How to Prime a Well Pump Two Line Jet Pumps & Drinking Water Wells InspectAPedia® -
How to get the water pump working again when the problem is lost prime
Fast and easy method to prime a well pump using a garden hose and a donor building
What types of water pumps are most likely to need to be primed?
Well pump & water tank diagnosis & repair procedures
Questions & answers about how to prime a water well pump
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This article describes how to prime a water pump to restore water pressure to a building.
Readers of this document should also see
Water Tank Types and before assuming that a water problem is due to the
well itself, see
Water pump and pressure tank repair diagnosis & cost an specific case which offers an example of diagnosis of loss of water pressure, loss of water, and analyzes the actual repair cost. Page top sketch courtesy of Carson Dunlop.
If your water pump is a two-line jet pump and if it's running but there is no water delivered to the building, the problem could be that the pump has lost its prime. This pump needs to send water down into the well (and through a special valve at the end of the water pickup-pipe in the well) in order to bring water back to the building.
See WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR for help in determining why you have no water or no water pressure in a building. If the diagnosis determines that you need to re-prime the water pump, the instructions are provided in this article.
If your water pump is a submersible unit the pump is located down in the well itself. In this case if you have not got water pressure, the problem may be with the pump or the well itself, but it's not a loss of prime - submersible water pumps are self-priming.
If your water pump is a one-line jet pump, it is sucking water from a shallow well; you probably don't need to do so, but the instructions below show how to prime the well pump and they should work equally well for either a one-line jet pump or a two line jet pump.
If your water pump keeps losing prime, a shallow well jet pump well line could have a bad foot valve (in the well WELL PIPING FOOT VALVES) or there may be a bad check valve on well piping at or near the water tank or near the above-ground water pump (CHECK VALVES) and so be losing prime.
A leak in the well line piping itself can also lead to loss of prime. If priming the well water pump using one of our methods shown below seems to fix the problem but soon the well pump loses prime again, your plumber will want to check for a bad foot valve in the well or a leak in the well piping between the well and the building. See WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS & REPAIR.
But where a jet pump is installed, you may have lost prime at the pump. The pump motor will run but no water is delivered. If this happens it is possible to re-prime the pump with water from another source. Check valves installed at the proper location
at the pump and perhaps elsewhere can help prevent loss of prime on this system. (Other problems that can give the same symptom include internal damage to the water pump, a well that has run dry, or a piping leak between the well and the building it serves.)
If your 2-line jet pump (or other above-ground well water pump) loses prime and cannot draw water from the well, don't let it keep running as you may burn up the pump motor or damage the pump internal parts. Take these steps:
Simple & Fast Well Pump Priming Method Using a Garden Hose
The steps below describe how to use an ordinary garden hose connected to another water supply source to prime a well pump. We give very detailed instructions, but actually the procedure is very simple and if it works, your pump will be primed and working in just a few minutes.
If your well pump has lost prime and you are about to try opening a plug on the water pump housing to add priming water you might see that the plug is badly rusted and corroded - or there may be other reasons why you don't want to start taking apart plumbing fittings, such as - it's Sunday night and there is no chance of purchasing any replacement parts if you break something.
Our photo (left) shows the priming plug on a Goulds two-line jet pump. If you click to enlarge the photo you'll see that we might have been able to remove and replace this plug but we decided to try the garden hose priming method first since we didn't want to disturb this rusty part.
Find a water donor building: If the water pump that needs to be primed is in a building close to a neighbor who has running water, this procedure will often get your well pump running again with the absolute least trouble and cost. Make sure that the neighboring building is open and available and that its water system is working - that is, you have running water there.
Find a garden hose hookup on the donor building: Make sure that the neighboring building has a hose connection to which you can connect a garden hose.
Our photo (left) shows that we have now connected a black washing machine hose to the cold water faucet in our donor building, and we have connected a green garden hose to the other end of our washing machine hose.
The hose connection at your donor building may be (most convenient) outside on a building wall closest to your own building, or it might be indoors (less convenient) at a clothes washing machine hook-up, a water tank drain valve, or similar fitting.
Make sure that valve is operable and that you can turn it on and off without problem.
Find a garden hose hookup on the recipient building whose pump needs to be primed: Find a garden hose connection on the building whose pump needs to be primed. Any fitting will do, but close to the water pump, such as a water tank drain valve, would be the very best place to connect.
Get a garden hose: Obtain sufficient length of common garden hose that you can reach from the water donor building to the pump prime building hose connections.
Watch out: don't assume that the interior of a garden hose is sanitary or that water run through an ordinary garden hose is safe to drink. Also some garden hoses contain lead - do not drink water from a garden hose unless you know that yours is not a lead-containing hose. If you are purchasing a new garden hose, check the label.
Some garden hose product labels indicate that the hose is safe for drinking. Others may indicate that the hose should not be used for drinking. Unfortunately still other hoses are simply not labeled - we won't know about any chemical or lead hazards from drinking from such a hose without testing.
The lead hazard in a garden hose, as with possible lead hazards from lead plumbing or lead-solder-based copper pipe connections, depends on several variables including how long water has been resting inside the hose (longer absorbs more lead if lead is present), on the chemistry of your water supply (more aggressive may leach out more lead), and of course on the lead levels in the source: hose, pipe, or somewhere else.
If you are in any doubt about the cleanliness of a garden hose being used for well pump priming or for an emergency water supply connection between buildings, sanitizing the hose or the plumbing system after it has been used.
Get a clothes washing machine hose: Obtain a short clothes washing machine hose - this is a garden hose that has a female connection (screw-on fitting) on both ends of the hose. You can see a black washer hookup hose in our photo just above. You can borrow one of these right from a washing machine hookup if necessary.
Turn off electrical power to the water pump at the recipient building. Drain water and water pressure from the system piping.
Open a plumbing fixture in the recipient building nearest the water tank in the recipient building. This will let the incoming donor building water push air out of the recipient building's piping.
Connect the two buildings: Connect the clothes washing machine hose to the male end of the garden hose. Connect one end of the garden hose to the donor building water source.
First Flush out the garden hose for a few minutes by running water from the donor building. Then connect the other end of the garden hose to the recipient building. You now have a garden hose connecting faucets or spigots between the two buildings.
Our photo (left) shows our garden hose that was carried from the donor building (where it is already connected) and connected to a convenient faucet near our water pump and tank.
You can see the green hose hooked up in the left of the photo. Following the copper pipe down and to the right you'll see a house water shutoff valve (just to the right of the iron strapping supporting the plastic well pipes at the center of the photo). This valve has to be opened if we want water to run from the donor building into our water pump and water tank.
At the right side of our photo you can see our water pump that sits atop the water pressure tank in this installation. A peek at the gauge shows that after we opened all of the necessary water valves we were successful in pressurizing the water pump and tank to around 40 psi.
Turn on water at the donor building. Shortly you should hear air coming out of the plumbing fixture in the recipient building. When you see water coming out of the recipient building faucet, close the faucet.
Listen for water entering the water tank and pump at the recipient building. If the water tank was empty or low on water you'll hear water entering the tank. If there is a water pressure gauge (and it's working) you'll see water pressure rise at the receiving water tank.
When water stops flowing into the recipient building you will have pressurized its water system (and water pump) to the shut-off water pressure that the donor building is able to provide.
Our photo shows that we've pressurized our recipient pump up to 40 psi using water from our donor building.
Turn off the spigot at the receiving building so that you have in effect closed the connection between the two building. In fact you can turn off the faucet at the donor building as well, but don't disconnect the hose yet - we might need to repeat this process a bit more.
Turn on electrical power to the water pump at the recipient building. The pump might not begin to run if the water tank pressure is at or above that pump's cut-out pressure.
Test the water pump operation by turning on water in the recipient building at any plumbing fixture. If you have successfully primed the water pump, you'll hear the pump turn on. When you hear your water pump turn on, turn off the running water and listen to see if the pump reaches cut-out pressure and turns itself off.
If the water pump turns off at the end of a pumping cycle you have finished priming the pump. Run some water to flush out the system and reduce the chances that you've contaminated the pump or piping with bacteria from your own procedure.
If the water pump turns on but keeps running for a minute or two, check the water pressure gauges at the pump and tank. If the gauges are not rising in pressure (or if the water tank is not filling with water - is not getting heavier) then the pump has not been successfully primed. What now?
Try repeating the steps in this procedure, making sure you're getting water into the receiving building's water piping system, pump, and water tank. If your water tank is a steel bladderless type with a working drain, you might try opening the tank drain to see if water is in the tank. If the tank is dry try leaving that drain open at the start of the procedure so that incoming water can enter the tank by pushing air out at the drain - but when you see water coming out at the drain, close it.
If the above garden hose priming method for your pump is not available or just doesn't work, then follow the water pump priming steps we outline at Prime the Pump by Priming Plug Opening.
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Water Supply & Drain Piping, Wells, Pumps, Water Supply Equipment
Access Water Energy, PO Box 2061, Moorabbin, VIC 3189, Australia, Tel: 1300 797 758, email: sales@accesswater.com.au Moorabbin Office: Kingston Trade Centre, 100 Cochranes Rd, Moorabbin, VIC 3189
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Smart Tank, Installation Instructions [ copy on file as /water/Smart_Tank_Flexcon.pdf ] - , Flexcon Industries, 300 Pond St., Randolph MA 02368, www.flexconind.com, Tel: 800-527-0030 - web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://www.flexconind.com/pdf/st_install.pdf
Typical Shallow Well One Line Jet Pump Installation [ copy on file as /water/Jet_Pump_Grove_Elect_Jet_Pumps_1.pdf ] - , Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf
Typical Deep Well Two Line Jet Pump Installation [ copy on file as /water/Jet_Pump_Grove_Elect.pdf ] - , Grove Electric, G&G Electric & Plumbing, 1900 NE 78th St., Suite 101, Vancouver WA 98665 www.grovelectric.com - web search -7/15/2010 original source: http://www.groverelectric.com/howto/38_Typical%20Jet%20Pump%20Installation.pdf
Water Fact Sheet #3, Using Low-Yielding Wells [ copy on file as /water/Low_Yield_Wells_Penn_State.pdf ] - , Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, Cooperative Extension, School of Forest Resources, web search 07/24/2010, original source: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/XH0002.pdf
Water pressure tanks - how to diagnose the need for air, how to add air, stop water pump short cycling to avoid damage - water storage water pressure tank safety.
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The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 2010, $69.00 U.S., is available from Carson Dunlop, and from the InspectAPedia bookstore. The 2010 edition of the Home Reference Book is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. InspectAPedia.com ® author/editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume.
Crystal Clear Supply provides portable ceramic water filter purifiers and portable reverse osmosis water treatment equipment - see http://www.crystalclearsupply.com/category_s/7.htm
Handbook of Disinfectants and Antiseptics, Joseph M. Ascenzi (Editor), CRC, 1995, ISBN-10: 0824795245 ISBN-13: 978-0824795245 "The evaluation of chemical germicides predates the golden age of microbiology..." -
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Potable Aqua® emergency drinking water germicidal tablets are produced by the Wisconsin Pharmacal Co., Jackson WI 53037. 800-558-6614 pharmacalway.com
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by A. D. Russell (Editor), W. B. Hugo (Editor), G. A. J. Ayliffe (Editor), Blackwell Science, 2004. ISBN-10: 1405101997, ISBN-13: 978-1405101998.
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The Pharmaceutical Journal: "This is an excellent book. It deals comprehensively and authoritatively with its subject with contributions from 31 distinguished specialists. There is a great deal to interest all those involved in hospital infection ... This book is exceptionally well laid out. There are well chosen references for each chapter and an excellent index. It is highly recommended." The Journal of Hospital Infection.: "The editors and authors must be congratulated for this excellent treatise on nonantibiotic antimicrobial measures in hospitals and industry ... The publication is highly recommended to hospital and research personnel, especially to clinical microbiologists, infection-control and environmental-safety specialists, pharmacists, and dieticians."
New England Journal of Medicine: City Hospital, Birmingham, UK. Covers the many methods of the elimination or prevention of microbial growth. Provides an historical overview, descriptions of the types of antimicrobial agents, factors affecting efficacy, evaluation methods, and types of resistance. Features sterilization methods, and more. Previous edition: c1999. DNLM: Sterilization--methods.
U.S. Army Field Manual 21-10, Field Hygiene and Sanitation, 1988, web search 07/02/2010, original source: http://www.enlisted.info/field-manuals/fm-21-10-field-hygiene-and-sanitation.shtml The purpose of this manual is to assist individual soldiers, unit commanders, leaders and field sanitation teams in preventing disease and environmental injuries. The manual provides information on preventive medicine measures (PMM) to the individual soldier as well as essential information for the unit commander, unit leaders, and the unit field sanitation team on applying unit level PMM.
When Technology Fails, Matthew Stein, Chelsea Green Publisher, 2008,493 pages. ISBN-10: 1933392452 ISBN-13: 978-1933392455, "... how to find and sterilize water in the face of utility failure, as well as practical information for dealing with water-quality issues even when the public tap water is still flowing". Mr. Stein's website is www.whentechfails.com/
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