One smart well pump controller to rule them all.
In today’s day and age, there are technological advancements everywhere. Everything from smartwatches to thermostats can be controlled by your phone. These things are designed to make your life easier and more efficient. But the question has to be asked, are the same technological advancements being applied in the well water industry? One component of the well water industry that could really benefit from being brought into the 21st century are well pump controllers.
Well pump controllers have one basic purpose, to control when your well pump runs and when it doesn’t. You may be wondering how such a simple task could benefit from technology. In a perfect world, such a simple task could be completed with little to no programming necessary, but we are in an ever-changing world. Groundwater levels are always changing, the water needs of the home or business owner are always changing. There are external factors that can affect the water levels to fluctuate as well. Pump failure or changes to the fractures in the ground can make groundwater either harder or easier to retrieve.
Well pump controllers that are only capable of turning a well pump on and off with no programming to adjust to fluctuating needs of a well have been available for decades, but not without some grief from people affected by ever-changing water situations as in the case of the low-yielding well. It is time for a change to a high tech solution. We have developed is a smart controller that can anticipate the changes in groundwater and other external factors to make your life easier, all while it is more efficiently doing its job. We’ll take a look at the current well pump controllers, some advancements made to them, and highlight the one pump controller that packs more features and functionality than anything else on the market.
Pressure Switches
Pressure switches are the simplest form of well water pump controllers. Most pressure switches are mounted near the pressure tank and have a quarter-inch water line that goes into them. From this water line, the pressure switch can mechanically determine when the water pressure is above or below the threshold.
Two terms commonly used with pressure switches for wells are “cut-in pressure” and “cut-out pressure”. The cut-in pressure is the low pressure when the pressure switch should power on the well pump to bring that pressure back up in the pressure tank. The standard cut-in pressure on most pressure switches is 30-40 PSI. The cut-out pressure is the high pressure where the pressure tank is fully pressurized and the pressure switch then cuts the power to the well pump off. The standard cut-out pressure on most pressure switches is 50-60 PSI.
Pressure switches for well pumps are very basic. Bringing power to the well pump when the pressure is low and cutting off the power when the pressure gets high enough. Over the years pressure switches have received some updates, such as being able to adjust those cut-in and cut-out points on some models, and some pressure switches even come equipped with a low-pressure cut-off. This means that if the well pumps for a while but the pressure just decreases to a low enough pressure, the pressure switch will shut itself off until it is reset by someone. That leaves the cut-in and cut-out pressure part of the pressure switch being the only automatic process by the pressure switch.
A simple pressure switch works perfectly well for many on wells that have a very ample supply of groundwater and doesn’t have much change to that available groundwater over the changing seasons. For many on low producing wells this can be problematic in the event of changing weather seasons, or environmental changes. Something as simple as a pressure switch cannot protect a well from being overpumped, a well pump from dry running, or a household from having enough water harvested and available during peak usage times. For anyone who needs something smarter to control their well pump, it is time for a smarter well pump controller than a pressure switch.
Pump Protection Device
Pump protection devices when used are often paired with a large tank storage system. These are installed to try to manage the effects of a low-yielding well. The devices are often used along with a pressure switch, and its main job is to protect the well pump from dry running. The pump protection device measures the amperage of the power going to the well. When there is a sudden change in the amperage indicating that the well is out of water and the pump is then dry running, the pump protection device will shut off power to the well pump and wait a preset amount of time before allowing the well pump to run again.
Pump protection devices add more control and additional features than a pressure switch with a low-pressure cut-off with a reset. It is more automated by having a preset wait timer without any need to reset the device every time the well runs out of water. On a quest to find the ultimate well pump controller for a low-producing well, a pump protection device still falls very short. A pump protection device only shuts off the pump when the pump has begun to dry run. That means that the well was already overpumped and out of water and that the pump had begun to dry run. To preserve well health and to truly protect a pump from dry running the well pump needs to be shut off before the well runs out of water. To solve these issues we must look to a more complex solution.
Timer-Based Well System
There are water collection systems on the market today that are tailed specifically to help with the issues of low-yielding wells. The systems restrict the flow of water coming from the well to harvest over time and store it up in one or multiple tanks. These systems come with timers to determine how long the system should run the well for and how long it shouldn’t run.
This feature would enable the installer to set the system’s settings to what the well can provide. When the system on the well was installed is seen to be able to pump water for about 15 minutes before running out and then needs about an hour for the aquifer to refill, then the installer can set the system to run for maybe 10-14 minute intervals with an hour break in between for that groundwater to replenish. This adds a great deal more complexity than what a pressure switch or pump protection device can offer. Though this comes with more automation and control, it is still flawed when it comes to protecting against overpumping a well and harvesting water efficiently and automatically.
As was mentioned earlier, groundwater levels are always changing. Whether it is due to infrastructure changes or the changing seasons, well water levels always change. A timer-based well system does not take this into account. Upon installation of the system, the installer may find that 10-14 minutes of run time before a wait timer is perfect, but that system may have been installed a late winter month. As the spring and summer months roll in there will be changes to the amount of groundwater available, making that 10-14 runtime inaccurate. This allows the well to again be overpumped and the well pump to begin dry running. To protect the well from overpumping with a timer-based solution, the timers would always need to be adjusted if there were any changes to the amount of available groundwater. With this in mind, this system can’t be considered automated. Peace of mind and maximum water harvesting efficiency is only available to those who have the time to always watch the water levels and adjust the timers accordingly.
These systems are still lacking the features and automation needed to protect a well from overpumping and a well pump from running dry. It’s about time we talked about the only solution out there that has the automation features we need.
Epp Well Solutions Well System
The Epp Well Solutions Low Yield Well System is the answer to the low yield well issue. It comes equipped with the most advanced well pump controller on the market. The pump controller is a smart computer that takes data from external sensors and analyzes it to determine whether or not to run the well pump. The system has a pressure sensor to measure the backpressure reading coming from the well to detect how much water is in the well. The system runs the well and observes the value in real time. If the system detects the well running low on water, the system shuts the pump off so that it doesn’t allow the well to run out of water. This adds extra protection against the well pump from dry running. It does this all automatically so there is no need to adjust timers or reset any devices.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The system runs automatic seasonal optimizations four times a year to learn as much as it can about the water availability in your well and it uses that data to adjust its settings. This ensures the best protection against overpumping and allows the maximum water harvesting capability. The system also comes equipped with a touch screen that displays whether or not the pumps are running, how much water is in the tank(s) ready to go, the pressure readings, the water usage over the past few months, and so much more. Built into the system is a booster pump that pumps the water from the tanks to pressurize the house or building. The booster pump is also controlled by the smart controller so that it also has dry run protection. The pump controller is so advanced it even self-diagnoses, and if there is a malfunction with any of the sensors or components the system will detect it and notify which part is malfunctioning. You can learn more about the many features that this low-yield well system comes with.
The Epp Well Solutions System is the answer to a low-yield well owner’s need for a smart and automatic well pump controller. This system brings pump controllers into the 21st century and it offers the features needed to protect a well from being overpumped automatically.
