No water from your well in Tifton or Tift County?

What should I check before I call?

1. The well breaker: In the panel, find the double breaker for the well or pump. If it has tripped, push it all the way off and then on, one time. A second trip means a short somewhere, so leave it off.
2. The gauge by the tank: A reading near zero means the pump is not delivering. A normal reading with dry faucets points to a closed valve or a plugged filter on the house side.
3. Any whole-house filter: Iron and sand plug filter cartridges in this part of Georgia. Switch the filter to bypass, or change the cartridge, and try a faucet.

Leave the well cap, the control box and the pressure switch cover closed. Most well pumps run on 240 volts.

One more look costs nothing: walk the line from the well to the house. A soggy patch or running water in the yard points to a broken pipe, not a dead pump.

Why would a Tift County well quit in a dry spell?

Because the water it draws from moves with the weather and with pumping. The U.S. Geological Survey says water levels in the Floridan aquifer across south-central Georgia are affected by changes in pumping and by rainfall, and in the Tifton Upland, the gently rolling country around Tifton, the USGS found water levels change mainly with pumping rates. A Sylvester monitoring well fell about 9 feet from 1974 to 1985 as farm irrigation grew.

Irrigation is the biggest use of water here. In the USGS count for 2010, irrigation drew about 9 of the roughly 16 million gallons a day pumped in Tift County, more than half.

Spring 2026 was a hard test. The National Weather Service office in Tallahassee rated Tift County one step deeper into drought in late April. A University of Georgia weather station at Ty Ty had caught about 13% of normal rainfall over the previous 30 days, by the Weather Service's count, and the Weather Service called surface and groundwater levels across southwest Georgia exceptionally low. In Moultrie, the next county over, officials asked residents to conserve water. Dry spells like that are when sputtering faucets and dry wells show up.

Out of water on a weekend or at night?

Do the three checks first. If the house is still dry, call: the line is answered 24/7. Say it can't wait, and we'll ring a local pro right away, nights and weekends too. Otherwise give your name, address and what the water is doing, and a local pro will call you back the next business morning.

Until then, set aside bottled water for drinking and cooking, and keep a few buckets filled for flushing. A bucket poured into the bowl flushes a toilet. If the breaker tripped twice, leave it off.

What does a well pro check first?

Power reaching the pressure switch and control box, then the current the pump draws, then the pressure tank. That order usually finds the fault in one visit. A switch, a capacitor in the control box or a loose wire can often be fixed on the spot; a failed motor or a broken pipe down the well means the pump comes up.

As rough 2026 Georgia prices: a pressure switch replacement about $150 to $350, a control box $200 to $500, wiring or breaker repairs $150 to $400. Pump prices are on the pump replacement page.

Is the water safe to drink once it comes back?

If anyone opened the well to work on it, or the water comes back cloudy or smells different, drink bottled water until a bacteria test is clean. UGA Extension says to sample only after the well has been shock chlorinated and well flushed following a repair.

UGA's lab runs a coliform and E. coli test for about $40. Georgia's Department of Public Health says the coliform test is available through the county health department, and UGA Extension's Tift County office also lists laboratory services, so either is a good place to ask for a sample bottle and instructions.

Common questions