Dear Mr. Reid.

I'm finally making good on the promise I made to you shortly after purchasing a Well Manager System back in Sept 2004.  I guess I wanted to make sure that the system really worked.  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.  Here's our story.

When we purchased our rural home in northeastern Washington State it was the realization of a long time dream.  We found a nice home, 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 know enough then to realize that just because the well pump works doesn't really tell you much.  Anyway, one day I was running a lawn sprinkler and it just shut off after about 20 minutes. "What the heck?  Did the well pump just stop working?"  I checked the breakers but they weren't tripped. I took a walk down to the well and I could hear the pump running but the pitch was not what I was used to hearing.  I ran back up the hill and shut off the breaker and went back to other projects until I had time to think about the well.  The next day I reset the breakers and tried the water again.  The pressure tank filled up and everything was good to go until I tried running the sprinkler again.  I was down at the well listening to the pump cycle on and off when my wife called down to me that the water had shut off.  The same odd pitch began at that point.  Hmm, I think I just ran out of water.  I shut off the breakers and opened the well to peer inside but there was no water to be seen even using a pretty powerful flashlight. I buttoned things back up and went back to other projects.  Later that day I opened up the well again to see that the water level was right up near the top.  I turned on the power again and watched the water level slowly drop as the pressure tank refilled.  We turned the sprinkler on and sure enough, about 20 minutes later we were out of water and the pump started singing again. 

The next day I sat down to figure out what to do.  A couple of phone calls later I'd made an appointment with a small family owned 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.  Later that day I made a call to the largest well drilling company in town and spoke with a very helpful man there.  He told me that they could either drill a new well or they could remove my pump and pit-less adapter and drill my existing well deeper.  However, based upon records they have of near by wells the best I could expect was about 5 gpm.  Okay, but how much will this cost me?  The gentleman told me that the cost to drill a new well or to deepen my existing well and installing additional well casing would be between four and five thousand dollars.  He then said, "Oh yeah, there's no guarantee that the new well will produce any more then you are currently getting."  The other "Oh yeah" was that having to go deeper would require me to install a more powerful well pump.  How much is that going to cost me?   While he was looking it up he asked me if I know what size the circuit breaker was for the well pump.  I told him it was a 220V 15 amp breaker.  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.

So I went to bed that night feeling not so good about the wonderful home we just purchased.  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.  So 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.

Well, a few days later I phoned you back and placed the order.  It arrived at the freight depot the following week so I drove the 100 miles down to get it.  When I arrived there was a large hole in the outer plywood skin of the shipping container.  The dock manager got involved and he told me he remembered when it arrived because he was the one that unloaded from the truck.  He was positive that there wasn't any damage at that point.  So the first thing we did was look into the hole and upon not seeing any damage we carefully opened the crate.  Thankfully there was no damage other than the hole which was shaped just like the tip of a forklift.  Based upon the size of the hole it looked like the fork missed the tank by about an inch...

Anyway, 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".  So about 2 hours later we had everything connected but the final well pump wiring.  After trying unsuccessfully for another hour I still couldn't figure out how to connect your system to my existing pump control box.  It was pretty late when I finally called your office so I got voice mail.  I was pleasantly surprised when you returned my call only a few minutes later.  In about 10 minutes you coached me through the process.  So I thanked you, hung up and got back to connecting wires.  It took me about 30 minutes to finish the wiring.

The big test;  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.  Fine anyway until the second fill cycle began.  The 1" PVC main line coming from the well comes up through the floor just to the left of the storage tank.  Apparently I forgot to glue one side of the elbow and when the fill cycle started it blew the connection apart.  I had quite the geyser for the few seconds it took me to flip the breaker off.  Thankfully the Well Manager Control Panel was right next to me otherwise I would have had to run outside to the other side of the house to turn off the main breaker.  What a mess that would have been.  As it was, most of the water ended up in the condensation pan. 

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 have done different knowing what I know now?  Only two things. 

First off, 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.  We have the system installed in the bathroom where a stacked washer/dryer is also located.  It's actually quite handy being able to see the water level in the tank before you take a shower or do laundry.  Maybe I'll put a door over it sometime but for now we all like being able to see what's going on and it's also quite the conversation piece when guests use the bathroom. 

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

PS:  Photos will be sent shortly.