No Water From Your Well? What to Check First

Water Well Drilling Weatherford answers no-water calls around the clock across Parker County, and most of them start the same way: someone opens a tap and nothing comes out. Before you assume the well has run dry, work through these checks in order. They take about five minutes, and they tell us what to bring.

1. The well breaker

Find the breaker labeled well or pump in the main panel, or a separate disconnect near the well. If it has tripped, reset it once. If water comes back and the pump runs normally, you’re probably done, though a trip after a storm is worth mentioning when you call. If the breaker trips again immediately, leave it off. That usually means a short in the motor, wire or control box, and resetting it repeatedly can finish the job.

2. The pressure gauge

The gauge sits on the pipe near the pressure tank.

• Reads zero: the pump isn’t delivering water. The fault is the switch, the control box, the pump, or the water supply to the pump.
• Reads normal (for example 40–60 psi) but no water in the house: the problem is between the tank and the taps, such as a closed valve, a clogged sediment filter or a frozen pipe.
• Keeps climbing past normal with the pump running: the switch isn’t turning the pump off. Turn off the breaker.

3. The pressure switch

The gray box on a short pipe by the tank is the pressure switch. Listen and look. A switch that clicks on and off rapidly points to a waterlogged tank or a clogged sensing port. A switch whose contacts are closed while the gauge stays at zero means power is going down the hole and the pump isn’t answering.

4. When to shut it off

Turn the breaker off and call if:

• the pump runs without building pressure (it may be running dry),
• the breaker trips as soon as it’s reset,
• you smell burning or see scorch marks at the switch or control box, or
• the yard is wet between the well and the house and the pump won’t stop (a broken line).

Submersible motors are cooled by the water flowing past them. Without it, they overheat fast.

5. Could the well be dry?

It’s possible, especially in late summer on older, shallower wells, but it’s less common than a failed component. Signs include sputtering and air before the water stopped, and water that returns briefly after the well rests. We check by measuring the water level. See is my well going dry?.

What it usually turns out to be

A pressure switch or control-box capacitor typically costs $150–$400 to fix. A waterlogged tank typically costs $800–$1,800 to replace. A failed pump is $1,800–$4,500 at Parker County depths. Try the interactive well problem checker, or call. If it’s an emergency, see 24/7 emergency well pump repair.