Test a private well for bacteria at least once a year — nobody does it for you.
Tooele Valley has wells of every vintage, from recent residential installations to holes drilled generations ago for farms that are now subdivisions. On the properties still relying on them, the work divides fairly neatly: pumps and pressure systems that need service, wells whose condition nobody has assessed, and old wells that are no longer used and have never been properly dealt with. Add a valley that gets genuinely cold in winter and sits a long way from a lot of service providers, and the premium here is on getting a diagnosis right the first time rather than on the cheapest hourly rate.
Pulling a pump is the costly part of most well repairs — the equipment, the labor and, out here, the travel. That makes the quality of the diagnosis before anyone starts the single biggest factor in what a repair costs, and it is worth asking what is being measured rather than guessed.
A proper diagnosis establishes several things without pulling anything: whether there is power at the controls and at the wellhead, what the pressure switch is doing, the condition and charge of the pressure tank, the static water level, the level while pumping, and the insulation resistance of the pump motor and its wiring. Between them those distinguish a control fault from a tank fault from a wiring fault from a failed pump, and only one of those requires pulling.
If the pump does have to come out, do everything while it is out. Drop pipe, wire, check valve, torque arrestor, and the cap and seal at the top. All of those are cheap compared with a second trip, and a second trip is what happens when only the failed item is replaced.
On land that has changed from agricultural to residential use there are frequently wells that nobody has used for decades. An unused well is not harmless. It is an open pathway from the surface into the aquifer — contamination can travel straight down it, bypassing all the soil that would normally filter it — and a large-diameter old well is a physical hazard as well.
Proper abandonment is a defined procedure: the well is plugged with appropriate material through its full depth, the casing is dealt with, and the work is reported to the Division of Water Rights. Filling an old well with dirt or rubble is not abandonment and does not prevent the pathway.
It is also worth separating two decisions that get conflated. Abandoning the physical well and giving up the water right are not the same thing, and the right may be valuable and transferable. Establish what you hold before doing anything permanent, and if the well is being retired, have it done properly and get the documentation.
The pump itself is well below the frost line and does not freeze. Everything above ground can: the pressure tank and switch if they are in an unheated building or a pit, exposed piping between the wellhead and the house, hose bibs and yard hydrants, and the wellhead assembly itself if it is not properly protected.
A pump house or well pit that loses heat in a cold snap produces a no-water call that is a freeze rather than a failure, and the damage from a split pressure tank or burst pipe is worse than the inconvenience. Insulation, a reliable heat source where one is needed, and knowing where to shut things off are all preventive and cheap.
For properties that sit empty in winter, draining down properly matters more than it does for an occupied house. That means knowing the sequence rather than improvising it — which valves, in which order, and what the pump and tank need. Having a contractor walk through it once and writing it down is worth doing before the first hard freeze rather than during it.
Ask what gets measured before anyone starts. A proper diagnosis establishes, without pulling anything: power at the controls and wellhead, what the pressure switch is doing, the pressure tank’s condition and charge, static water level, level while pumping, and the insulation resistance of the motor and wiring. Those distinguish a control, tank, wiring or pump fault — and only one requires pulling.
Yes. An unused well is an open pathway from the surface straight into the aquifer, bypassing the soil that would normally filter contamination, and a large old well is a physical hazard. Proper abandonment plugs it through its full depth with appropriate material and is reported to the Division of Water Rights — filling it with dirt or rubble is not abandonment. Note that retiring the well and giving up the water right are separate decisions.
Protect everything above ground — the pressure tank and switch if they are in an unheated building or pit, exposed piping between the wellhead and the house, hose bibs and yard hydrants, and the wellhead assembly. A pump house that loses heat produces a no-water call that is a freeze rather than a failure, and a split tank is worse than the inconvenience. If the property sits empty in winter, have the drain-down sequence written down.
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