OT well pump

The power was cut off to the house, when it came back on now they have no water.
Has me scratching my head, I can't get over there till tomorrow evening to check things out. Could the surge when it came back pop the breaker? I know the pressure tank, pressure switch are all pretty new. I replaced them last winter. Any ideas?

(quoted from post at 20:20:42 10/13/14) The power was cut off to the house, when it came back on now they have no water.
Has me scratching my head, I can't get over there till tomorrow evening to check things out. Could the surge when it came back pop the breaker? I know the pressure tank, pressure switch are all pretty new. I replaced them last winter. Any ideas?

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Is the pressure switch one of those that cuts off when the pressure is too low? My one livestock well is that way. Power goes off, water gets used so pressure goes down, switch "shuts off" when pressure gets too low (it would be for if there was a major leak, pump would shut off). So the handle on the switch just needs held on a few seconds until it builds up pressure again.

OK that is a good thought. I will try that as soon as I'm sure there is power. Only drag here is the tank and switch are under the house in a crawl space, been raining a few days, gonna be muddy.

Why would you put a tank under the house?

I have lost power many times in the past 40 years. I have NEVER had an issue with pump working after power comes on even if the tank was empty and had no pressure.

I think you may have other issues if it tripped the breaker.

Ours and many we know have the tank in the crawl space. Stays warm enough to not freeze

Ours and many others we know have the tank in the crawl space so not to freeze

(quoted from post at 16:36:39 10/13/14) Why would you put a tank under the house?

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For that matter, why build a house without a basement? Floors are warmer. No lost living space used up by laundry, utilities, mud room, An extra bathroom and shower for cleanup after dirty jobs, storage, cold room etc.

That's exactly what happens here - one of us will forget and flush the stool, or the cattle will get a drink, and when the pressure drops below 10 lbs it has to be manually restarted. A little aggravating, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Had the same problem a while back. One side of a double breaker tripped. Wouldn't push enough water to fill a thimble. All that was needed was to turn them both off again and reset them.

one reason for no basement is no basements can be constructed in flood plains, another is high ground water levels

We had the well in a lightening-prone spot growing up. I couldn't count the number of times that thing was fried.

Well George (no pun intended) I don't know if the breaker is tripped. I have only looked at this over the phone. The electricity company cut the power and when it came back on they had no water. Pressure tanks in crawl spaces are not uncommon around here.
I love how much information and help is on this website, but it always cracks me up when people say why did you build the house that way etc. This house does have a basement under half of it, but the other half is on a rock ledge with just a crawl space. The home is 40 years old and I was just getting out of school when the farmer set the corner stone.

I was just wondering. All the wells I have ever seen out here, the pump and tank are in a below ground hole or above ground in a small pump shed.

Simple reason, high water table!

(reply to post at 12:20:42 10/13/14)

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Here in NH houses pretty much always have basements, and there are many that have problems getting water in them. A few years back, it might have been a decade and 1/4,LOL, they passed a law that the mean high water level has to be determined, and the basement floor cannot be below it. It is common to see new homes built with the first floor ten feet above the ground. They make business for the truckers who haul in fill to bring the ground level up to the house.

The one thing that I see that has not been mentioned here is that it could be a bad foot valve. If the foot valve does not hold, and anyone attempts to turn on the water, the whole thing loses its prime, and has to be reprimed. Saw this happen at my buddy's house last year. Power went out, his GF turned on the water, and when the power returned, no water. Had to reprime the system.

Who builds in a swamp or a flood plain ?
We put a layer of drainage stone under and around basements. And a poured concrete foundation with re-rod instead of concrete blocks .
The water drains away instead of pressing against the foundation

My cousins drill and service wells, some irrigation work, water/septic systems, heat pumps, etc. So in addition to the neighbors, I've been along with them to a few dozen houses. "Helped" drill my first well when I was probably 4, helped without the quotes a few years later. Seen a few things.

Basements-Water level is part of it, I used to have a flowing well before the near constant droughts, still some west and north of here. Post holes used to always fill with water before you'd get to the bottom. Not everyone has basements though some do, with waterproofing and sump pump methods, some new houses are getting them around here. But often people build them in hillier ground in neighboring areas, or they bring in a lot of dirt to make the entire basement above actual ground level. Town has more basements, suppose with lack of space, more crowded areas make it more of a priority. Old basements have leaking issues, I know of more than a few that spend $$ to trench in the sump pump systems. I read something about places like Oklahoma, small percent have them, something like 2% (don't quote that, but it is low). Also, personal preference, some people don't want stairs. I don't have one, my main house, parts are more than 100 years old, one section was a country school house, one a shed, and one built newer. I have a cellar by the main house and another by the storage house about 1/4 mile away, so have the storm shelter and cold storage covered.

Switch/pressure tank-Seen them about anywhere. My one stock well is in a brick lined pit, when it rains it needs a sump pump to clear ground water or it fills up. The house one is in the crawl space, doesn't require additional heat like an outside structure would (some people do that, bad if the electricity is off several days, unless not electric heat). Doesn't take room upstairs, but can still hear it click off and on so it's helpful if there's an issue. They have big metal pressure tank systems that attach to the top of wells and get buried, but not many around got those, they are expensive.

There are whole towns in designated flood plains. As to who would build in one, as an example, you don't know people who build near rivers?

Before forced air furnaces, all older homes in
Indiana had to have a basement for the gravity
convection furnaces to work.

I have a home built in 1939 on wet clay. The man
who built the house insisted on a poured
basement.

I think sometime in the late 40's or early 50's
contractors decided to make cheap homes with no
basements. Perhaps those homes were built for
parents of baby boomers.

I refuse to live a house without a basement. Too
many tornadoes. I hate working on the plumbing,
especially on slab homes and crawl spaces.

Well it is still raining, actually pouring right now. I got the pump working, it was a zero pressure thing. The people that bought the place are new to a well and with the power off they used every last drop of water out of the pressure tank and pipes. I had to mess with the pressure switch for a while to get enough water to prime the system.
Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas.

(quoted from post at 01:11:05 10/14/14) I was just wondering. All the wells I have ever seen out here, the pump and tank are in a below ground hole or above ground in a small pump shed.

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Ours (pump and pressure tank) is in a pit on top of the well, about 50 ft. from the house, but equal distance to the barn and house. Kind of a pain to have to do something in the dead of winter.... had a wire go bad and burn in two, was down in the hole, stooped over, connecting it back up with a flash light and a howling blizzard going on over my head. What's a little strange is the original pressure tanks and pumps are still in the basement, one for the well and one for the cistern that sits right next to the well. Cistern has always been dry when I really needed it.

For some of us in big country, it is cheaper/easier to build out instead of down. Spreading out is easier than digging! Can still motivate around the house when age comes on, too.
now, if you are stuck on some postage stamp piece of ground, that is another story.