UNDERSTANDING RURAL WATER SYSTEMS

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You can keep the flow going if you learn to perform just a few basic maintenance steps.

If you live in the country, or even in a neighborhood outside city limits, chances are pretty good that you get your water from a private well. And whether that well is dug, driven, bored, drilled, pounded or jetted — or even if it isn't a well at all, but a spring or a buried cistern — you probably rely on a pump and deliv ery system to get the water from its source to your tap.

Normally, a modern water system is so reliable you'll probably tend to forget it's there; in fact, like water itself, you probably won't miss it until it stops running. Back in MOTHER'S 100th issue (July/August 1986), professional well-driller Silas Stillwater offered some valuable insight into the process of sinking a well. Here, we'll look beyond that to the role of the pump, controls and delivery equipment . . . and to the steps you can take to keep them properly maintained.

Three-Part Harmony

A typical home water-delivery system is so uncomplicated that it takes only moments to describe. Unfortunately, variations from the typical do exist, and they have a way of clouding a clear understanding of the basic layout.

Let's cover the essentials first. The key to the whole operation is, of course, the pump. And regardless of what type it is (reciprocating piston, centrifugal, turbine or jet-ejector, for either shallow or deep well applications), its purpose is to move water and generate the delivery force we call pressure. Sometimes — with centrifugal pumps in particular — pressure is not referred to in pounds per square inch but rather as the equivalent in elevation, called head. No matter; head in feet divided by 2.31 equals pressure, so it's simple enough to establish a common figure.

Water delivered under pressure does not go directly to your faucet, but instead is held in some form of storage for household use. By far the most popular and sanitary method employs a 30- or 42-gallon hydropneumatic tank, which provides a water reserve and a capacity for storing pressure. Now, even if your high-school physics class is a faded memory, you may recall that water cannot be compressed; air, however, can be, and that's exactly what happens when the pump fills this tank. The compacted air retains the pump's pressure for the entire system.

The prime reason for this additional water reservoir is to prevent the pump from switching through the on-and-off cycle every time a tap is opened — or from running constantly when there's a steady demand. Both situations can overheat the motor and shorten its life span. A secondary benefit is that the tank stores enough water to answer the household's peak demand periods (shower, laundry and meal times) even if the constant flow of the well could not.

The third essential component is the operating control for the pump. Its job is simple: When water pressure falls below a minimum working level — as is the case when you run a faucet for any length of time — the control switches the pump on. Within moments, enough water is forced into the pressure tank to snap the switch off and shut down the pump.