Well Service Near Me: What a Service Call Covers, and the Part You Can Do Yourself

What does a well service visit cover?

A full-service well company does five things: diagnoses the pump, the pressure switch, and the pressure tank when water stops or sputters; runs a flow test to measure what the well can deliver; takes a water sample for a certified lab; repairs the cap, the casing, or the pitless adapter when the wellhead is letting water in; and cleans or disinfects the well when bacteria, slime, or smell show up. Drilling companies add the sixth: a new well or a deepened one.

Which jobs need a licensed pro?

Anything that means pulling the pump. A submersible pump sits at the bottom of the casing on a drop pipe and a power cable, and pulling it is rigging, electrical work, and a real chance of dropping it down the hole. Pump replacement, pressure tank replacement, casing repair, and drilling all belong to a licensed well contractor, and most states license drillers and pump installers, so ask for the license number with the quote. A pump that short-cycles, a tank that has lost its air charge, or pressure that fades over months are the symptoms that earn that call; the low pressure guide sorts them from the ones a cleaning fixes.

Which job can you do yourself?

The cleaning. Disinfecting a well is a pour, a wait, and a flush: no pump comes out, no wiring is touched, and the whole thing is sized by one number, the gallons of water standing in your well. A contractor treatment visit can cost up to $500. Full cleaning with brushing or redevelopment runs $500 to $1,500, and that is a different job. Hardware store chlorine packs cost about $45 and leave you guessing at the dose. Our kit starts at $329: chlorine dioxide pouches counted to your well's gallons from its official state record and two bacteria tests, one before and one after. The full comparison, including when a pro is the right call, is in well treatment kits compared.

How to pick a well service company

Ask for the state license, ask for the diagnosis and the repair as separate line items so you can stop after the diagnosis, ask for the lab report in writing, and ask what they use to clean a well and how they size the dose. A company that sizes from your well record rather than a rule of thumb is one that reads the record, and reading the record is where every good well decision starts. Our maintenance checklist covers the yearly routine that keeps most of these calls from happening.