Pumping and Water Systems

A 50-year update.

By Ed Butts, PE, CPI

There have been four major advances in automated residential water well systems over the past 125 years, in my humble opinion.

• The first is the initial method consisting of pumping water with windmills and pump jacks using positive displacement pumps (mostly rod pumps), before and up to 1930.
• The second major technical innovation involved the deep and shallow well jet pump, popular between 1930 to around 1960.
• The third was the submersible well pump that was introduced during the mid-1950s, and remains popular today.
• The fourth and most recent advancement was the introduction of smart systems (constant pressure systems and variable frequency drives) during the past 25 years.

I’m going to limit this column to improvements made since 1975, so the discussion will focus on submersible pumps and smart and constant pressure systems. Let’s examine the many technological improvements and changes made to residential pumping and water systems during the past half century along with a brief nod to improvements made to the larger and more diverse classes of pumps.

Domestic Pump Installations

When I began my career in the water well industry in June 1974, my first two years were filled with domestic well pump installation and service. This means I lived and worked through a temporarily tough era. In some cases, we were pulling and replacing pumps or motors from wells we had installed less than a month before. However, these incidents were generally anomalies in a few otherwise uneventful years.

Our installations generally used basic Aermotor, Berkeley, Hydraulic Products (HPC), Webtrol, or Goulds submersible well pumps; Jacuzzi and Red Jacket were other popular brands. We typically installed 4-inch-diameter pumps using 115- or 230-volt, two- or three-wire, single-phase motors.

The HPC line of submersible pumps, no longer made, was particularly interesting as the higher capacity 4-inch units used semi-open impellers that required precise pre-adjustment of the impeller stack before installation.

Control boxes for three-wire motors universally consisted of a voltage relay with a start capacitor and an attached overload assembly in a QD control box with run capacitors included in 1½ hp and larger control boxes.

Submersible well pumps in 1975 were typically set on galvanized steel or 100-160 psi rated polyethylene (black plastic) drop pipe, each supported from the well using a conventional cast-iron well seal or pitless adapter.

Although poly pipe was still more popular for two-pipe jet pumps, its popularity and frequency of use in submersible installations gradually increased. Occasionally, we would replace an older two-pipe jet pump with a new jet pump, but the jet pump was replaced the most often with a new submersible.

Many replacements of jet pumps for submersible pump exchange installations occurred in 4-inch-diameter wells. Frequently, as this was before the introduction of 3-inch submersible pumps, a 4-inch submersible unit would often not readily slide down the tight and encrusted well casing, but a specially devised reamer to remove interior scale generally did the trick.

New installations usually consisted of the tank placed by the well in a wellhouse or routed in an underground offset to a remote site—often an attached garage, pumphouse, or other adjacent structure. Operational control was generally vested in a differential based pressure span, commonly set at 30-50 psi or 40-60 psi using a snap-action pressure switch, especially as there was no sophisticated motor speed control or control valve yet to regulate the discharge pressure.

After I moved to another firm in 1976, the next 49 years of my career saw almost every imaginable type and size of pump and water system.

During the 1970s, most 4-inch pump ends were built using cast-iron, stainless steel, or bronze discharge heads and motor brackets. Thermoplastics were largely limited to internal components, including Lexan and Noryl impellers and diffusers. ABS discharge cases and motor brackets were introduced during the mid-1980s.

Although there were numerous manufacturers of 4-inch submersible well pumps during the 1970s, there were only two or three exclusive submersible motor manufacturers. A few pump manufacturers such as Sta-Rite, Red Jacket, and Myers built motors as an element of a unitized pump and motor assembly. This essentially restricted the use of the motor to the attached pump end.

Only a few, including Franklin Electric and Century, exclusively built motors in compliance with NEMA construction standards. This permitted the use of their motors with any pump end built with NEMA mounting dimensions.

Advances and Changes to Pumps and Motors

The advancements and changes to well pump and motor technology since 1975 have been largely incremental and methodical, with many ownership changes dominating the pump market instead.

The primary changes in the pump industry have been the entry of overseas manufacturers into the U.S. market and the acquisition of several pump manufacturers by global corporations. Many once-familiar pump brands do not have the singular identity and structure they had in 1975 but have become a part of a larger and more diverse conglomerate.

For example, Berkeley Pump Co. in 1975 was a respected water pump manufacturer established in 1937 with its headquarters located in Berkeley, California. Since then, the firm has experienced several ownership changes, with current ownership by Pentair, an Irish corporation along with Sta-Rite, Aurora, and Hydromatic.

Jacuzzi Brothers, founded in 1915 in Berkeley, was a well-known manufacturer of well and irrigation pumps in 1975. The firm sold off its well and water pump line to Kidde in 1979 but retained the family name to concentrate on hydrotherapy products including swimming pool pumps, whirlpools, hot tubs, and spas.

During the early 1970s, several international-based pump manufacturers, including Flgyt from Sweden and Grundfos from Denmark, began to expand into the United States market. Grundfos, a more than 80-year-old company, began U.S. operations in 1973 and has now become one of the largest and most diverse pump manufacturers in the country, which includes the subsequent acquisition of other U.S. pump manufacturers including Morris, Yeoman, and PACO Pumps.

Acquisitions of other pump companies have occurred with U.S. corporations as well, such as the acquisitions of Goulds, Flgyt, Red Jacket, and Bell and Gossett pumps by Xylem, a 2011 spinoff of ITT Corp.

Worthington Pump Corp., founded in 1845, was an independent pump manufacturer until undergoing several mergers or ownership changes beginning in 1967. Since 2000, it has been a subsidiary of Flowserve Corp., which also owns Byron Jackson and IDP pumps. Cornell Pump Co., a 1975 independent manufacturer of centrifugal pumps, was founded in 1946 in Portland, Oregon. The well-established firm was subsequently acquired by Roper Technologies, which thereafter sold the majority share of its holdings to affiliates of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC in 2022.

Franklin Electric was a water system market presence in 1975. This was mainly due to its prominence as the primary manufacturer and supplier of 4-inch and 6-inch-diameter submersible motors provided as an OEM and supplier to pump manufacturers. This appeared to be a mutually beneficial relationship as Franklin built and supplied motors to the majority of well pump manufacturers using NEMA construction standards.

Franklin made a bold decision in 2014 when it entered the pump market as a manufacturer. Another technical decision Franklin subsequently made was relocating the overload from the control box to 4-inch fractional horsepower motors. This was performed to enable UL recognition of its motors.

One of the most common changes to 4-inch pump construction was the increased use of stainless steel and thermoplastics over the previously traditional cast iron and bronze for discharge cases and motor brackets.

In my opinion, this revision had as much to do with improved mass production capabilities as it did with possible quality or corrosion issues. Stainless steel fabrication and sonic welding capability of multistage impellers and diffusers along with improved plastic casting and injection molding capability resulted in lower production costs.

The addition of AC- and DC-powered pumps and motors for solar applications has also substantially grown during the past 25 years. Advancements in solar panels, along with VFD technology, have permitted the use of solar-powered pumps in wells where they were formerly impractical or unavailable.

Inline booster pumps were once constructed using one or two stages, but improvements in plastics and stainless steel fabrication have enabled the use of inline booster pumps with up to 30 stages in sizes from ½ hp to 50 hp or more. This advancement has largely replaced the need to use canned submersible pumps for low- to medium-capacity, high-head applications.

Another recent change to the pump industry with potentially far-reaching future implications is the requirement by some jurisdictions that water pumps, filtration media and equipment, and certain other components for potable water service be approved by NSF or a comparable third-party testing lab in
accordance with NSF Standards 60 or 61.

In my opinion, this is largely an unnecessary and burdensome regulatory cost that has had little effect on increasing the quality of pumping components or systems. It arose primarily due to the lead-free component requirement and desire to shift responsibility and accountability from regulatory agencies to
engineers, contractors, and suppliers, with the cost ultimately falling to the customer.

By and large, I believe most well pumps are now regarded as mass-produced vehicles designed to fulfill a finite life at a low manufactured cost rather than the higher-quality products we once used. From someone who has worked in both the years 1975 and 2025, I believe this deterioration contributes to today’s typical pump and motor service life, which has resulted in a service life that leads to planned obsolescence.

Drop Pipe and Piping Changes

Prior to 1980, because of its high strength, mostly predictable life, and pressure rating, galvanized steel drop pipe was being used in most new installations. However, the universal use of domestic galvanized pipe began to fall out of favor during the 1970s and 1980s due to the added cost of U.S. steel, greater weight, and concern of increased corrosion and encrustation potential.

Imported steel pipe from Japan and Korea soon replaced the use of domestic steel pipe. Partly as an alternative to the use of imported foreign steel pipe, PVC drop pipe with glued-on male and female adapters began to be more frequently used during the early 1980s. This was generally Schedule 40 rated pipe limited to sets of 150 feet or less and horsepower below 1½.

The greatest single advancement to the use of PVC drop pipe was the subsequent introduction of greater schedule ratings and integral threaded joints. Threaded PVC pipe, in both Schedule 80 and Schedule 120 classes, became popular and widely used during the late 1980s into the 1990s, particularly after steel couplings began to be used for joints rather than the weaker plastic couplings.

Although this often varies with installers and pipe manufacturers, PVC Schedule 120 is generally limited to a motor size no greater than 1½ hp on 1-inch drop pipe with a maximum depth of 660 feet and up to 2 hp on 1¼-inch drop pipe with a maximum depth of 500 feet. PVC drop pipe up to 2-inch diameter is now commonly used for many new pump installations.

Certa-Lok PVC drop pipe offers an alternative to threaded joints as it’s an instant, ready-to-use joint using CertainTeed’s unique, field-proven coupling/spline locking design. It is available in sizes 1½ inches to 8 inches.

Throughout the years, many pump installers have preferred to use class 160 psi or 200 psi polyethylene drop pipe. In addition to its lightweight nature and continuous lengths, submersible well pumps installed on poly pipe can usually be installed or pulled from a well using two or three people and without the use of a hoist truck. In fact, I set many submersible pumps up to 150 feet on Golden Jet poly pipe during the 1970s.

Poly drop pipe in 1-inch through 1½-inch diameter continues to be used in many markets. Among the reasons is its lightweight nature, flexibility, ease of unspooling pipe, installation, and pulling from wells. Although not generally recommended for sets beyond 200 feet, many installers routinely place pumps successfully as deep as 300 feet or more on poly pipe.

Another recent addition to drop pipe is flexible hose. Flexible hose is available in 1-inch through 8-inch sizes and can be set as deep as 1200 feet for 1-inch to 400 feet in 8-inch. In addition to its high tensile strength, flexibility, and lightweight nature, the hose offers high pressure ratings, up to 500 psi for 1-inch. In many cases, flexible hoses offer viable options for use in crooked or hoist-inaccessible wells.

Finally, another alternative to steel drop pipe is fiberglass resin (FRP) pipe. In addition to saving weight, fiberglass pipes offer excellent corrosion resistance and comparable strength to many sizes of steel with lower friction loss. It is available in threaded sizes above 2 inches as well as many vertical turbine column and submersible pump applications.

Although galvanized steel pipe and fittings remain popular, Schedule 40 and 80 PVC pipe and fittings are also increasingly popular for piping systems in many jurisdictions as it is easier and faster than assembling threaded galvanized steel assemblies and they reduce the incidence of joint leakage, corrosion, and rusting.

Check, ball, and gate valves are another element of piping systems that has seen substantial change since 1975. Traditionally, cast iron, bronze, or brass have been used as valve material, but the use of thermoplastics, particularly Schedule 80 PVC, for valves is now popular for all valve services, types, and sizes, particularly for chemical service.

Another addition to valves is the expanded use of butterfly valves. Butterfly valves are now commonly used in lieu of gate or ball valves for many isolation and throttling applications. Their compactness, material choices, light weight, lower laying length, end connection versatility, 90° operation, and high-pressure rating make them ideal for ordinary water service, valve replacement, or tight piping installations.

A recent addition to piping is the use of PEX tubing. PEX, developed in 1968, translates to cross-linked polyethylene, a type of flexible plastic. It is popular for replacing traditional copper and galvanized steel as water supply lines in new construction and remodeling projects. PEX piping is generally preferred for its affordability, ease of installation and use, adaptability, durability, flexibility, and its resistance to extreme
temperatures, stress, pressure, and chemicals.

However, as is the case with all piping methods, PEX is not without drawbacks. PEX pipe failures can occur due to a variety of reasons including improper installation, poor quality materials, pinhole leaks, joint failure, rupture, and natural abrasion and wear. These failures can cause damage to homes or buildings and lead to costly repairs.

Drop Cable

Drop cable during the 1970s was invariably twisted two or three wires, copper conductors with PVC or neoprene rubber insulation. There was no dedicated motor ground wire and little jacketed cable used. Solid conductors were typical for sizes #10 AWG and smaller, while stranded conductors were typical for #8 AWG and larger.

A major change to submersible motor technology was the National Electric Code (NEC) requirement of routing a ground wire to the motor as a component of drop cable. As ridiculous as this may sound to some, the NEC started requiring all submersible pump motors to be grounded to the service entrance in 1989.

This meant having to run a green ground wire from the motor to the controller and then to the service entrance. Therefore, steel drop pipe could no longer be used as a motor grounding path according to the NEC. Drop cable suddenly became known as four-wire, rather than the former three-wire, and three-wire in lieu of two-wire.

Submersible drop cable also expanded to jacketed, round, and armored styles to complement twisted cable. Insulation temperature ratings also expanded from a typical 60°C rating in 1975 to 75°C and 90°C ratings.

Pressure Tank Improvements and Revisions

Pressure tanks for domestic service during the 1970s and 1980s primarily consisted of Poz-Air, the Amtrol WX series, and CAT tanks, a hydro-pneumatic galvanized steel pressure tank with a bleed-back air charging system or a rubber or Styrofoam floated air-over-water, glass-lined pressure tank, along with a few others.

In 1975, the standard pressure rating for a pressure tank was 75 psi, but most pressure tanks for domestic water service are now rated up to 125 or 150 psi. In some jurisdictions, ASME-rated pressure vessels are now required for water storage exceeding 120 U.S. gallons or those with an automatic air charging system.

Fiberglass pressure tanks also became popular during the 1980s. The popularity of these vessels was intended to counteract rust and corrosion issues common to most steel tanks. Unfortunately, premature failure, often caused by over-pressure or splitting of the sidewall, doomed the continued use of many of these vessels.

Pressure tanks for domestic water systems were generally sized to provide a minimum of one minute of cycle time at the rated pump capacity, corresponding to the pressure range mid-span. This rule of thumb logic continued until the introduction of control valves and variable speed drives. This changed the
dynamic as the pump operated on demand and throughout the period of water use. The pressure tank could then be sized to provide just a few gallons of interim storage.

Changes to Pump and Water System Control

Although, as in 1975, most domestic water systems continue to operate on a traditional pressure switch with a fixed range and differential, one of the most significant changes to domestic water system function and control has arguably been the introduction of constant pressure systems and the widespread use of electronic relays and programmable logic controllers (PLCs), variable speed operation, and inline pressure-regulating control valves.

In many applications, these have allowed a reduction in pressure tank volume as the pump and motor do not routinely cycle during system water usage but continue to operate throughout its pressure range to meet whatever demand is present.

Even within this group, the technological improvement with the greatest impact to the pumping industry has been the widespread use of the variable frequency drive (VFD). A properly applied single- or three-phase VFD allows sizing of the pump and pressure tank to coincide with the actual water system demand, rated pump capacity, and within its set operating pressure range.

The key to applying a VFD to a well pump is to ensure the operable speed range of the pump complies with the projected drawdown and pumping water level of the well as well as delivery pressure. Units with flat curves or wide variations of water level or delivery pressure will often not successfully function on a variable speed drive. Fortunately, most deep well multistage submersible pumps possess adequate head to permit operation on VFDs.

Other improvements to water system control have been the shift to electronic safety and control devices from electromechanical relays. Refer to my column in the Water Well Journal March 2025 issue for more on that.

What Is a Smart System?

A popular buzz word currently circulating around the water supply industry is “smart.” Many are touting the operational and financial benefits of implementing smart water systems.

One such proprietary system is the Grundfos Connect. It is a plug-and-play internet-based system that offers an efficient and cost-effective software solution with monitoring, notifications, and reporting.

Smart technology as found in smart homes, smartphones, and even smart water systems are just the beginning of a transformation to artificial intelligence (AI) across many different industries. These include smart pumping systems and smart irrigation systems to name a few.

But what exactly is a smart water system and how can we best apply the technology for the betterment of our designs and to benefit our customers?

Obviously, technology has exploded over the last 50 years and has touched virtually everyone’s life in one way or another. From the expanded use of computers and smartphones to the popularity of electric cars, we are experiencing explosive growth in technology. Most of this can be directly attributed to the massive improvements in lithium and nicad batteries, electronics, and digital circuits.

In the water well and water system industries, this growth is seen in the expanded use of variable frequency drives, injection molding, precision casting, machining, and assembly of pump components, sophisticated motor and SCADA control systems, and enhanced well drilling rig functions and controls.

Improvements to Larger Centrifugal, Vertical Turbine, and Submersible Pumps

Most of the advances in larger pumping systems including centrifugal, vertical turbine, and submersibles have been in assembly, material advances and component options, incrementally greater pump efficiencies, energy and premium efficient electric motors, more diverse pump construction methods, and the NSF-61 approval requirement previously cited.

Options for pump materials and construction including Ni-Resist, cast steel, ductile iron, and various bronze and stainless steel alloys are now available from most pump manufacturers to meet demanding service conditions.

Many of these advances were in response to the Energy Act of 2020, the first comprehensive update to U.S. energy policies in 13 years. The Act prioritizes research, development, and demonstration of next-generation technologies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector, industry, and
buildings. It requires improvements in pump and motor efficiencies within specific markets and sizes.

Permanent Magnetic Drives and Motors

A recent addition to electric motor technology is the permanent magnetic drive (PMD), and the permanent magnet motor (PMM). I discussed this technology in the Water Well Journal November 2024 issue.

They are extremely popular, available from several U.S. and international manufacturers, and widely used with many types of vertical pump applications. PMDs can handle loads up to 4000 hp at rotational speeds up to 3600 rpm although water cooling is typically required for power ratings above 500 hp to 1000 hp.

Using the same technology as PMDs, PMMs are now being built and provided by several submersible motor manufacturers for pumping equipment such as Baldor, Franklin Electric, Grundfos, Sun, and Flowserve (Pleuger). They feature increased horsepower sizes and ranges, including 4-inch through 8-inch diameter in NEMA and non-NEMA rated submersible motors. They can be used for oil well, water well,
and solar water pumping service as well as additional use in circulating and general-purpose pumping equipment.

Refer to Figure 1 for a sectional view of a submersible PMM motor.

PMMs tend to be more expensive than comparably sized AC induction motors and have been known to be more difficult to start than AC induction motors. However, the main advantages of PMMs often outweigh these few disadvantages and include much higher efficiencies (up to 10%-12%) over the same horsepower of induction motors.

They are also physically smaller in size. PMMs can be as much as one-third the size of other AC motors, which provides higher rated horsepower in smaller motor diameters than conventional induction submersible motors. This allows their use in wells that could not have previously accommodated the larger horsepower.

As PMMs continue to increase in available horsepower and motor type, application, and wider acceptance, this motor technology will likely continue to expand in use as water well technicians and designers and engineers continue to realize the benefits of using PMM technology in many shallow and deep water well applications.

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Next month, we will continue our look back with an update on water quality contaminants, regulations, and treatment methods.

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Ed Butts, PE, CPI, is the chief engineer at 4B Engineering & Consulting, Salem, Oregon. He has more than 40 years of experience in the water well business, specializing in engineering and business management. He can be reached at epbpe@juno.com.