Everybody remembers their first car. If you ask anyone, they can tell you the make and model, the color, and at least one great story. I’m no different; my first car was a 1988 Ford Taurus station wagon. It was “medium canyon red,” AKA maroon. It had all the bells and whistles: automatic headlights, climate control, keypad entry, and a cassette player. Cutting-edge technology in 1988, only I didn’t get that car until 1997. We had many adventures on the backroads and highways around here until one fateful night. My band played a show at the Palladium up in Worcester, Massachusetts. On the way home, the transmission blew up at the toll booth coming off the Mass Pike at 1 am. We rolled it into the lot on the side of the highway, found our way back home, and told the towing company they could keep the car in exchange for towing it away, marking the end of a brief but epic era.

Most people have a similar situation going on with their well pump. They’ve got the finest technology available from 15 years ago: a single-phase pump motor that operates the same as a light switch. When your household pressure drops to 40 lbs, the switch turns the pump on, it fills your tank with water up to 60 lbs, and the switch then turns the pump off. Over and over and over again. Simple and reliable. Until one day the switch turns on, but nothing happens. Just like when a light bulb burns out, it’s time to change your well pump. That’s the simplest analogy I use to describe how a well pump runs and eventually fails.

Much like the cars from 1988 have seen some upgrades, the same goes for well pumps. Just like new cars, these new pumps are more powerful, efficient, and in tune with our modern world/needs. My dad has a 1979 Corvette, and it’s great, but my mom has a newer Toyota Camry that will last over 200k miles using a fraction of the gas with barely any maintenance. Not to mention that the 1979 Corvette has 225 horsepower and the 2021 Camry has 301 horsepower (it’s true, I looked it up).

Variable Frequency Drives are becoming the new standard for well pumps. Instead of the light switch model that runs at a fixed maximum speed at all times, VFDs pump water on demand at the speed you are using your water and at constant pressure. This capability alone can decrease power consumption by about 80%, and the slower pumping speed eliminates the hard starts and stops of the pump motor, dramatically extending its lifespan. You can set the pressure much higher than a standard pump, and it will remain the same regardless of your water usage. Low-pressure showers are now a thing of the past. If there’s laundry going or a dishwasher is running, you still get 75 lbs of water pressure in the shower. If there’s a car being washed in the driveway, you’ve still got 75 lbs in the shower. The pump delivers the exact amount of water at the exact pressure you want it. These pumps have been used around here for about 20 years, and the kinks have been worked out. Instead of only being a luxury item for a mansion, it’s now affordable enough to be used by everyone.

My favorite VFD is the Franklin Electric Utility Drive. It’s a controller that works with your existing well pump. It converts the pump you already have in your well to a constant pressure system. It’s very simple and very effective. In a matter of minutes, you can have a brand new experience with your household water. These units have built-in lightning protection, automatic low water cutoff, and constant pressure. So you get the benefits of today’s technology matched with the reliability of a tried-and-true traditional well pump.

My old Taurus station wagon will always hold a special place in my heart, but I’ll take a new Toyota over it any day.

(This article was not sponsored by Toyota!)