A Dead Well Pump And The Need For Water: What To Do Next
Posted on: 11 February 2018
Well pumps tend to have a very long life, especially the modern ones. However, older pumps do not last as long. If your well pump was already old when you bought your property, it makes perfect sense that your pump is now dead. You know you need to call and schedule a well pump replacement, but what do you do in the meantime? You need water, and here is how you can get it.
Drop a Bucket Down Just Like the Olden Days
Your great-grandparents used to fetch water from water wells by sending a bucket down into a well and drawing up what the bucket caught. Until you can get a well contractor to come out and replace your pump, this is a perfectly viable short-term solution.
- Find yourself a bucket that will fit down the well shaft and draw up the water. It will look and smell unpleasant because it has not gone through the purification process that it normally does.
- Boil the water and run it through a carbon filter in a filtering pitcher.
- Refrigerate the water you will use to cook with and drink.
- Use the boiled water hot to wash dishes and hand-wash articles of clothing.
- Pets do not mind water, so long as it is water, but if you are worried about it, give your pets the same water you drink.
Of course, if that seems like too much work, and you live much closer to a nearby city with a grocery store, buy your water bottled. It may be a little more expensive, but it is more convenient.
Buying Bottled Water
Buying bottled water is another short-term solution until your well pump can be replaced. Be sure to buy a gallon per person, per day for drinking, and one gallon per day for cooking. You will need five gallons each time you flush the toilet. Hopefully, you will not have to do any laundry by hand because you will need about twenty to fifty gallons of water for a load of laundry. Bathing at the sink or just washing your hair for a few days requires a few gallons too. That is a lot of gallons of water, but if you only have to do it for a day to four days, it will work out.
Staying in a Hotel
Not the least expensive idea, to be sure, but you could stay in a hotel and take advantage of the running water and laundry facilities there. In fact, it may almost cost you the same amount of money spent on bottled water as it would to stay in a hotel. If it is going to be longer than a week to get your well pump replaced, you might just want to reconsider drawing your own well water and treating it at home; that is, at least, free.
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