Pump Water from Any Well: Simple Steps for DIYers

Your well water stopped flowing, and you need it back now. The right pump for your well type gets it done.

We will cover shallow well systems, deep well setups, and the exact pumps that work for each.

I have pulled and replaced more pumps than I can count. Always verify your well’s depth before you touch a tool.

First, What Kind of Well Do You Have?

You cannot pick the right pump if you do not know your well. The type of well determines everything about your pumping system. Start by looking at what is sticking out of the ground. From there, you can start considering well water pump types that fit your well’s depth and yield. The choice between submersible and jet pumps often depends on those specifics.

Identify Your Well in Five Minutes

Walk outside and find your well cap. This simple visual inspection tells you most of what you need to know.

• Shallow Well: Look for a well casing (pipe) that is 2 inches or wider. It might be in a small concrete pit or directly in the ground. The static water level is typically less than 25 feet down.
• Deep Well: You will see a narrower casing, usually 4 to 6 inches in diameter, with a sealed cap directly on the ground. There is no pit. The water level is deeper than 25 feet.
• Artesian Well: This one can be tricky. You might see water flowing naturally from the casing or a vent pipe. More commonly, it just looks like a standard deep well with a sealed cap and significant water pressure from underground.
• Dug Well: These are old school. You will see a wide, often stone, brick, or concrete-lined hole, usually 3 feet or more across. They have a large cover, sometimes made of wood or concrete.
• Driven Well (Sand Point): Look for a very narrow pipe, only 1.25 to 2 inches wide, sticking just a foot or two out of the ground. It often has a simple cap and is common in areas with a high water table.

The most reliable way to know your well depth is to check your well log, a document filed with your local health or water department when the well was drilled. If you do not have it, a tape measure and a weighted string can give you a rough idea of the depth to water.

Tools & Material Checklist for Identification

• Tape measure (a 100-foot tape is ideal)
• Bright flashlight
• String and a small weight (like a heavy nut)
• Your property files or online well log database
• A notepad to sketch what you see

Pumping from a Shallow Well (The Simple Setup)

How do you pump water from a shallow well? You use a jet pump. Think of it like drinking through a short straw. The pump creates a vacuum to suck water up from less than 25 feet below. This is a quick look at how shallow well jet pumps work. Essentially, they use a vacuum and venturi effects to lift water from shallow depths.

The entire system sits above ground, usually in your basement or a well pit. My own cottage has this exact setup. The key components are simple but need to work together perfectly.

• The Pump: A shallow well jet pump. It has one pipe going down into the well.
• The Pressure Tank: This holds water under pressure so the pump does not run every time you open a tap.
• The Suction Pipe: This is the “straw.” It must be rigid and airtight. A foot valve at the bottom acts like a one-way check valve to keep water in the pipe.

How to Get It Running: A Condensed Overview

Setting up a shallow well system is a common DIY project. The hardest part is getting it primed. Priming means filling the pump and suction line with water so it can create that initial suction.

1. Connect the suction pipe to the pump inlet. Every joint must be perfectly airtight. Use pipe dope or Teflon tape.
2. Install the foot valve on the end of the suction pipe and lower it into the well. It must stay submerged.
3. Connect the pump outlet to the pressure tank and your home’s plumbing.
4. Now, prime the pump. Remove the priming plug on the pump housing and pour water in until it is completely full. This can take several gallons.
5. Close the plug, turn on the power, and open a faucet. The pump should pull water up and start building pressure in the tank.

If you lose prime, the pump will run but no water will come out. You must shut it off and re prime it to avoid burning out the motor. This is the most common issue with these systems.

For power outages, knowing how to manually pump water from a well is smart. You can install a simple hand pump right next to your jet pump on the same suction line. It is a cheap and reliable backup.

The DIY vs. Pro Verdict

Difficulty Rating: 5/10. A handy homeowner with good plumbing basics can install and maintain a shallow well system. The concepts are straightforward. Getting the prime right and ensuring all seals are perfect is fussy work. If you are not confident in making airtight plumbing connections, hire a pro. A small leak on the suction side will doom the system to failure.

Pumping from a Deep Well (Going the Distance)

You need to get water from a deep well. A deep well has its water level deeper than about 25-30 feet. At that depth, you can’t suck water up like a normal straw. It’s like having a straw that’s three stories tall. You need a push from the bottom.

A submersible pump is your only real choice here. It’s a long, cylindrical pump you lower all the way down into the water. The entire unit lives underwater, pushing water up to your house.

The Parts You Need

• The Pump Unit: This is the motor and impellers sealed in a metal or plastic case.
• Drop Pipe: This is the heavy-duty pipe (often PVC or polyethylene) that carries the water up. The pump hangs from it.
• Well Seal: This is a heavy-duty cap that seals the top of your well casing. It holds the weight of the pump and pipe and keeps out contaminants.
• Control Box: For 3-wire submersible pumps, this box sits in your house or well house and protects the motor. 2-wire pumps have everything built in.

How It Gets Done (The High-Level View)

This is a two-person job, minimum. You need a strong capstan or tripod to lower the heavy assembly.

1. Assemble the pump, connect the drop pipe, and attach the safety rope and electrical cable.
2. Carefully lower the entire assembly down the well, making sure not to let the cable or pipe kink or scrape the casing.
3. Set the pump at the proper depth (usually well above the bottom to avoid sediment).
4. Secure the well seal on the casing. This is critical to prevent surface water from leaking in and contaminating your supply.
5. Connect the electrical wiring and plumbing to your house system.

Manually pumping from a deep well is nearly impossible without electricity. If the power is out, your best bet is using a portable generator to run the pump. Hand pumps for these depths are extremely specialized and expensive.

When people ask how to increase water in the pumps for wells, they’re usually asking the wrong question. You can’t increase the water the well itself produces (its yield). You can only make sure your pump is correctly sized for that yield. A pump too powerful will suck the well dry faster than it can refill. You need a pump that matches your well’s gallons-per-minute recovery rate.

Water Science Snippet: Deep well water often has higher mineral content. As water filters down through hundreds of feet of rock, it dissolves minerals like calcium and magnesium (hardness) and others that increase Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). This is why deep wells frequently need a water softener to prevent scale from clogging pipes and damaging appliances.

The Special Cases: Artesian, Dug, and Driven Wells

Not all wells are drilled deep holes. These three types have their own specific rules and headaches.

Artesian Well: When the Water Pushes Back

An artesian well taps into water that’s under natural pressure from the surrounding rock layers. The water may even flow to the surface on its own without a pump. Your pump’s main job here is often to control and regulate that flow, not just create it.

You absolutely need a sealed, pressurized system. A standard well seal won’t cut it. You use a specialized artesian well seal that can handle the upward pressure. If you don’t, you risk creating a permanent geyser in your well house or basement.

While a submersible pump is common, the unique component is the flow-restricting orifice. This is a precisely sized fitting that limits how much water can flow out of the well casing. It prevents the pump from overworking and protects the aquifer’s pressure.

Dug Well: The Old Stone-Lined Pit

A dug well is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a wide, shallow pit, often 3-10 feet across, lined with stone, brick, or concrete rings. They’re historical and charming, but prone to contamination and silt because they draw from shallow groundwater.

Pump placement is different. You often can’t fit a submersible pump inside the stone lining. The typical setup is a shallow well or convertible jet pump installed in a separate well house or your basement, sucking water from the well. Sometimes, a smaller submersible is hung inside the pit if there’s room.

This leads directly to the question, can you pump mud out of a well? Dug wells are the most susceptible to silt and mud. You can try, but you’ll ruin a standard pump. The real solution is a specialty silt filter or sediment trap on the suction line, or periodic professional cleaning to remove the muck from the bottom. My own cabin’s old dug well has a filter before the jet pump that I clean every season.

Driven Well: The Sand Point System

A driven well, or sand point, is a small-diameter pipe with a screened point that’s pounded into sandy soil. It’s shallow, usually less than 25 feet, and used for cabins, irrigation, or auxiliary water.

The pump is almost always above ground. You use a shallow well jet pump or a manual pitcher pump. This is the classic answer to how do Amish pump water from their wells. The hand-operated pitcher pump is simple, has no electrical parts, and is incredibly effective for these shallow, low-volume systems. You just prime it and start pumping.

The big limitation is the shallow depth. They are the first wells to go dry in a drought because they tap the very top of the water table.

What to Do When the Well Runs Dry or the Pump Fails

No water from the tap is an urgent problem. Let’s break down what to check and how to react.

Is Your Well Dry? How to Check and What Comes Next

Before you panic, diagnose the issue. Never run your pump on a dry well, the motor will overheat and burn out in minutes. If you’re asking “how do i pump dry well,” the answer is you don’t. You find the water first. Follow these steps.

• Check Power: Go to your breaker panel. Make sure the circuit for the well pump is on. Reset it if needed.
• Listen for the Pump: At the pressure tank, have someone turn on a faucet. You should hear a click from the pressure switch, then the pump motor (a hum or buzz) starting. No sound often means electrical failure.
• Check the Pressure Gauge: The gauge on your pressure tank should read between 30-50 PSI when the pump is off. If it’s at zero, you have a major leak or no water.
• Measure Water Level (If Possible): For older dug wells or if you have access, you can lower a weighted string to find the water. For a modern drilled well, this usually requires a pro with an electronic sounder.

If the well is truly dry, you have limited options. You can wait for it to recharge from rainfall or groundwater, which can take days or weeks. A more permanent fix is to lower the submersible pump deeper into the well, if space allows. The last resort is hydrofracturing, where a well contractor uses high-pressure water to open new fissures in the bedrock to increase yield.

Manual Pumping in an Emergency

Searching for “how to manually pump a well” or “how to manually pump water from a deep well” shows you’re planning for an outage. For a deep well with a submersible pump, manual pumping is not realistic without an alternative power source. You cannot hand-crank a pump 300 feet down.

Your real solutions depend on your well type.

• Shallow/Dug/Driven Wells: A portable hand pump or pitcher pump can be installed as a permanent backup. I have one on my old dug well for gardening.
• Deep Wells (Submersible Pump): Battery backup systems designed for well pumps are your best bet. The most reliable prep is a generator with a proper transfer switch to power your entire pump system.

Common Pump Problems You Can Fix

Many issues are simple fixes. Start here before calling for help.

• No Water: Check the pressure switch contacts for corrosion. Listen for a hissing sound that indicates a major leak in the drop pipe.
• Low Pressure: The pressure tank’s air bladder might be waterlogged. Check the air charge with a tire gauge on the tank’s schrader valve.
• Pump Cycles On/Off Rapidly: This is almost always a waterlogged pressure tank or a failed pressure switch. The tank needs air or replacement.
• Strange Noises (Grinding, Screeching): For a jet pump, this could be a clogged impeller or foot valve. For a submersible, it often signals bearing failure deep in the well.

System Maintenance Roadmap:

• Every 3 Months: Listen. A pump that runs for more than a minute to fill the tank might be struggling.
• Annually: Check the pressure tank air charge. Inspect the well seal for cracks or leaks. Test your water quality for bacteria and minerals.
• Every 3-5 Years: Have a professional perform a full system check, including pump amperage draw and water level measurement.

The Heart of the System: Choosing Your Pump and Pipe

Getting the right equipment is the foundation of a reliable water system.

Jet Pump vs. Submersible: The Final Showdown

The rule is simple. For wells deeper than about 25 feet, you need a submersible pump. A jet pump at that depth will work too hard and fail quickly. Here’s the breakdown.

Note: A deep well jet pump uses two pipes (one for pressure, one for suction) and can reach down to about 120 feet, but it’s less efficient than a submersible. I always recommend the submersible for anything beyond a crawlspace depth. At greater depths, the efficiency gap between submersibles and jet pumps grows and can affect long-term costs. A deeper look at submersible vs jet pump depth efficiency will be covered in the next section.

Pipes, Wires, and Power: Hooking It All Up

The pump is useless without the right infrastructure to bring the water home.

Drop Pipe Choices:

• PVC: Cheap and easy to thread. It’s rigid, so it can be tricky in deep wells. Avoid it if your water has high iron, it can stain.
• Polyethylene (Black Poly): The standard. It’s flexible, corrosion-proof, and uses clamp-on fittings. This is what I use on all my installs.
• Galvanized Steel: Old-school and extremely durable, but heavy and prone to rust over decades. You’ll find this in older systems.

Electrical Needs: A submersible pump needs a dedicated 240-volt circuit, proper grounding, and a control box (usually mounted on the well seal) to protect the motor. Never splice the pump cable above ground, the connection must be waterproof.

Tools & Material Checklist:

• Two large pipe wrenches (one to hold, one to turn)
• Teflon tape or pipe thread sealant rated for potable water
• A torque arrestor to stop the pump from swinging
• A stainless steel safety cable
• Wire strippers, a multimeter, and waterproof wire connectors

The DIY vs. Pro Verdict (Final): Swapping a shallow well jet pump in your basement is a solid DIY project if you’re handy. Replacing a submersible pump in a deep well is a difficulty 9/10 job. You need a heavy-duty pull truck, a well seal puller, and the skill to handle hundreds of feet of pipe and cable. One slip and your $1000 pump is lost at the bottom of the hole. This is a job for a licensed well professional.

Common Questions

How do I maintain prime in my shallow well pump?

Keep all suction pipe connections airtight with pipe dope or Teflon tape, and inspect the foot valve yearly for debris. If the pump loses prime, shut it off immediately to prevent motor damage, then refill the pump housing with water before restarting. Always ensure the foot valve stays submerged in the well.

What’s the biggest mistake people make with deep well submersible pumps?

Running the pump on a dry well is the top error-it can burn out the motor in minutes. Install a low-water cutoff switch if possible, and never splice the pump’s electrical cable above ground; use waterproof connectors at the well seal. Always verify water levels during routine checks.

How do I control pressure in an artesian well?

Use a specialized artesian well seal to handle natural upward pressure, and install a flow-restricting orifice to prevent over-pumping. Have a professional size and install these components to avoid damage. Never cap an artesian well with standard fittings, as it risks leaks or bursts, especially when using pump systems for artesian wells.

What’s the best way to protect a dug well from contamination?

Secure a watertight cover to block surface runoff and debris. Add a sediment trap or filter on the suction line to catch silt, and test water for bacteria and nitrates annually. Keep the area around the well clear of chemicals and waste.

Why might my driven well stop working in dry weather?

Driven wells tap the shallow water table, which can drop during droughts, and the screen may clog with sand. Check the water level with a weighted string and clean the screen if flow slows. Consider a backup water source or deeper well for reliability in arid seasons.

Keeping Your Well Water Flowing

The right pump, correctly installed for your well type, is the single most important factor for reliable water. Making a simple visual and auditory check of your system part of your regular routine is the best way to catch small problems before they leave you without water. Many well pump myths are easy to believe, but the facts matter. We’ll debug the most common myths to help you maintain reliable water.