No water from your well? What should you check first?
Check the power first: the pump’s breaker and any well switch near the pressure tank. Then read the pressure gauge and look at the pressure switch without opening it. Check for leaks, and for a storage tank with a stuck float. If those look normal, the likely fault is the pump, its wiring, the control box or a check valve.
A dry well looks different: sputtering taps, muddy or sandy water, a pump pulling air. The one sure test is measuring the water level, a job for a pump crew with a sounder. If the checks below don’t bring water back, call for well pump repair and share what you found.
What can you check safely before you call?
These five checks are safe to make yourself. Leave covers on and wires alone, since the switch and control box carry live power.
- Power. Make sure the well switch by the tank is on. Reset the pump’s breaker in the panel once. If it trips again, leave it off; that points to the pump, the cable or the control box.
- The pressure gauge. Most switches start the pump at 30, 40 or 50 psi and stop it at 50, 60 or 70. A low reading with a silent pump means the power, switch, control box or pump has quit.
- The pressure switch. Look, but don’t open it. Some have a low-pressure cutoff that stops the pump 10 psi below the start setting. It protects the pump from running dry, so repeated trips are a clue about the water level.
- Leaks. Look for a wet spot along the line from the well, or a running toilet. Close the main valve after the tank and watch the gauge. If pressure keeps falling, a line is leaking or a check valve is not holding.
- A storage tank and its float. If your well fills a storage tank and a second pump feeds the house, look at the tank. Empty points to a stuck float, the well pump or the well. Full with dry taps points to the second pump.
Before you call, fill a clear glass at a tap. Note the color and any fizzing or sputtering.
Which problems need a pump crew?
Anything past the breaker and the gauge needs a pump crew. That covers burned switch contacts, a failed control box or start capacitor, and corroded wire splices. It also covers a stuck check valve, a worn pump and a waterlogged tank. By state rules, pump work takes a C-57 well drilling contractor or a C-61/D-21 machinery and pumps contractor.
A check valve holds pressure when the pump stops. If it sticks open, pressure bleeds back and the pump starts too often. A waterlogged tank does the same; see our guide to pressure tank short cycling.
A worn pump runs and runs but can’t build pressure. One submersible motor manual says its symptoms look like a drop pipe leak or a low water level. So a crew tests the motor and cable from the surface and measures the water before pulling the pump.
What do the symptoms point to?
The chart below draws on a motor maker’s troubleshooting tables and private well guides.
| What you notice | Likely causes | Your part |
|---|---|---|
| Breaker trips again | Pump, cable or control box | Leave it off, call |
| Gauge low, pump silent | Power, switch, control box, pump | Check the breaker |
| Pump won’t shut off | Leak, low water, worn pump, switch | Valve test, then call |
| Pump clicks on and off | Waterlogged tank, switch, check valve | Call soon |
| Pressure falls, taps closed | A leak or a check valve | Look for wet ground |
| Taps sputter air | Low water, failed tank bladder | Call to measure |
| Muddy or sandy water | Falling water level | Call to measure |
| Storage tank empty | Float, well pump or the well | Check the tank |
How can you tell a failed pump from a dry well?
A pump or power failure tends to stop the water outright. The pump goes silent, the breaker trips or the gauge won’t climb. A dry well tends to warn you first. Taps sputter, the water turns muddy, and pressure fades, then returns after the well rests.
Timing is a clue. In the Kings Subbasin, groundwater falls in normal and dry years and rises in wet ones. A well that fades in late summer or a drought year points to the water level. Shallower wells are the first at risk.
To be sure, a crew finds the water with an electric sounder. It compares that level with the pump’s depth and the well’s completion report. California drillers file those reports with the state, and the public can request them.
How common are dry wells in Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties?
Common enough that the state tracks them. As of September 2026, the state’s dry well reporting system shows 6,199 dry wells reported statewide. About 1,870 came from Tulare County, 820 from Fresno County and 160 from Kings County, close to half the total.
Tulare County’s reports piled up in the 2014 to 2016 drought, Fresno County’s in 2021 and 2022. The list holds 34 reports with a Riverdale address, 23 from 2021 and 2022. The state says the real count is higher, since reporting is voluntary.
The wells that went dry tended to be shallow. Households reported median depths of roughly 110 to 140 feet in Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties. New domestic wells drilled there from 2020 on have median depths of about 300 to 400 feet.
If the water has dropped below the pump, lowering the pump can work when the well has room. Other options are deepening the well or drilling a new water well. Deepening may not find more water and can cost as much as a new well.
What help is there if your well went dry?
Report it first to the state’s dry well reporting system at mydrywell.water.ca.gov. That report informs state and local agencies but is not an application for help. For help, the state points you to your county’s emergency drought contact.
Two programs serve this part of the valley:
- The Kings Subbasin Domestic Well Mitigation Program covers parts of Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties. It serves domestic wells that went dry from falling groundwater on or after October 1, 2024. Household income must be at or below 80 percent of the state median. Pump or electrical failures do not qualify. Eligible homes can get bottled water, a water tank and help toward a long-term fix. The application asks for a well assessment from a well services contractor.
- Self-Help Enterprises, a community development organization serving nine counties including Fresno, Kings and Tulare, runs income-based well programs. They include a temporary tank with hauled water and bottled water. In some cases they offer help paying to repair or replace a well.
Funding and demand can slow things down, and nobody can promise approval. If your well has gone dry, ask us about the well replacement assistance programs that serve valley households; we can point you to the right program and help you get the application started.
When should you call a pump crew?
Call when the breaker trips twice, the pump won’t shut off, or the water sputters and turns muddy. If the pump runs with no water coming, switch it off at the breaker and let the well rest. Running dry is hard on a pump.
Big River Drilling is a licensed C-57 well drilling contractor based in Riverdale. Our pump crew and mud rotary rig work under one company. We take well and pump calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week. See 24-hour emergency well service for the no-water call and well pump service and repair for what a visit covers. Call or text (559) 867-3806 for a free estimate.