water, well,

[rockriver]

a story about a prideful friend.
he felt real confident about his water sources.
1. city water
2.. 2 small wells

he took off to a far western state that is extremely dry. his host is getting more serious about water sources, host had city water in an area where dams and rivers are drying up.
friend had left his main well hooked to irrigation to water some new trees every day. friend was proud of his system and planning.
--
friend returned to find the ground dry around all the new trees! well was broke.
what to do? couldn't fix it himself... called well company... they found the problem and installed a new control box. then advised the well pump/motor was showing a .7 megaohm something or other indicating pump/motor was wearing out. well company said it could break down next week or could go for years. sheet.
---
friend wanted to save the cost of pulling and replacing the motor/pump. $2000. plus?
it's been a few days.... what should he do...
hope the system lasts for years? it's about 10 years old he reports.
or wait till it breaks down and replace it then... hmm. assuming the poop hasn't hit and the motor/pump is available.
not so cocky/prideful now.

[Lowdown3]

$2000. for a deep well pump installed probably isn't too bad now a days.

Never hurts to mention to the OWNER of the company- any discount for cash, as in paper dollars?

I almost always end up with a little bit of savings paying cash. Some will be paranoid about not giving you a receipt, so if your a paperwork stickler that may not work for you.

The controller box you mentioned can be bought separately and just taking a pic before hand, or a drawing of what wires go where, will allow you to change that out yourself if need be. You'll want to have an ammo can full of spare capacitors, "snifter" valves, pressure valve, pressure gauge, etc. Ours has all this plus flashlight, voltmeter, small tools, etc. Wife goes and grabs that can while I start looking at things. She can do most of it now. Like a lot of stuff, it's really just diagnosing, making a guess and replacing parts. None of the individual parts are that expensive (except the pump itself)

I learned a lot of this years ago just hanging out helping the well guy when he would have to come.