The setup in this example
- Property
- Hypothetical five-acre lot on the eastern side of the Parker area
- Water
- Private well with a pump, pressure tank and switch in a small detached well house
- Freeze protection
- A small electric heater on a thermostat inside the well house, plus heat cable on the line to the house
- Power
- Shared circuit run from the house to the well house
The situation
Illustrative example. Not a real job or customer.
On a subzero night with strong wind, a household on acreage wakes to no water at any faucet. The house is warm. The well pump breaker is on.
- The owner goes to the well house and finds it cold inside. The heater's GFCI outlet has tripped, likely overnight, and the heat cable plugged into the same outlet is also dead.
- The short pipe between the pressure tank and the pressure switch has frost on it, and the pressure gauge reads zero.
- Remembering that thawing can reveal a crack, the owner switches the pump breaker off first so the pump cannot run dry or push water out of a split.
- The owner resets the GFCI, restoring the heater and heat cable, and closes the well-house door tightly.
- After the space warms, the owner checks the line for bulges, sees none, and turns the pump breaker back on while watching the gauge and fittings.
- Pressure builds normally, but a slow drip appears at a threaded fitting near the switch. The owner shuts the pump off again and calls a well or pump contractor.
The contractor replaces the cracked fitting and the pressure switch, which had iced internally, and suggests putting the heater and the heat cable on separate circuits so one trip does not take out both. The house never flooded because the pump was off while the line thawed.
Changes the owner made afterward
- That week
- Added a plug-in temperature alarm in the well house that sends an alert when it drops near freezing.
- Before next winter
- Had an electrician separate the heater and heat cable circuits and confirm GFCI protection for each.
- Every October
- Checks the well-house door seal, insulation and heater before the first hard freeze.
- Every cold snap
- Looks in on the well house in the evening and again in the morning.
If your water comes from a well
- Know where the pump breaker is and label it.
- Turn the pump off before thawing any frozen line that feeds the pressure tank.
- Keep the well-house or pit lid and door sealed against wind.
- Do not use fuel-burning heaters in a small enclosed well house.
- Keep a well or pump contractor's contact with your plumber's.
General information for Parker, not a quote or professional advice. In an emergency, call 911.