The Importance of Regular Maintenance for Your Water Pump

Water pumps are incredibly useful and versatile tools that humanity has been using for thousands of years. However, like all other pieces of machinery, if you want yours to last as long as possible without failure you’ll need to invest in routine maintenance to keep it up to shape. Normal wear and tear, along with other mechanical issues, can be prevented from having any serious consequences by simply examining and caring for the pump regularly.  

Pump Maintenance Saves You Time, Money, and Effort

At the end of the day, there are a lot of various things you’d like to spend your money on other than buying and installing a new water pump. Besides the obvious costs, this wastes your time and can take hours of work to figure out how to best accomplish it.  

In order to avoid these unnecessary hassles and costs, it’s imperative to have your water pump looked at regularly. Just like you wouldn’t drive your car year after year without performing some basic maintenance routines, like changing the oil or getting new tires when they wear out, you shouldn’t let your water pump run continuously without having it examined once in a while either.  

Now, water pumps are extremely varied pieces of equipment, so there are lots of ways routine maintenance is important, and many different ways to conduct it. For example, if you just have a small indoor electric pump, test it every few months to make sure it will function in an emergency. 

Next, let’s look at some of the best general methods to maintain larger pumps that run more often and why it’s so important.

Why Routine Maintenance is Important

Some of the major reasons routine water pump maintenance is so important are: 

1. You can catch problems before they become too serious.
2. Safety will increase and the risk of accidents will decrease.  
3. The pump will have a longer workable lifespan.
4. The pump will operate at its maximum level and efficiency.
5. You’ll save money in the end by not having to shut down operations, buy a new pump, or pay for costly maintenance when problems get out of control.

All of these benefits serve to decrease your legal and financial liabilities and save you money in the end. If you’re on a worksite, always make sure maintenance logs are documented appropriately, and if your pump is at home you should still make sure to keep good records and receipts of all maintenance performed in case you need them in the future.

How to Perform Water Pump Maintenance

It’s easy to see why maintenance should be done, so now let’s look into how exactly the experts recommend performing it. These tips relate to above-ground, accessible pumps. If you have a submersible pump, like a below-ground submersible well pump, it’s recommended to hire professionals to service it.

Typically, water pump experts recommend performing routine maintenance approximately every 8 hours of runtime as a routine, once every 3 months, and once a year.  

8-hour maintenance routines:

1. Check engine fluid levels according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
2. Check the fuel level and inspect all lines and connections for breaks or leaks.
3. Check the coolant levels and make sure the coloration is correct.
4. Check the oil levels.
5. Ensure the radiator is free from dust and clean the air filter dust port.
6. Check the seals for leakage.

Listen and feel for unusual noises or vibrations that can indicate a more serious issue.

Quarterly (3 month) maintenance routines:

1. Check all bolts and mounting areas for tightness.
2. Check all belts for fraying or worn areas.
3. Generally speaking, oil should be changed out every 2,000 hours of use 
4. Bearings should be greased after every 2,000 hours of use, although this may vary and can be calculated based on RPM, runtime, and a few other variables.  
5. Check shaft alignment.
6. Check all clamps, radiator hoses, O-rings, and other seals for tightness.

Annual maintenance routines:

1. At this point, you should check the pump’s performance by measuring the flow rate, head pressure, motor amp draw, and vibration at each bearing. These benchmarks can be compared to those established when the pump was new.  
2. Check surfaces and frame for damage.
3. Examine shafts and sleeves for damage. 
4. Inspect the impeller for wear.

Now, it’s important to understand that this is only a rough overview of recommended maintenance, and in reality, it gets a lot more complicated. If you aren’t sure what you are doing, it can be easy to damage the equipment when opening it up, especially for the quarterly and annual routines. In this case, it’s best to go with the professionals, as they provide many benefits like on-call service and replacement pumps in case yours goes down and needs to be repaired.

Overall, the benefits from working with professional pump companies far outweigh the cost and will save you time, money, and effort in the end. Don’t neglect your pump maintenance and contact the professionals today if you need help.