Gary Staggert, Montgomery, PA

Gary and his wife purchased a house from his employer, Lycoming County, Penna. Gary thought he had checked the property over thoroughly until he ran out of water shortly after moving in. The County did everything they could to help the Staggerts resolve the problem but things were looking grim until Gary discovered Well Manager.

The Story in Gary’s words:

In April of 2006 my wife and I purchased a home located in central PA. We are a young couple and everything seemed to be going great for us.  We had all types of inspections done to this home before purchasing, but never thought to have a well yield test done and nothing was mentioned in the disclosure about any past problems with the water.

After one week in the house we ran out of water and burned up the well pump. After notifying the sellers (which was the County we lived in and the one I worked for) they were more than willing to help make things right.  We installed a new well pump and a Pump Tec pump protector giving us water again, but this did not solve the biggest problem which was the quantity of water I had.

Gary’s system looks like a Dealer installation but he did it himself!

After talking with some people and doing some research I found out that this problem has always existed with this home along with others in the area and it was mentioned in the disclosure when the County purchased the home from the past residents.  Now the County was even more willing to work with me on getting this problem taken care of, so I requested to have the well hydro-fractured which did not help as the well yield was still only 1/3gpm (Note: I have seen some great results with this process on other wells). 

From this point I had a lot of people trying to talk me into installing a 500 or 1000 gallon underground storage tank system in my yard but I could not get myself to like this type of system for a lot of reasons.  At this point I thought I was running out of options so I started doing a lot of research and searched the Web in an attempt to find the best alternative for my problem. This is when I came across the Well Manager.

After looking over some of the literature it appeared to me that this was the ticket.  I presented the Well Manager system to the County (the sellers) and they agreed to help cover the cost of whichever system I decided to go with.  After communicating with Andy Reid I decided to go with the WM160M-50 system with the Consistent Pressure Module. I installed it myself with ease (great instructions) and it is working wonderfully. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders because I now have the water quantity to live a normal life without the worry. 

Thanks again Andy.

Gary Staggert

Joe Sinegra, Millville, PA

Joe’s well is 6” in diameter and 285’ deep. At the outset he believed it to be yielding between 1-2 gpm but pressure was terrible and the family ran out of water occasionally. About 5 years ago the well was hydrofractured in an attempt to increase the yield. In addition to the quantity problem, there was a sulfur odor problem. Joe had a chlorinator and a retention tank which took care of the sulfur problem, a carbon filter to remove he chlorine taste and a softener. Both the carbon filter and softener required water for backwash which made dealing with a low yield well more challenging. By January, 2008 he was fed up and went to the Internet to find an answer.

When we first began discussing his problem Joe was considering a Herculan ConstaBoost Static Storage System but by the time he added all the options he wanted and weighed the cost and benefits of the HCB against a Well Manager he opted for a WM160M-50 Well Manager with a Consistent Pressure Module.  Since he already had a system in place to deal with the sulfur problem he elected to keep that instead of using a spray boom.

Joe set the Well Manager timing up to collect 18 gallons three times per hour. This will provide a maximum of 1296 gallons per day which is more than he will need. This is what Joe had to say about the system and his installation experience:

Andy,

After 2 weeks of operation, I am very confident that the Well Manager and pressure module have solved our water problems. We now have excellent water pressure throughout the house, even when using multiple fixtures. We are a five person, 1 & 2 half bath household and I can't imagine running out of water now. After 2 weeks of close observation, I have never seen less than 110 gallons in the tank, so we are considering adding a shower stall to one of the half baths.

The back pressure gauge on the flow element gives us a good handle on our water usage versus well production, and so far it looks like we've gained a few feet in the well. Additionally, the storage tank gives us greatly increased contact time (for chlorine injection) to treat a stubborn sulfur problem. (As I am writing this, my wife is folding laundry and looking over my shoulder and she swears the clothes are much cleaner since going on the Well Manager).

Regarding installation, working alone it took me almost 2 full days from unpacking the unit until we had water flowing from the tank.  Potential do-it- yourselfer's  should not be intimidated though, as a lot of this time was due to working around, then demolition and clean up of a sloppily installed original system. We were only without water for about 6 hours. The system is well designed, components are clearly labeled, the instruction manual was easy to follow, and Andy was readily accessible by phone for any support I needed. Anyone comfortable working with residential plumbing and electric should be able to successfully install a Well Manager.

Joe

Matthew Koehr, Westford, Mass

Matt bought a WM220M-75 with a CP Module and a 2nd tank in June of 2006.  When the system arrived he wrote to say:

“Received the Well Manager on the date promised and got it installed pretty easily. It is a very well built system.”

We were pleased to hear that Matt was happy and all was quiet until 7/31/07 when we got another email. Excerpts below by permission:

Andy,

It's been about a year since I installed my system, and everything is working great. All winter my neighbors have had well companies parked in their driveways as they either dig deeper or hydrofract. Meanwhile we had a full house over the holidays (8 people, with one who is obsessive about doing laundry every day), and didn't even come close to running out of water. 

After a year of successful use, I'm thinking about expanding my capacity to drive a sprinkler system (the system was already in the lawn; I estimate I'll need about 600 gal a day to water a full inch per week). I currently have two 220 gallon tanks, and I'd like to purchase 2 more, with the associated drip trays etc. How much will this be?

Matt

I asked Matt if I could share this because it illustrates two important points.

1.  He is working from the same aquifer as the neighbors. The neighbors decided they could convince nature to give up more water and Matt chose to take the more gentle approach and get in step with nature. Sounds like Matt has plenty of water and the neighbors don’t.

2. Having an adequate water supply has a huge impact on quality of life. It frees you to plan the day around family needs rather than water availability and it allows you to expand your horizons.  Many people have written to say that they have added a bathroom or modernized their plumbing after installing one of our systems when before they could barely function. Some were so fed up that they were thinking about selling and now they are making plans and improvements where they are.

Hugh Humes, Onion Creek, Washington

It is not unusual to hear from a Well Manager owner years after the purchase. Sometimes it is just because they have been watching the web site and see a new accessory that they want to order or they need a part or just want to say hello.  This time it was a happy customer who finally got the time to send an email telling us how much he likes his Well Manager.

Highlights of the email follow. You can read the entire letter here.  

I'm finally making good on the promise I made to you shortly after purchasing a Well Manager System back in Sept 2004. I suppose three years is more than enough time to know whether your system works or not especially since it only took about one month to know that it worked exactly as advertised. 

…we purchased our rural home in northeastern Washington State …on 20 acres, in what has turned out to be a wonderful little community.  Shortly after purchasing the property I determined that the well was going to be an issue. .  I had the well tested during the inspection period but I didn't … realize that just because the well pump works doesn't really tell you much.  … one day I was running a lawn sprinkler and it just shut off after about 20 minutes.

… I'd made an appointment with a … well pump Service Company to come out and see what was going on.  The owner, a very helpful man named Theron, came over and tested the output of the well.  My sorry little well put out less than 1/3 of a gallon per minute without the water level dropping.  So the pump guy offered a couple of options.  I could drill a new well or I could add an in-ground tank fed by the well pump along with a separate jet pump to feed the house.

I made a call to the largest well drilling company in town … they could either drill a new well or they could remove my pump and pit-less adapter and drill my existing well deeper.  He said that more than likely the wires running from the breaker panel to the well were too small for the larger pump and that would require digging a 500 ft' trench to the well, etc, etc, etc.  The price kept getting higher and more than once he reminded me that there was no guarantee the well would produce any more than I was currently getting.

I called Theron back and asked him to tell me about his in-ground tank and jet pump solution.  He explained some possible layouts and estimated it would cost about $2800.  At some point he mentioned something called a PumpTec.  That simple two syllable word was the key to finding my solution.  I searched the Internet for PumpTec and one of the hits was your website.  I spent a lot of time that night learning about the Well Manager System.  I really liked what I was reading.  Even though the price was comparable to drilling a new well I understood how my current low yield well could slowly but surely fill a storage tank.  It all made sense.

 I filled out your questionnaire and I got a call from you the very next day.  We spoke a few times over the next week.  Never once did I feel like you were just trying to make a sale.  You were genuinely interested in my situation and finding a solution that would work for me.  I never felt pressured to buy and more importantly for me you never made me feel stupid while explaining the system to me. I told you I'd give this some thought and call you back in a few days if I had any more questions.

…. a few days later I phoned you… and placed the order.  It arrived at the freight depot the following week so I drove the 100 miles down to get it. …we got the system home and carefully unloaded it.  Since you had already told me the size of the condensation pan as well as some suggestions on making sure the floor where the tank was going would support the load we were ready to start the installation the next day.  The guy that was helping me with the plumbing said he had heard about some sort of system like this but didn't think it was going to work.  He also said that I could have spent my money better by drilling a deeper well.  When I told him the quotes I'd received and that I was comfortable in my decision that this was the best way to go he basically said, "I guess we will see". 

… I followed the instructions for powering everything up and was pretty excited watching the tank fill.  Based on your installation manual and your help over the phone I set the timer to ON for 1 minute and OFF for 20 minutes.  It's been that way since day one and it seems to be working just fine. 

So here it is almost 3 years later and I'm making good on my promise to let you know how it's working.  It works wonderfully!  There are four of us living here.  My lovely wife Myra, our adult son Jeremy and our high school aged daughter Savannah.  Myra has never had a problem with having enough water for laundry, dishes, etc.  We can water the lawn around the house and have no problems keeping the horses, the goat, the dogs, cats and chickens watered.  Even my daughter is happy now that she can take as long of a shower as she likes...

Is there anything I (would) have done different knowing what I know now?  Only two things. 

First … I would have installed a second storage tank alongside the original one.  Now I'll have to crawl under the bathroom floor and reinforce the area where the second tank will go.  I'll also have to remodel the laundry area a bit to make room for the tank.  I should have listened to you way back in 2004 when you suggested I might need a second tank.  Well I don't actually need a second tank since we've never run the 220 gallon tank empty.

Secondly, I would have asked my local hardware store or feed supply store if they would receive the freight shipment instead of having to drive the 200 mile round trip to the closest freight terminal. 

Thank you Andy for developing the Well Manager System.  Drilling a new well or deepening our existing well might have worked but it was a very expensive risk that I couldn't afford to take.  The Well Manager has done everything you said it would and it has worked flawlessly now for almost 3 years. 

God bless you and yours,
The Humes Family
Hugh, Myra, Jeremy and Savannah.
Onion Creek, WA

Lou Liberti, Landenberg, PA

Lou’s 3 bedroom, 2 bath home has a 750’ well that started out producing 2.5 gpm but production fell off slowly over time until he felt compelled to contact us in June of 2005 when the yield was so poor that he would run out of water on weekends when everyone was home.

Part of Lou’s problem was that he just did not have much room for additional equipment in his tiny mechanical space. The well had a chlorinating system with contact tank because of an iron bacteria problem so he needed to retain that. The nice thing about the Well Manager was that he could eliminate the chlorinating system’s contact tank because the Well Manager tank would serve that function but, in 2005 the only Well Manager that would fit in the room did not hold enough water so he was looking at other locations to install a system.

When our new 210 gallon systems became available in 2006, the space problem was solved and Lou found the answer to his problems. There were quite a few plumbing changes required to reconfigure his well and water treatment systems. Lou’s mechanical abilities are evident in the before and after pictures he provided. Nice job, Lou!

Before	After

Richard Barnes, Tijeras, NM

Tijeras, (pronounced Taheras) is in the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico at an elevation of about 7,000’ MSL. There’s not a lot of water up there but many enjoy the quiet beauty. It is home to a lot of self sufficient folks who are used to fending for themselves. Richie had a pretty good well considering the area but when he saw the well yield declining he decided to do something about it before it was too late.  

The Barnes residence has a crawl space with a dirt floor.  The WM210CPH was the perfect system as it is only 48” high.  Richie leveled out a spot, put down some pressure treated boards and set the unit on them.

On 9/14/06 he sent the following email and pictures.

Andy

  I am very pleased with the complete Well Manager System I purchased from your representative Jim Callahan here in New Mexico. The installation was very easy to do for anyone with basic skills in Plumbing and Electrical. The recovery of my well had dropped to about 3-4 gallons a minute from about 15 gallons per minute when drilled 26 years ago. I felt that my best bet was to install your system so I would have a constant water pressure in the house without overworking the well.

Thanks,
Richard Barnes
Tijeras, NM

Greg Denalsky; Granby , Ct.

Occasionally we ask a Well Manager owner if they would mind speaking to a prospect who asked to talk with someone who has lived with a Well Manager system for a year or two. I have never had anyone refuse to do that and most are enthusiastic because they remember what life was like before their Well Manager was installed. On this occasion I contacted two owners in the same area as the interested person. One offered to speak on the phone and the other, Greg Denalsky, sent the following email and pictures.

“Hi, my name is Greg Denalsky. I received your email address from Andy Reid of Reid Plumbing Products who tells me that you wanted to hear from a Well Manager owner about their experience with the system. I've had a Well Manager for about 4 years and it's been everything I could have wanted.

Let me tell you a little about our situation here in Granby, Ct. Granby is a small town of about 10,000 people and the majority of them are on wells. After building our house we drilled a 500 plus foot well that produced about 2 gpm. With a low yield well and low pressure, we decided to contact Reid Plumbing Products about a possible solution. We could not water our lawn sufficiently and when we did our well was so low we needed to install a drinking water filter because of sediment. After much deliberation we decided the Well Manager was a perfect solution for our low yield and pressure.

A representative from Reid Plumbing Products actually visited our house while our irrigation installer was present to go over the system and how it functioned. Needless to say, our lawn irrigation installer was very impressed especially with the constant pressure system. He told us he has seen other systems but their downfall is that the pressure drops off after a few minutes and the Well Manager didn’t do that.

We actually saved money on the irrigation system because he could actually install it as if we were running off city water so it required fewer sprinkler heads. My brother and I installed the Well Manager on Thanksgiving weekend about 4 years ago. It took only 1 evening to install.

We ran into a small problem with the electrical wiring because we didn't look on the inside of the junction box for the directions. We called the 800 number on a Sunday night at about 10pm and actually spoke to a person who helped us out on the spot. Their customer service is truly exceptional. Well, its 4 years later and we have had no problems. I wish you could see our lawn compared to our neighbors. We live on about 1.5 acres and our neighbors on each side have brown grass while ours is bright green.

Feel free to email or call if you would like to talk. I'll be happy to answer any questions you have. I also have no problem if you want to see the system in action first hand, just let me know. Attached are pictures of our system installed.”

Greg.

Paul lives in a 3 bedroom, 2 ½ bath house. When his wife ran too many loads of wash or he tried to fill his hot tub or add a little water to the pool the well would end up empty and he’d be out of water. The well is 500 feet deep and fills up to within 100’ of the top but it takes a long time. Paul figured his well was yielding somewhere between a quart and a half gallon per minute.
Paul ran out of patience in May 2005 when he ordered a Well Manager WM425CP which he installed himself. On June 30, 2005, he gave us permission to use the following email about the installation experience. Notice that even though the Well Manager revealed the true well yield to be something less than Paul had anticipated, he is happy with the end result.

Dear Andy,

I have run my "Low Yield" well dry on numerous occasions. The well only produces one eighth of a gallon of water per minute. After reviewing your very informative website and discussing my situation and needs with you on the phone, I believe that I have made a good decision in buying your well manager 425 CP unit.

I installed the unit myself and found the instruction manual to be complete and easy to understand, making the set up quick and easy.....it was up and running in two hours. Everything worked properly the first time. I am impressed with your quality control and pre-shipment checkout.

The constant pressure feature is great. To have high pressure showers is very nice. The washing machine fills faster and the cycles are running in less time. Best of all is knowing that I have water when I want it and when I need it. The well manager has also allowed me to live off the stored water while I cleaned and disinfected my well.

Thank you for all your advice and for the excellent product. It has saved me from drilling another well that may not have produced any more water than the first. I have recommended the well manager to my neighbors who also have low yield wells and run out of water. I am very happy with your product and "thank you" again.

Sincerely, Paul Nickel

Walt bought Consistent Pressure Module to use on his existing well pump. He installed the unit himself in July 2003.

Walt is an engineer who had a friend with a problem. When her geothermal heat pump ran it caused the well pump to cycle every 1.5 minutes. With the hottest weather of the year approaching something had to be done or he would be replacing the pump. The well yield was adequate so he needed a way to modulate the well pump outlet. He could have changed the pump to a variable speed but a CP Module seemed a much simpler solution.

You can tell by the look on Walt’s face that he was pretty happy with the outcome. A very nice job indeed! The unit fit into the small space quite easily and fixed the problem in short order.

Rob Boettcher, New York When Bob remodeled his cabin he reworked everything, including the plumbing. Once that was done, it didn’t take long to find out that there wasn’t enough water to run it. With two people in the house he ran out of water all the time. From the pictures he sent you can see that he did a first rate job with the rebuilding and the Well Manager® project. What does he think now? “Amazing!! All water problems are solved!!” What more is there to say?
Before	After
Rob added a large hot tub that he has no trouble at all filling. Having water has made him want to make some other changes. He now plans to add a Jacuzzi multi-head shower system and that started him thinking about the Consistent Pressure Module. In January 2004 Rob ordered and installed a CP Module and now he says: “…The CPM addition exceeded all of my expectations. Can't understand why I didn't install it sooner! The only thing better than the unit itself was the service and support that I received from you! Thanks again!!!”

“For the Full story, Read Michel's letter here”

Jim Calahan, Tijeras, New Mexico

Jim’s story is interesting not only because he installed his own system but because he was so impressed that he wanted to become a Well Manager dealer. Today, Jim is the man to see in New Mexico if you want to cure your well problems and, believe me, there are plenty of problems in the drought stricken southwest. For Jim’s story in his words:
http://www.well-solutions.net/ws_about.htm

Ron Keisler, Weston, CO

Ron’s home is located at 10,280’ above sea level in the Colorado Rockies. The space for his house was carved out of the hillside so the entire back of the first floor is below ground. The house has plenty of windows so there is a great view but his well is deep (670 feet) and didn’t provide much water.

The 3,000 gallon cistern system that had cost a considerable amount of money and dominated the side yard left him hauling water every time it ran out of water – an event that was increasing in frequency. Fed up, he went searching for help on the internet and stumbled across wellmanager.com.

We talked to Ron off and on for several months. He wanted to install a Well Manager but wasn’t sure he wanted to give up the 3,000 gallons of storage. It was difficult to convince him that he could actually get more water per day using a different means of collecting and less storage.

AND then there was the daunting task of making the conversion. It meant digging up the freshly laid sod in the side yard, disconnecting the well line from the cistern tanks and connecting that pipe to the one that used to deliver water from the cistern to the house. After that there were the wiring changes necessitated by the fact that all of the controls for the cistern system were mounted on a board next to the well and needed to be moved into the house. Moving these was a necessary part of the operation because getting rid of the ugly mess in the side yard was what convinced Ron’s wife that this was a good idea.

Ron’s daughter, Kerri lives and works in New York City. Still, she looks forward to her trips home to the Rockies where the pace is slower. Little did she know that this trip home was going to involve a few chores.

This elaborate conversion was accomplished by Ron and his daughter Kerri with some technical assistance from us. Using the internet, Ron sent us digital pictures of electrical boxes and existing control arrangements and with our help he and Kerri prevailed. Once they got started there was little choice but to press forward since the nearest plumber was 70 miles away. I don’t think Kerri will forget that trip home.

Here’s the picture Ron sent as he and Kerri stand in front of their handiwork. They seem pleased. Ron says they don’t run out any more and their water, which was cloudy, is now crystal clear.

To read what Ron has to say, click here.

Bob Vanderpas, Rock Creek Canyon, CO

The southwest had been in drought for three years when Bob began searching the internet for a solution to his water problems. He quickly recognized that Well Manager was the only product that could help him. Hydrofracting was pointless because the water table was too low and drilling another well seemed a gamble that most likely would have left him with a deeper low yield well.

Bob, an engineer with Woodford Manufacturing bought a 165M with ½ HP pump and constant pressure module. The picture shows his installation which required only 72” x 36” of floor space and stores 330 gallons of water. As you can see in the picture both tanks are full. The system is capable of filling these tanks and shutting off, indicating that there is more water to get if Bob needs it.