[grth55]

Pump runs and ice is on well cap

[ballengerb1]

It is not uncommon to see ice form on a cap during very low temps. Where do you live, what's the night temp and is the flow still good inside the house?

[prosource]

I have the same problem - ice covering the top of well. When I got home the other day my wife informed me that we had no water. I went downstairs to find the pressure tank was at 0 psi. I have a submersible pump in the well. There is a lever on the side of the pressure switch and when you lift it, it will normally restart the pump and the pressure will return to normal - this did not happen. This morning, before I left for work I went to check the well to see if perhaps it had run dry. I have a well which is perhaps 15-20 feet deep with a 30-36" cribbing. There was ice in the well (perhaps about 2 feet from the top) which I was unable to break at that time. I will go home tonight and clean out around the cover of the well and then remove the cover and try to break the ice to see if there is any water in the well. I might point out that the well is situated about 6 feet from my dugout, from which the well receives it's water. My wife was wondering if the ice in the well would create a vacuum and thus the system would not work properly. Could the ice cause problems with the well pump?

[speedball1]

Couldn't this simply be a frozen pipe at the well head? Have you thawed out the pipe and the checked for pressure> Let me know, Tom

[prosource]

Tom

I checked the well a few days ago and found there was an ice cap about 18" below the top of the well - 30 inch casing and appoximately 15-20 feet deep. I broke the ice and found the waterline was right under the ice cap.

When I push the lever at the pressure switch it starts to retreve water right away - but you have to hold the lever until the pressure reaches 40 lbs and then after awhile it will go up to 60 lbs and turn off - not near as fast as it did normally. However, if you were to try to fill the tub with water the pressure dies after the tub is only half full - you can showere with no problem.

I have lived on the acreage for 8 years and this is the first time I have encountered any water problems.

Having taken the cover off the well you can't even see the pump (which is submersible) in the well. There must be some way to get at it but I am dumb founded as to how to go about it. The pipe to the house must be placed through the casing near the bottom of the well. I would have thought that you would be able to lift the pump to the surface so that you could perform repairs or replace the pump entirely.

Spring is on the way and I may have to wait until I can put a ladder in the well and go down to check the situation out.

Thanks for your reply.

Peter