Nothing is worse than being in the middle of a nice hot shower at the end of a long day of work, only to have the water pressure give out right as you put the shampoo in your hair. Unfortunately, if you have a low-yield well this could be a situation you face all too often. To fix low-yield wells, there are a variety of solutions, including using storage tanks and reducing overall water usage. In this post, we’ll break down the common symptoms of low-yield wells and how to increase water flow when your home faces this well problem.
What is a Low-Yield Well and Do You Suffer from One?
A low-yield well, sometimes called a slow well, is any well that delivers water slower than needed. With this there is no standard definition of what a well must pull (one quart per minute, 1 gallon per minute, etc) to classify a well as low-yielding, as each well serves a different purpose. A family of 6 will have different water needs than a family of 2, and thus their definition of a low-yield well will be different.
No matter what your family’s needs are for water, the symptoms of a low-yield well are always the same. Having low water pressure is a common symptom of a low-yielding well. An example of this would be a shower head that just trickles out water instead of spraying out water. Another symptom of a low-yielding well is water pressure that dramatically drops in pressure. This often looks like a showerhead that is delivering a full pressure flow only to slow down to a trickle without warning.
Ways to Fix Low-Yield Wells
Just because your well is low-yielding does not mean you need to dig a whole new well (though that could be an absolute last solution). Instead, you may just need change how you use your well. By reducing usage during peak times or by investing in more storage, you can expand the capacity of your well.
Storing Water in the Well
One way to procure more water is to increase the water storage capacity inside the well. Each well has a static water level, which is what the well will fill itself up to and then stop. As the pump pushes water out it refills, hits the static level, and stops. By digging your well wider and/or deeper you can increase the well’s capacity to hold water, which would increase your static water level.
Well Water Storage Tank
Another way you can store water is by investing in a storage tank, which acts as a reservoir that you can pull water from, as needed. A well that produces a quart a minute is going to trickle out slowly when you turn it on, but over the course of a day a quart a minute is 360 gallons, which is typically more than enough. By investing in a storage tank, you can gather the water during the times you don’t need it, so that when you do need it it’s available.
Reducing Water Usage
Peak water usage times in your home are often early in the morning as everyone is getting ready as well as in the evenings when everyone is turning in for the day. Reducing water usage during these peak times can help if you have a low-yield well. One way to do this includes spreading out high water use activities. For example, have family members shower during the morning and evening instead of all in the morning.
You can also help reduce your water usage by investing in water-saving appliances. A top loading washing machine uses approximately 51 gallons per load (GPL), whereas a front-loading washing machine uses approximately 27GPL, saving you 24GPL. Changing out your toilet can also help, standard toilets use 5 gallons per flush (GPF), but by investing in a low flush toilet that use 1.6GPF, you can save 3.4GPF.
Making Your Low-Yielding Well Work for Your Home
A house isn’t a home until you feel comfortable and cozy inside, and that doesn’t happen when the water doesn’t run. When you start to identify the symptoms of a low-yielding well, it’s important to take steps to correct that. By hiring a specialist, they can help you identify the best solution to fixing your slow well problem – whether that includes adding a storage tank or adjusting your appliances and your peak usages. If you determine you need supplies to improve the efficiency of your well, choose trusted distributers and shop PVCFittingsOnline’s well water supplies today.