The correct sizing of your water well pump plays a large role in ensuring that you'll have enough water coming out of your faucet whenever you need it. The pump should always have a capacity that is less than your well. However, it also needs to be large enough to have a yield that meets the needs of your home.

Calculating How Much Water You Need

To determine how large your pump needs to be, you will need to determine how many gallons per minute you will need. The pump needs to be able to meet the normal peak demand rather than the average use. For example, the pump should be selected based on how many gallons will be used when several family members will be taking showers in a row before bed. Fortunately, there are several tricks you can use to determine how many gallons you'll need.

One approach is to look at how many fixtures you have in your home. Then, for each fixture, count that as one gallon. However, you could also try to more specifically calculate how many gallons you're using. In the span of seven minutes, a shower typically uses 35 gallons, a toilet uses 5 gallons, a sink uses 3 gallons, and a dishwasher uses 14 gallons. 

Conserving Water

If you would like to save money on your water well pump, you could try to conserve on water. However, you'll never know if you have a situation where you might need more water than necessary. Therefore, it's better to overestimate how much water you'll need and choose a pump that will help you meet your household demands. 

Meeting Demand with a Low-Capacity Well

However, if your well does not have the capacity to meet your everyday demands, the well pump may not be enough. Instead, you will need to use water storage so that you can supply your home with additional water during high peak demand. Simply installing a pump that is too large will potentially cause damage to your pump as it attempts to extract water from the well.

A large water tank can not only help you meet demand, but it can also cause your well pump to last longer. It will not have to cycle as often, and this will place less strain on the pump. If you're not sure which pump is right for your home, make sure to contact a company that offers residential water well pump services.