Pump Blog

Hopefully everyone has recovered from any issues caused by last week's hurricane! It certainly has been refreshing to have more rain again, but we could do without the winds knocking down branches and power outages preventing us from watching the Gator game!

Despite the glamorous moniker of Gainesville Pump, our service area reaches considerably beyond the limits of Gainesville. We serve from Gainesville to Alachua, High Springs, Fort White, Newberry, Archer Bronson Williston, Trenton, Hawthorne, Melrose, Keystone, Brooker, Lacrosse, Waldo and Micanopy - plus all the areas in-between!

Once folks learn about what a water softener is, and what it does, the ones who are experiencing the various issues it addresses know almost immediately that it's a missing component of their well pump system. There are some very simple indications that your system has hard water, and the only definitive solution is a water softener. Without adding a softener to your system it will be impossible to remove the mineral deposits in your water causing widespread scale buildup.

Gainesville Pump owner, Steve Briel, shared an interesting story with us about the shocking affects of iron water on hair. On the day of his wedding his betrothed was preparing for the day's events, and went to the hair salon to have her hair styled for the ceremony. As the stylist began applying treatment she shrieked with dismay when she saw the bride-to-be's dark hair turn bright green! Naturally, panic ensued, and the stylist was at a loss for what action to take, as the reaction wasn't something that ever had happened before with dark hair and those particular treatment products.

Here at Gainesville Pump we frequently write posts discussing the impact of iron on well pump equipment. It's not that it's an obsession (okay, maybe it is), rather it's due to the fact that it is the most common issue faced by well pump owners in Gainesville and the surrounding areas of Northeast Florida.

When hooked up to your existing well water system, water softeners remove minerals like calcium and magnesium by "replacing" those ions with different ions - in this case, sodium.

Does this look familiar? Are you seeing 'dirty' water, or are your clothes not coming as clean as they used to? If so, it's time to do something about it. You'll be surprised that it might not be as expensive or intensive as you may think.

When our guys show up to diagnose your well system there are a lot of nuanced steps to our approach depending upon the symptoms. When a customer finds themself with a mixed bag of issues, from reduced water pressure to increased back pressure on the pump to orange stains and slimy sinks there's one quick, sure-fire way to determine if you've got an iron problem. 

This spectacular cable was pulled from a system that was struck by lightning last night, Sunday June 12th. The exploded wire comes from 80 feet below the surface!. The heat and power of the strike melted the copper into tiny balls as it disintegrated everything around it. Keep in mind that the melting point of copper is 1,984°F- and all of this happened deep, deep under ground.

The guys see all kinds of crazy things inside of folks' wells. Recently, they were able to snap a picture of something they talk about a lot- ANTS in the electronics! When certain bugs, like ants, decide to make a home inside your well pump, the results can be disastrous. 

We encourage our patrons to have us inspect and test their water system once a year.  This usually reveals any abnormalities in the systems performance, which can be rectified, before becoming an emergency.  The well location outside makes it easily neglected. 

First, if you are considering the purchase of a home that has a well, you should have a pre-purchase inspection performed. This will inform you as to the water equipment’s state of repair and performance deficiencies, if any. This information can be exceedingly important as you prepare to negotiate a final proposal.

Access to clean, reliable water is fundamental to our survival. Not just that, it's essential to our appearance, hygiene and more. Waking up in the morning before work with no water, and unable to shower or boil a pot of coffee can really derail your day. Here are 3 quick tips to get your well pump up and running in a pinch, but don't expect them to fix the underlying cause!

There are a number of things for you to check when considering the cause of your home's low water pressure. First, check your well to see what the pressure gauge is reading, you should expect to see between 40 to 60 pounds of pressure on the gauge. You can test the gauge's accuracy by turning off the circuit breaker to the well pump and draining the pressure down to nothing. 

Iron bacteria found in well pumps can be a problem in Gainesville and other parts of North Florida. In the attached picture you can see a pipe end that is normally 1¼” in diameter. Iron bacteria build-up has reduced it to ½” diameter. This restriction causes extreme friction losses in the plumbing causing a multitude of problems: reduced water pressure in the home, excessive back pressure on the pump and staining of all fixtures or anything else that comes in contact with the water.

All electrical components have a life span, and are subject to fatigue under normal operating conditions, and on occasion will require replacement. More often than not, a simple control box or panel replacement will get the pump up and running. 

If you're planning on building some type of housing for your pump, you should definitely keep a few things in mind to save yourself major headaches in the future.

Knowing the status of your well is important. Even if it's just going out to the pump and looking at it for a moment to see that nothing is obviously wrong. Maintenance like that can help you catch issues before they're problems. You don't even have to touch it, just give it the old "ocular pat-down." If you do this regularly enough and familiarize yourself with the system you'll be ahead of the game in spotting trouble. When that happens, that's when you give us a call.

We all know how incredibly lucky we are to live in Florida. The weather, the people and the natural beauty are just the start of what makes this place so wonderful. When most folks think about outdoor activities in Florida they tend to focus on beach-going, boating and other coastal activities. Reflecting on this we have put together a list (in no particular order) of fantastic, freshwater funtime destinations where folks can enjoy swimming, tubing, canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding, birdwatching, manatee spotting and so much more.         

It's going to be cold in North Florida tonight! There is a hard freeze warning with lows in the mid 20's for most of the area. This can leave some people scrambling to prevent possible damage to their home due to the weather. Don't get caught out in the cold tomorrow morning lamenting a broken pipe.