that the proper wire size is being installed so that the pump isn’t starved for the power it needs. Check that the pipe has been selected that will minimize pressure losses and that is rated for the weights and pressure of being dangled hundreds of feet in your well! Don’t choose contractors that appear to be trying to use the smallest wire and pipe possible, or not using the appropriate number of check valves in the well (1 for every 100’ deep your pump is installed). If a contractor says something like, “The manufacturer says I can only put a 2 HP pump down 400’ on this pipe, but I’ve put big pumps like yours down much deeper…” run. RUN!
You want someone that can clearly show you the manufacturer charts and specifications that demonstrate the pipe, wire and accessories being used are designed for and rated for your application! Even if the undersized pipe and wire don’t fail right away, they are costing you in wasted power. Power is being burned off in the undersized wire and pipe and performance is being restricted. Check out this article to help you understand how installing the wrong equipment in your well can be a very costly mistake, not just when you purchase the equipment, but every month when you pay your power bill.
Napa Valley residents know that they can contact our team at Oakville Pump Service to help them get the best quality pump installed with the best accessories in a high quality installation that will last many years!