We had low water pressure yesterday, and my husband checked the air pressure on the tank and it was at 0, he added air now at 50lbs and no water at all. We can hear the pump running. No water at all at this time. When we turn the outside spiggot on you can hear air for just a second. Please help. Need water badly 3 children under age 10.

Shut the pump off and open a cold water faucet to drain the system down. ( Open a cold water faucet tp prevent air lock.)
Let all the air out of the bladder tank. ( You set up 50 PSI in the tank? No wonder your water stopped running.) now look on the control box for the cut in pressure, (the lowest number) and air the bladder tank up to 2 PSI under the cut in point.
If the pump cuts in at 30 PSI then the bladder tank should have 28 PSI pressure installed. Turn the pump back on and open a colod water faucet to bleed off the air in the lines. Good luck and thank you for rating my answer. Tom

We did what you said, very little air came out of faucet. Turned pump on still no water but can hear pump running. How long should we wait before we get water

You can hear pump running? May be a broken pipe inside of well casing. Do you have a pitless adapter in your well? If pump is running and no pipes are broken, then you most likely have a bad pump(impeller blades may be bad) or it is possible that your well is running dry. Only other thing I can think of is filters or water softner that may be plugged.(not likely, if plugged filter, you should still get some water.) Can you give a little more info as to your pump/well system. I just think that if pump is running, and working correctly, and there is water to be pumped, then the water has to be going somewhere. What is the outside temp in your area, is it possible that you have a frozen line?

Thanks for your reply. It's been 60 degrees here, and been raining for days. This is a faily new well, we've been here for 5 years, don't know anything about the well. We did what the first guy advised but we still don't have water. I let the pump run for about 30 minutes and turned it off at the breaker. Is it possible that the points or whatever that little box is called could be bad? We looked inside the box and it didn't look bad. It has a long screw and a short screw to adjust but I don't know how. Those were just replaced 2 years ago.

First we need to know whether the pump is actually running. If its not, then it opens up a few more doors. Can you confirm whether pump is running? If it isn't, it could be a bad pressure switch, a bad control box, or a bad pump motor. Please let us know what you find, and we will try to help as much as possible.

When the power is off you can't hear anything. When I turn the power on you can hear a light humming sound.

The light humming sound could be the pump trying to run, doesn't necessarily mean the pump is actually running. Do you have an outside hydrant? This is going to be hard to fix without being there to see what is actually happening. I hate to say it, but you may need to call for onsight help. Whether you do or not, please let us know what you find, or they find.


You are without water, and it may take days to get the problem solved over the internet. You will most likely be better off getting it worked on by a pro. We are pros here, but we can only give advice, we cannot see and test the problem from our chairs. Sometimes we can help the do it yourselfer, but it sounds like you are in immediate need of water. Only onsight techs will be able to accomplish this for you. I truly hope it's a simple fix, and doesn't cost you too much. Take care.

Thank you. Is it possible to take the pump out and test it or to check the pipe for cracks

Yes. It would be important to know what type of pipe and how deep the well is. If plastic pipe, and not over 200 feet deep, then you should be able to pull the pump with three guys. Unhook wires, pull pump and check for broken pipe and or wiring. If the pipe is of another type and or deeper than that, you may need to have a well driller come to pull the pump. Once pump is pulled, take it to a local plumbing company and see if they will test the pump. You can test the pump yourself if you feel you have the capability.


How is the quality of your water? Is it extremely rusty, dirty, etc etc. I really wish some of the other pros would jump in here. Im just about ready for bed. Ill try to check back in tomorrow after work. Like I said, you may be better off just hiring the work done. It may cost a bit, but it will give you water and make you sleep better at night.

Is it possible that my pressure control switch is bad. Would it make my water act the way it is?

Could my pressure control switch be bad? Would it make my water act like it is? Thanks for all your replies.

Yes, it is a posability. Check for voltage in and out.

Thank you for all your advice. We had a drilling company out yesterday and they replaced the pump. They said the motor and wires were all good. But I now have a new problem . I ran a load of laundry and about half way through filling up the rinse cycle it ran out of water. About 10 minutes later I had water again. They well is 120 feet deep and the pump was in 70 feet of water. What can I do. The company don't open up again until Monday.

Did they check for well capacity, gallons per minute? I think you need to wait till they can come back and double check your system. Kind of sounds like the well be not be recovering quickly enough. My need to have them clean well, or worst case, redrill a new well. I hope this is not your problem.

Can you take cover off well? If so, just run water and listen down well, you would be able to hear the pump run dry. Let me know what you find.

If well is running dry, then once water stops running, just wait ten to twenty minutes before using more water.. You should be able to get by till Monday. You could also shut incoming valve down to about 1/2 open and see if the well can keep up then.

They have come back and set the pump 10 feet deeper. When we turned water back on I have water everywhere except kitchen sink and 1 toilet. What would cause this.

I would start by cleaning the aerator on the kitchen sink. And cleaning or replacing fill vavle on toilet. Very common for these to plug when water is shut off and turn back on to house.