No water? Start here.

First the breaker. Find the one marked well or pump in the panel and look at it. If it's tripped, reset it once and give it a minute. If it holds, you're done. If it trips again, leave it alone, because something down there is pulling too much current and a breaker that keeps resetting will cook it.

If the breaker's fine, look at the gauge on the pressure tank. Zero means the pump isn't running. Tap the side of the pressure switch (gently, it's got wires in it). If the pump kicks on, the switch contacts are burnt and that's a cheap part. If nothing happens, it's the pump, the wire, or the control box, and that's us.

If the gauge shows pressure but no water comes out, the problem is between the tank and the faucet. Check for a frozen or broken line, or a valve somebody closed.

Try the breaker and the tap. Then call.

Air in the lines. In a dry stretch it can mean the water level in the well has dropped below the pump and it's sucking air part of the time. It can also be a bad check valve letting water drain back, a cracked drop pipe, or a leak on the suction side of a jet pump.

If it started after a long dry spell, ease up on water use for a day and see if it settles. If it's been wet and it's still doing it, something's leaking or failing and it'll get worse.

Give it a day if it's been dry. Otherwise call.

If it's always been a little weak, the pressure switch may just be set low, or the pump's small for the house. If it used to be fine, look at the tank. Rock the tank a little: if it feels like it's full of water top to bottom, the bladder's gone and the tank is waterlogged. The pump will short-cycle (run, stop, run, stop every few seconds) and the pressure never gets anywhere. That's a tank.

Pressure that's fine at one faucet and bad at another is plumbing, not the well: a clogged aerator, a half-closed valve, a filter that needs changing. Check the filter first if you've got one.

Change the filter. Rock the tank. Then call.

A pump that won't shut off is either not able to reach its cutoff pressure or not being told to stop. The first means a leak somewhere between the pump and the switch (a broken underground line will do it, and the yard's usually wet somewhere), a worn pump, or a well that's dropped. The second is the pressure switch.

This one you shouldn't sit on. A pump that runs nonstop runs hot and dies, and the electric bill will tell you about it before the pump does. If you can find the disconnect, shut it off when you aren't using water until somebody looks at it.

Shut it off between uses. Call today.

Once is a fluke. Twice is a problem. A pump motor that's going bad, a wire that's rubbed through down the well, water in the control box, or a pump seized up with sand will all trip the breaker, and resetting it over and over finishes the job. Leave it off and call.

Leave it off. Call.

Muddy or sandy water that shows up after heavy rain, or after a pump has been pulled, usually clears in a day or two. Muddy water that stays is a well problem: a cracked casing letting surface water in, or a pump set too deep in the sediment. Rotten-egg smell is sulfur bacteria and is a treatment question more than a pump question, but we can point you the right way.

If the water changes color or smell suddenly and nobody's done any work on the well, get it tested before you drink it. The county health department does it cheap.

Wait two days after rain. If it stays, call.

No power, no pump. The tank holds a few gallons of pressure, so you'll get a little water after the lights go out and then nothing. That's normal, and the pump should come right back when the power does. If the power's back and the pump isn't, start at the top of this page with the breaker.

If outages are a regular thing where you are, ask us about wiring the pump so a generator can run it. It's a small job compared to hauling water.

Wait for the power. Then check the breaker.