I just bought a foreclosed vacation home. It shows water damage in the kitchen with buckled floors and hanging insulation in the crawl space. I cant figure out how to turn on the water supply. The system has a direct copper line from the crawl space to the bathroom with several tees to supply toilet, tub, sink, then directly to hot water heater, which returns hot water to sink and tub. THATS IT. there is no storage tank or pressure switch. Could this be hooked up directly with an electric switch to turn on and off as needed ? Is that possible? Should I be looking at switches on the wall for my answer?
You need to look for a well-head – typically an iron pipe about 6" in diameter sticking out of the ground somewhere. From the well-head you will be able to determine the type of pump that is/was installed.
It is often the case that foreclosed houses are gradually stripped of anything valuable during the foreclosure process. We purchased a house under similar conditions last year, it was stripped of appliances, some plumbing fixtures, heating system components and about anything else that could be easily removed and pawned or sold for a few bucks. You may have no system at all in place.
Anyway, from the well you can determine what sort of pump you will need or even if one is in place. If it is an in-well pump, there will be a fairly thick cable going into the well-cap – trace that back to the house and see where it is connected – typically at or near the main electrical panel, sometimes with a separate pump switch, usually labeled as such. If there is no cable at the well-head (or fitting for a cable, or trace of a cable to it), then you likely had a shallow-well system somewhere inside the house itself – typically near the manifold you described. And that would also typically be a pump mounted on a bladder-tank, pretty obvious.
But that there is no immediately visible pressure-tank in place suggests that the entire system has been removed, and you may have to start from scratch. If you cannot find a well-head, the system may have used what is called a ‘well-point’ – this is a system where an iron pipe (usually a 2" galvanized iron heavy-wall pipe fitted with a ‘well-point’ foot valve) is actually hammered into the ground into the nearest aquifer and that is connected to a low-capacity pump and tank (a reciprocating ‘Myers’ pump was the usual choice). If you have an older house, very likely this is the system that was in place – and, again, it was stripped out during the foreclosure process. It is usually a poor idea to try and reuse a well-point as most modern pumps are of a higher capacity than they can deliver safely,
Good luck with it – I hope you find the well, and, better, a working pump in it. Tanks and switch-controls are not terribly expensive – but make sure you deliver the correct voltage to that pump – call an expert if in doubt. If you have a good shallow-well, you can purchase a pump & tank for a few hundred dollars or so, but if you have to start from scratch you are in for a few thousand anyway. While you are at it, take the opportunity to install a good whole-house filter system.
Most water wells are hard wired directly to a fuse/breaker with a curcuit switch inline at the pressure tank and a safety fuse/breaker nearby. Check your main fuse/breaker box, in the well house/pit, check the safety fuse/breaker box and pressure switch. HEED EXTREME CAUTION, most wells are wired with 220v. If you’re skeptical in any way, call a professional, better to be safe than sorry.
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You need to look for a well-head – typically an iron pipe about 6" in diameter sticking out of the ground somewhere. From the well-head you will be able to determine the type of pump that is/was installed.
It is often the case that foreclosed houses are gradually stripped of anything valuable during the foreclosure process. We purchased a house under similar conditions last year, it was stripped of appliances, some plumbing fixtures, heating system components and about anything else that could be easily removed and pawned or sold for a few bucks. You may have no system at all in place.
Anyway, from the well you can determine what sort of pump you will need or even if one is in place. If it is an in-well pump, there will be a fairly thick cable going into the well-cap – trace that back to the house and see where it is connected – typically at or near the main electrical panel, sometimes with a separate pump switch, usually labeled as such. If there is no cable at the well-head (or fitting for a cable, or trace of a cable to it), then you likely had a shallow-well system somewhere inside the house itself – typically near the manifold you described. And that would also typically be a pump mounted on a bladder-tank, pretty obvious.
But that there is no immediately visible pressure-tank in place suggests that the entire system has been removed, and you may have to start from scratch. If you cannot find a well-head, the system may have used what is called a ‘well-point’ – this is a system where an iron pipe (usually a 2" galvanized iron heavy-wall pipe fitted with a ‘well-point’ foot valve) is actually hammered into the ground into the nearest aquifer and that is connected to a low-capacity pump and tank (a reciprocating ‘Myers’ pump was the usual choice). If you have an older house, very likely this is the system that was in place – and, again, it was stripped out during the foreclosure process. It is usually a poor idea to try and reuse a well-point as most modern pumps are of a higher capacity than they can deliver safely,
Good luck with it – I hope you find the well, and, better, a working pump in it. Tanks and switch-controls are not terribly expensive – but make sure you deliver the correct voltage to that pump – call an expert if in doubt. If you have a good shallow-well, you can purchase a pump & tank for a few hundred dollars or so, but if you have to start from scratch you are in for a few thousand anyway. While you are at it, take the opportunity to install a good whole-house filter system.
References :
Provided that the you are not on city water, somewhere there will be an expansion tank and pressure switch (having said that there is a new style of well pump controller that doesnt require a tank but it does have a control box that sits on the wall, probably not your situation though).
The tank and switch don’t neccassarily have to be in your dwelling, sometimes it will be in a "pump house" in the yard. If this is the case probably the breakers for the pump will be in the breaker panel in the main house, unless the pump house serves more than just your dwelling. In that case there could be circuit breakers or switches in the pump house.
Did you check to see if there was a water shut off near the wall that the water supply comes in at.
As a side note, it sounds like you had a flood. This leads me to beleive your pipes are ruptured maybe due to freezing. when you do find the "on" switch, let the water flow for 10 to 15 sec, then you should hear the water flow stop, after the flow stops, shut the water valve off, wait 30 sec, turn it back on. If you hear water flow, you got a problem.
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