Mothballing deep well?

2manyrocks · Mar 3, 2011

My Mother had to move to assisted living. Since her house isn't being used, I was considering winterizing her pipes and drains, and then shutting off the electricity.

She has a 500' well, however, and that got me thinking that maybe I need to keep the power on and cycle the well pump periodically to keep it from sticking?

Thoughts on this?

Egon · Mar 3, 2011

If the down time is extended why not pull the pump.

Deere Dude · Mar 4, 2011

2manyrocks said:
My Mother had to move to assisted living. Since her house isn't being used, I was considering winterizing her pipes and drains, and then shutting off the electricity.

She has a 500' well, however, and that got me thinking that maybe I need to keep the power on and cycle the well pump periodically to keep it from sticking?

Thoughts on this?

If you winterize your house, every time you run your pump you may un-winterize it, depending on valving situations. Don't want to make that mistake to often.

I was gone for 6 months a year in the winter and I winterized the house with RV antifreeze, insulated a small area where the water heater, softener and pressure tank are located and just run a small electric heater. The water pump breaker was off and never expected it not to start up. It would cost probably $500 to pull the pump and it is below the frost level anyway. It cost us $20 a month to have the electric meter in anyway so it only cost a couple bucks a month extra to keep the utility room above freezing.

If you think the house will be empty for years maybe pulling the pump would be a better option just so you don't have to worry about anything from freezing.

RickB · Mar 4, 2011

I'd not pull the pump, or even consider it. The chances are better that the pump will be serviceable after an indeterminate period of inactivity right where it is than if it was pulled and sitting on a shelf to dry out and corrode. If it could be run periodically, so much the better.

Deere Dude · Mar 4, 2011

RickB said:
I'd not pull the pump, or even consider it. The chances are better that the pump will be serviceable after an indeterminate period of inactivity right where it is than if it was pulled and sitting on a shelf to dry out and corrode. If it could be run periodically, so much the better.

That is right. They are meant to stay in water.

MossRoad · Mar 4, 2011

2manyrocks said:
My Mother had to move to assisted living. Since her house isn't being used, I was considering winterizing her pipes and drains, and then shutting off the electricity.

She has a 500' well, however, and that got me thinking that maybe I need to keep the power on and cycle the well pump periodically to keep it from sticking?

Thoughts on this?

Personally, I would never shut the heat off in an insulated house completely for a long period of time. Moisture will creep in along with mold and mildew. It will end up smelling musty.

Tough decisions as our parents age. Perhaps you could rent out the home until it is determined what the long range plans will be.

MikeInMaine · Mar 4, 2011

My two cents -- that pump is way the heck down there! I wouldn't bother pulling it up; it's meant to live in that environment. I would only pull the pump to replace a faulty one.

Once the well is re-commissioned, be sure to treat it as a new well -- following proper procedures for having it tested.

Egon · Mar 4, 2011

Water and bore hole conditions should be taken into account on how the well is left.

Pump corrosion, chemical deposition is much more probable down hole than sitting on a shelf.

bironacad · Mar 4, 2011

My cottage is winterized but to save $ I would keep the heat at just above freezing but I found that this in itself cost $ as in damage to structure in mold and expansion cracks. A house can change temperature 10-15 degrees on a daily basis when not heated. Keeping a residence at a min temp has reduced maintenance costs and labour for me. I do purge my water lines, pump rv anti freeze through the machines with pumps, dishwasher/wash machine and shut down the water pump. I take these precautions as we can lose our rural hydro for a couple of days at a time. Maybe others could pitch in on their experiences with cold weather winterizing of a residence.

Gator6x4 · Mar 4, 2011

Sorry to hear your mother has to move to assisted living. I am sure she will miss her home daily. If I considering mothballing, I would obtain about a half a cup of the Chlorine Well Drillers use when they are finished drilling to treat the well head. I would pour this in the well and run the water for several minutes. You will be able to smell the Chlorine when it is circulating in the water. I would then cut the power then water to the hot water heater. Drain the heater and if possibe use compressed air to blow the water that did not drain out, out. I would then drain the storage tank, all pipes and again use the compressed air to blow water from the pipes. The Chlorine will treat the well and the pipes and prevent algae and bacteria from forming in the water pipes, storage tank and the well. Leave the pump alone, it will be good for years in the well and should start right up when power is reapplied. This way if your mother decides she wants to come home you will be able to restore electrical service, start the pump and flush the system and she will be good to go.

Carl_NH · Mar 4, 2011

Sorrry to hear about your mother, and we all seem to face this at one time or another.

We had the same situation - 2000SF house in central PA, oil heat, 250' well, sump pump, central A/C and when they went to assisted living in 2004 we kept the house at 50* in the winter and 80* for the summer A/C and turned off H/W tank, Fridge etc, and well pump and every few months checked on things flushed toilets etc. The house was empty for 4 years in this mode and was fine.

What you do depends on many factors and each is different. The nominal cost to keep the house in a dormant mode wasn't that much - $60 a month on average. The real estate taxes were more..

The typical assisted living entry today has a ton financial requirements (assets disclosure) and if the house is part of that one needs to take that into consideration. Then there are other things - long term planning / renting and such that others have proposed.

Its really a case by case basis given your situation to arrive at the best solution.

TheGoose · Mar 4, 2011

You never mentioned if her well had a submersible pump or jet pump.

If it is a submersible pump it can sit for an extended period since it's totally enclosed and under water. It can be ran just a few times a year with no problem.

If it's a jet pump it is likely that within a year or so the pump will be froze up. If it was mine I would run it every 3 months or so just to keep it exercised.

boggen · Mar 4, 2011

Gator6x4 said:
Sorry to hear your mother has to move to assisted living. I am sure she will miss her home daily. If I considering mothballing, I would obtain about a half a cup of the Chlorine Well Drillers use when they are finished drilling to treat the well head. I would pour this in the well and run the water for several minutes. You will be able to smell the Chlorine when it is circulating in the water. I would then cut the power then water to the hot water heater. Drain the heater and if possibe use compressed air to blow the water that did not drain out, out. I would then drain the storage tank, all pipes and again use the compressed air to blow water from the pipes. The Chlorine will treat the well and the pipes and prevent algae and bacteria from forming in the water pipes, storage tank and the well. Leave the pump alone, it will be good for years in the well and should start right up when power is reapplied. This way if your mother decides she wants to come home you will be able to restore electrical service, start the pump and flush the system and she will be good to go.

chlorine. = bleach. do a search for treating wells with bleach. gator explained it pretty well. but if you want to know amount to use and like. there is a good amount of websites that explain things better.

gator did excellent job about draining, the hotwater tank. and storage tank as well. i would only add just open all the faucets in the home including any outdoor garden hose hookups. and drain all water out of all water lines. up to the point were the main water line that comes form the well.

as far as the pump leave it alone, i wouldn't even cycle it.

anything below frost level of your area. should be safe from freezes. other way of stating it. once you get below frost level for your area. the ground pretty much stays a constant 55 F degrees. for me here in centeral illinois frost level is 4 feet. but it various considerable throughout the US.

and to note it, i wouldn't use antifreeze in the lines. antifreeze = poison. granted there might be some RV antifreeze out there to put directly into the water lines. but i haven't heard of it.

boggen · Mar 4, 2011

bironacad said:
My cottage is winterized but to save $ I would keep the heat at just above freezing but I found that this in itself cost $ as in damage to structure in mold and expansion cracks. A house can change temperature 10-15 degrees on a daily basis when not heated. Keeping a residence at a min temp has reduced maintenance costs and labour for me. I do purge my water lines, pump rv anti freeze through the machines with pumps, dishwasher/wash machine and shut down the water pump. I take these precautions as we can lose our rural hydro for a couple of days at a time. Maybe others could pitch in on their experiences with cold weather winterizing of a residence.

on other hand. i tend to agree with bironacad. instead of dealing with draining all the water out of all the water lines. i would at min do the chlorine doing that gator noted. but leave the chlorine within the water lines. and keep house above i would say 35 to 50 degrees. trying to cut it down to 32 degrees could be dangerous if house is known to freeze water pipes.

chopped · Mar 4, 2011

Alsp you can make up a fitting to attach to a hose and use compressed air to vacate the water from the lines. Thats what I do every year.

bironacad · Mar 4, 2011

chopped said:
Alsp you can make up a fitting to attach to a hose and use compressed air to vacate the water from the lines. Thats what I do every year.

That's what I do, I have a compressor that I connect to a quick disconnect and blow out the lines. You need to be careful not to have the pressure to great for the water lines we don't want to create what we are trying to avoid. Water lines are supposed to be tested @100 psi when installed however this is not required to blow out the lines I use 40-60 psi. After I have cleared the lines I dump some RV antifreeze into the washer and dishwasher and run them through a drain cycle to fill the pumps with the pink non toxic juice.

bironacad · Mar 4, 2011

Oops, should mention to also make sure that the water heater's power is disconnected before emptying the tank as you can pop you element in an instant if it is on, ask me how I know! Fortunately they are not bad to replace, lol.

Argosy · Mar 4, 2011

Make sure you put rv antifreeze in the sink, tub/shower traps and toilet bowls also.

2manyrocks · Mar 4, 2011

She has a submersible pump. I'd prefer not to pull it as I don't know where I'd find somebody with the rig to pull it and don't really want to pull it my self (although my Dad did it once.)

Couple of problems with renting is the house is still full of my parent's stuff and generally, renters can be a headache. It would take quite a recovery for Mother to return home. It would probably make better sense to disburse some of her things among the family. If, however, she wanted to come home for a visit and her things had been moved, that would not be good. I don't bring it up with her because that would just make it more difficult for her.

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. It's difficult to keep any kind of clear head about this.