Today was the warmest it is supposed to be all week, therefore, today was Well Day.

We needed to entirely disassemble the well pump until we could find the cause of its failure two days ago.

The pump we have is called SimplePump. And it is – simple, I mean. They are designed to be installed and serviced by the homeowner (you know, the way things used to be, before everything got computerized and complicated), and as long as you have the correct tools on hand, installing (or uninstalling) isn’t difficult. Doing it alone wouldn’t be fun, but with two people, it is quite doable.

Our well isnt terribly deep, and the pump sits about halfway down, so we only have about 40 feet of pipe and rods to deal with. Each piece is carefully unscrewed from the next and laid out in the order of removal. Unfortunately, given the nature of well pumps, that means that each length of pipe contains a certain amount of water that rather gleefully bursts out of the loosening joints and drenches those standing nearby. Good thing it wasnt viciously cold today, because we got WET.

We carefully examined each piece as we removed it, looking for the failure point. We got all the way to the very last piece before we found it. The lift rod had come unscrewed from the coupling in the cylinder. Nothing damaged whatsoever. Best case scenario, Thank You God!

A small bit of Loctite blue and firm rethreading, and the pump is repaired.

Now, every piece has to be cleaned in a bleach solution and re-installed. It’s a slow process because rushing risks dropping the whole thing down the well, never to be seen again. Slow and careful, step by step, cleaning every part thoroughly and tightening the couplings firmly to prevent having to do this again in another three months’ time, we reassemble the pump and lower it down the well.

Does it work?

It works! We have water again!

Sadly, task #2 for the day – change the oil in the tractor – was not so straightforward. We can’t get the oil pan plug out. Gunked up and partially stripped, that thing is IN there. 2 applications of penetrant spray did next to nothing. Tomorrow, we will get a bit more insistent and dig out the propane torch. Asking nicely didn’t work. Next comes force.