My Well Pump Won't Shut Off (Poulsbo, WA)

What usually causes well pump running constantly in Poulsbo

In Poulsbo we check a failed check valve before anything else, because a wet crawlspace near the bay is how it shows up here. Lets water drain back down the well when the pump stops. Till with roots out Big Valley Road makes the signs misleading, so we confirm rather than assume.

Next: a leak inside the house. Cycling stops when the house shutoff is closed. With bay-side outwash that drains instantly under subdivision lots off Viking Avenue, the symptoms can look identical to the first cause, which is why the meter test and the locate matter.

And a leak on the buried line: long poly well lines go brittle and split, often at a rock pressing on the pipe or a bend. Less common on compact lots near Front Street, but we've found it near Liberty Bay.

First steps on a Poulsbo property

Up Finn Hill and Viking Way the hardpan surfaces water downhill of the break.

Do this before anyone digs sand near Liberty Bay that sloughs in Poulsbo: note the rhythm: slow steady cycling or rapid short-cycling. Close the valve after the pressure tank and watch the gauge. It takes minutes and it tells us whether the problem is on compact lots near Front Street or inside the house.

How we fix it

The repair side is well line leak detection. On acreage along Big Valley Road that means restore, then excavate at the break in hardpan on Finn Hill and Viking Way where the problem actually is, then isolate the problem. If what we expose is galvanized under Front Street foundations at the end of its life, we say so with the pipe in your hand.

From Liberty Bay to Fish Park and out around Viking Avenue, well pump running constantly is a regular Poulsbo call for us. Under twenty minutes up Highway 3, and emergencies on subdivision lots off Viking Avenue dispatch immediately, any hour.