Arizona well pump questions, answered

Check the well pump’s breaker in your electrical panel. If it has tripped, reset it once. If it trips again, leave it off and call us: a breaker that won’t hold usually means a wiring, motor or control problem.

Never open the pressure switch, the pump control box or the wellhead wiring to look inside. They carry 240 volts. Glance at the pressure gauge on the tank if you have one and tell us the reading when you call, along with anything that changed recently, like a storm, a power outage or a new sprinkler zone.

A sudden drop usually points to one of four things: a waterlogged or failed pressure tank, a pressure switch with worn or burned contacts, a leak in the line between the well and the house, or a pump that can no longer lift water from where the water level now sits.

If you have a whole-house filter, a clogged cartridge can do it too. Beyond swapping a filter cartridge, leave the electrical parts alone and call for a diagnosis.

That’s short cycling, and the usual cause is a pressure tank that has lost its air charge or has a failed bladder. Without that cushion of air, the pump starts every time a tap opens.

Short cycling heats the motor and wears out the pressure switch and the pump’s starting parts, so it shortens pump life. Replacing or recharging the tank is far cheaper than a new pump.

A pump that never shuts off is usually fighting a leak, a stuck pressure switch, or a pump that is worn out or drawing from a falling water level and can no longer reach the cut-off pressure.

Running nonstop overheats the motor and runs up your electric bill. Turn the pump off at the breaker if you can do it safely, and call. Don’t open the switch or control box to try to fix it.

Air in the lines often means the water level in the well has dropped close to the pump intake, so the pump is drawing air along with water. A leak in the drop pipe or a failing check valve can cause it too.

In Pinal County, where water tables have fallen over decades, this is common in older wells. The fix may be lowering the pump, adding run-dry protection or reducing how hard the well is pushed.

Outages and surges are hard on well equipment. A surge can damage the pressure switch, the control box or the pump motor, and a tripped breaker is common after a storm.

Check the breaker once. If it trips again or the pump still won’t run, leave it off and call. Lightning-season damage is one of the most common causes of summer no-water calls in Arizona.

A pressure tank stores water under pressure so the pump doesn’t have to start every time you open a tap. Inside is a bladder or diaphragm with an air charge that pushes water out until the pressure drops to the switch’s cut-in point.

A healthy tank means fewer pump starts, steadier pressure and a longer-lasting pump.

Size the tank so the pump runs at least a minute or so each time it starts. That depends on the pump’s flow rate in gallons per minute, the pressure switch settings and the tank’s drawdown, which is the usable water it delivers between cut-off and cut-in.

A bigger tank is not automatically better, and the tank’s label capacity is not its drawdown. We size tanks from your pump’s actual flow and your household’s use.

Many bladder tanks last somewhere around 5 to 15 years, but tanks sitting in full Arizona sun, or in a well with hard water, often fail toward the short end of that range.

Signs of a failing tank include short cycling, pressure that swings quickly, water spitting from the air valve and rust or weeping at the base. Shade over the equipment helps everything above ground last longer.

A booster pump raises water pressure for the house when the water comes from somewhere that can’t supply pressure on its own, such as a storage tank or a shared well line.

Rural Arizona properties often pair a well that fills a storage tank with a booster pump and pressure tank that serve the house. If you share a well, your home probably has its own booster.

A constant pressure system uses a variable frequency drive (VFD) to speed the pump up or slow it down to match demand, so pressure stays nearly the same whether one faucet or three are running.

It can be a good upgrade for homes that want city-like pressure from a well, and it works with a smaller pressure tank. We install and replace both traditional and constant pressure systems.

Liquid level controls tell the well pump when to fill the storage tank and when to stop, and they can protect the booster pump from running the tank dry.

When a float or level control fails, you may find the tank overflowing, the well pump running nonstop or the house out of water with a well that’s working fine. We install, replace and repair these controls.

Many submersible pumps last roughly 8 to 15 years, but the real answer depends on how often the pump starts, how hard it works and the condition of the water and power.

Short cycling, running dry, sand, scale and voltage problems all cut that life short. A properly sized pressure tank and good controls are the best protection.

The pump itself sits in cool water deep in the well, but everything above ground takes a beating: pressure switches, control boxes, tank bladders, gauges and exposed PVC all wear faster in direct sun and 110-degree days.

A submersible motor is cooled by water flowing past it. If the water level drops toward the pump, or the pump runs with too little flow, the motor can overheat. That’s why falling water levels matter.

Because the water table has fallen. In much of Pinal County, water stood within about 50 feet of the surface around 1900. Farm pumping pulled it down to 300 to 400 feet by the late 1970s.

Some areas have recovered with Central Arizona Project water and conservation, but deep wells and long pump settings are normal here. One of our customers had a well where the pump, pipe and wire fell in from over 600 feet and was recovered.

Often, yes, if the well is deep enough below the current pump setting. Lowering the pump means pulling the string, adding drop pipe and wire, and checking that the pump can still produce enough pressure from the new depth.

Sometimes the right answer is a different pump, run-dry protection or a storage tank system instead. Pulling and setting a pump is a job for a pump hoist and a trained crew, not a DIY project.

Subsidence is the ground sinking as groundwater is pumped out of the sediments below. Parts of Pinal County sank more than 15 feet over the last century, and earth fissures have opened near Eloy, Picacho and elsewhere.

The Arizona Geological Survey lists damaged well casings and wellheads among the effects. If your casing looks shifted or cracked, or the well starts producing sand, have it checked.

Yes. Low-desert freezes are short but they happen, and exposed above-ground pipe, pressure switch tubing and tank fittings are the parts at risk.

Insulate exposed piping and cover the equipment on cold nights. If something has frozen and cracked, shut the system off at the breaker and call us.

Yes, in parts of the state. Arsenic occurs naturally in Arizona groundwater. The 10 parts per billion limit applies to public water systems; for a private well, the owner is responsible for testing and treatment.

Public systems around Casa Grande reported arsenic between 1.3 and 9.1 ppb in 2025, which shows it is present in local groundwater. A certified lab test is the only way to know your own well’s level.

Test at least once a year for bacteria, and test for arsenic, nitrates and other contaminants when you buy a property, when the water changes, or as a lab or health department recommends.

Test right away if the taste, smell or color suddenly changes, or after any flooding near the wellhead. Use bottled water until the results come back.

Yes. We collect samples and send them to a certified lab, and our well inspections and water testing are done to satisfy Federal Housing Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs loan requirements.

Most of our testing work is for buyers and sellers during a property transfer. Call early in escrow so results are back before your deadlines.

A yield or flow test measures how many gallons per minute (GPM) your well and pump system actually produce.

It’s useful before buying a property, before adding demand like livestock or irrigation, and when a storage tank isn’t refilling the way it used to.

If your water is hard, a softener reduces the scale that clogs fixtures, water heaters and appliances. Arizona groundwater is commonly hard, but test first so you know what you are treating.

A softener does not remove arsenic. If a test shows arsenic or nitrates, you need a filtration system designed for that contaminant. We install both.

Don’t drink it until it has been tested. Use bottled water in the meantime and follow guidance from your county health department.

Sudden changes can come from a damaged casing, surface water getting into the well, a failing pump stirring up sediment or other contamination. After any flooding around the wellhead, assume the water is unsafe until a lab says otherwise.

The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) registers wells, licenses well drillers and reviews well drilling notices. Water quality in a private well is the owner’s responsibility, and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) oversees water quality statewide.

County health departments are a good contact if you’re worried about contamination.

It’s the registration number ADWR assigns to a well, written like 55-123456. You can look up a well’s record in ADWR’s online well registry.

The record can include the drilled depth, the casing and the original registered owner, which is useful when we diagnose a pump problem.

Yes. When a property with a well changes hands, the new owner should file ADWR’s Request to Change Well Information (Form 55-71A), usually with a copy of the deed and a parcel map.

ADWR keeps a registry of wells but doesn’t certify legal ownership, and a deed transfer doesn’t update the registry by itself, which is why many wells still list the original owner. ADWR accepts these filings online and by mail; check its site for the current fee.

An exempt well is one with a pump capacity of no more than 35 gallons per minute, which covers most household wells. In an Active Management Area such as Pinal, Phoenix or Tucson, new exempt wells are limited to 10 acre-feet of water a year.

Drilling a new well, deepening one or drilling a replacement requires a Notice of Intention filed with ADWR, and the drilling is done by an ADWR-licensed driller.

Yes, shared wells are common in rural Arizona. ADWR registers the well, but how the costs, repairs and water are shared between owners is up to them, usually in a written shared well agreement.

Each home on a shared well typically has its own booster pump and pressure tank. If you’re buying a home on a shared well, ask for the agreement and test the water.

Look up the business on the Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC) website, roc.az.gov, which licenses contractors in Arizona and shows license status and complaints. Well drillers are licensed separately by the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

Businesses that are not licensed by the ROC are required to say “not a licensed contractor” in their advertising, which is why you see it on our site. Ask any company how it will handle your job, ask for a written quote and check its references and reviews.

We’re based in Casa Grande and serve the Phoenix, Casa Grande and Tucson areas and their surroundings, in Pinal, Maricopa and Pima counties.

That includes places like Maricopa, Arizona City, Eloy, Stanfield and Mobile. If you’re not sure we reach you, call and ask.

Monday through Friday, 6 AM to 8 PM. Emergency service is available on weekends and holidays.

In most cases we don’t charge extra for work done after hours, on the weekend or for emergency calls.

It depends on the well. Depth, pump size, the age of the system, the site and what has actually failed all change the price, so we don’t use a one-size rate sheet.

Call us and we’ll troubleshoot the system first. You’ll get a quote on request, and a written contract for large and complex jobs.

Cash, checks, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover.

Our work is backed by warranty coverage, and the terms vary depending on the products and services provided.

Ask about the warranty for your specific job when you get your quote.

Yes. We sell residential well pumps and parts, and for DIY homeowners we carry commercial-grade products at our shop at competitive prices.

For anything involving pump wiring, the control box or pulling a pump, please call us instead: those jobs involve 240 volts and heavy equipment.