About Well Pumps

An Introduction to Well Pumps

Well pumps are the modern day equivalent of windmills, which were used to move water from one place to another over 100 years ago. Like windmills, they're particularly handy for irrigating crops, but they also have manifold other uses. Well pumps can be used to provide livestock with water, to supply water to remote locations, or to act as heating and cooling mechanisms for geothermal systems.

There are two general types of well pumps: submersible well pumps and jet pumps. Shallow well jet pumps are used for wells under 25 feet deep, and have no working parts submerged in water. Deep well jet pumps on the other hand, can be used for wells up to 75 feet deep, and have their ejectors installed in the well itself.

Submersible well pumps, as their name imply, are used underwater in wells. A small electric motor (called a driver) is installed in the well shaft, usually below the pump itself, and an electric cable is attached to the motor. Piping is then fitted from the pump, through the length of the shaft and into the home. Unlike their shallow-end counterparts, submersible well pumps may be set hundreds of feet beneath the water in a well. When the pump is activated, the motor, which consists of a number of impellers and diffusers which spin on a common shaft (called stages), pushes water up out of the well.

On the next few pages, we'll take a closer look at how submersible well pumps work, and the types of energy they use. We'll also give you tips that can save you hundreds of dollars a year in utility bills.