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We have a drilled well in the new place in NH...
How does the electric pump work in a well? Is it continuously pressurizing the system? Only going on when the water is turned on? Is there some type of collection tank that refills?
How long does the water run for (if at all) if the power is out?
Thanks!
normally you have a pressure tank in the basement with a pressure switch in the tank that turns the pump on and off when necessary.
when the power goes out, the pump can no longer turn on so as soon as you run out of pressure you loose water, could be low on pressure and need to turn on as soon as you open the faucet or you could get a few gallons if the tank was fully pressurized. depending on size of tank.
in mine, as much as 7-8 gallons iirc
if electricity/water is a serious concern, get a backup generator
If there is no pressure tank, get one. Biggest you can.
Power goes out, you can continue to brush teeth, make dinner, wash hands etc with nO power until the pressure bleeds down. Also keeps your pump from short cycling.
I put an oversized tank in my house when I built it, I think it's a 22 or 24 gallon tank. As mentioned already, you can usually wash up a couple times, flush the toilet a couple times and be fine. Even when the pressure is low, you can still go down to the tank and get water from it if you need..at least if it's like mine you can. So in theory, you should be able to get at least 3/4 of the total volume of water
Any water source works to fill the back of a toilet to make it flush, brook, lake. with a gravity septic system, you can do that forever, with a pump system, yer in the same boat as well water, once the pump chamber fills up, its no takin shits either
Kill the power at the fuse box and see what happens. Some wells have natural water pressure and actually need to be capped off and controlled.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-artesian-well.htm