Perhaps you’ve been away from home for a few days or you just woke up to find no water in the bathroom or at the kitchen sink! Then there is that sinking feeling as you realize that showers, coffee, dishwashers and laundry require water. In today’s brief blog we’ll give you the inside scoop on how our troubleshooters help determine why the water is off. This blog is for homeowners that have their own well or water system that provides water to their property.

Have there been any interesting events recently? A Power outages/spike could have tripped a circuit breaker. Freezing weather can freeze pipes, yard work could have dug up or damaged pipe or wiring going to the well pump equipment.

After touching base with the customers to get some of the background, our troubleshooters go through a basic sequence:

1) Verify that there is no water at the house and at the well pump equipment site. If there is water at the well pump equipment site and not at the house, then it is likely that a valve was turned off or a filter is plugged up.

2) Verify that there is the correct power at the well pump equipment site and that the electricity is being supplied to the well pump equipment. In some cases power to the well site has been cut off, but failure of a circuit breaker, float switch, pressure switch or pump control box can also keep the pump from running properly!

3) Verify that the pressure gauge works at the well site. If the gauge shows pressure, but there is no water, it could be that the gauge has failed…or it means that the small pipe that supplies water to the gauge and pressure switch has become plugged with minerals. This problem is actually very common and can result in the pressure switch keeping the pump turned off because it is not getting the correct pressure signal from the water piping. The fix is shutting off the power, removing the pressure switch, cleaning the minerals out of the small pipe and replacing the equipment.

4) Check for signs that the pump is running and water is moving. Well pumps will typically have a slight hum as they run or a bit of a vibration in the discharge piping. If the pump is running and no water is coming out, then there is likely a problem with the equipment in the well. If the pump is running and water comes out near the well location but not at the house, it can indicate a line break or leak somewhere that needs to be corrected or a pump that can no longer deliver adequate pressure for some reason.

5) If there is a large storage tank involved (not a pressure tank), climb a ladder and open the lid. is it full? If the tank is full and you don’t have water, then the problem is likely the pump that takes the water from the storage tank and supplies it to your home. If the tank is empty then the spring or well that supply the tank should be checked out. Many times these tanks have a float switch in the top of the tank to turn the pump on that fills the tank and another float switch in the bottom of the tank to turn the booster pump off so that it will not be damaged by trying to run without water. If either of these float switches have failed then it can result in no water! Check out or blog on float switches for more info on this.

For experts that can get the water turned back on in a pinch, call (707)944-2471 to have someone from Oakville Pump Service help today!