The life expectancy of a submersible well pump greatly depends on a number of factors. The main factor being the materials used and quality of the manufacturing process. You can find very cheap deep well pumps that will only last you a month or so, and other well pumps that are made with quality materials and processes with those pumps lasting 15 years or longer. So really the main factor is who made the pump and whether they made a quality pump or not. But with any pump, there are some things that can cut into the life expectancy and shorten a pump's lifespan.
One of the major factors in how long a well pump will last is the amount of times the pump cycles on and off. The more a pump cycles the quicker it will die, so you want to try and reduce the cycling as much as possible. One way to do this is by getting a larger pressure tank. When a pressure tank is smaller, the pressure switch will tell the pump to kick on after only a small amount of water has been used in the tank. If you are filling the tank with the pump faster than the water is being used, then the pump could cycle on and off multiple times during the length of one shower. Let's say you have a 20 gallon pressure tank, a shower that is using 5 gallons per minute(GPM), and a pump that fills the tank at 15 GPM. The tank will call for water after only a minute or two, and the pump will fill it back up in about a minute and the pressure switch will tell the pump to shut off. If that shower lasts for 5-10 minutes, the pump could cycle 2-3 times during one shower. This is all caused by the pressure tank being small. If that pressure tank were an 80 gallon pressure tank, it might not have even kicked the pump on during the time it took to shower. So one way you can help prevent your pump from cycling as often is to use a larger pressure tank. How large it should be depends on space and budget, but as large of a tank as you are comfortable with will be the best way to get some extra life out of your pump.
Another big factor in how long a submersible well pump will last is the environment it is in. Some wells have crystal clear water with almost no impurities, some wells have lots of sand and grit in the water, and others have very hard mineral rich water. All of these things can play a part in determining the lifespan of the pump. A well with crystal clear water is obviously the best environment for it to be in, as there isn’t really anything in the water that can take time off the lifespan of the pump. Wells with sandy, gritty water have particulates that over time can wear down parts of the pump and cause them to fail. And wells with hard mineralized water will start to cause build up on the pump and its interior components, which of course can cause issues and will likely lead to a shorter pump lifespan. Unfortunately, the environment the pump is put into isn't always something that we can control, it’s really just down to the water quality of the land where the well is located. In certain situations you can do things to help mitigate the issues, such as if you have hard water you can pull the pump every so often and try to clean the build up off of it. But it is a good idea to learn about your well’s water and be aware that a pump might not last as long as advertised if you have hard water, sandy water, etc.
If you have any questions about this article, or anything to do with well pumps, feel free to give one of our pump specialists a call at 855-560-5670.
Looking for some more background reading about the DIY well pump install process? Check out this article about how long the self-install process takes.
