On Thu, 11 Aug 2011 12:35:11 -0700, SF Man wrote:
I'm confused. I just ran out of water.

FWIW, I just measured the water flow (manually) at approximately 5 gallons
per minute for approximately three minutes (until the water table ran dry).

Here's what I did (does this look reasonable?):

1. I flipped the 220 volt circuit breaker off for the well pump.
2. I waited a half hour for the water table to recover.
3. I climbed on top of the tank, opened the hatch ... and ...
Note: Yuck. If you drink the water, you don't want to look inside the tank!

4. While I positioned the bucket below the water into the tank ...
5. My teen flipped the circuit breaker back on.
6. I measured 5 gallons in one timed minute
Note: The pump shut off in about 3 minutes due to the water table lowering.

So, I 'think', without a meter, that I have a flow of 5 gallons per minute
but that the well can only supply that for three minutes for a grand total
of 15 gallons for every half hour.

Two questions arise:
Q1: Is there a better DIY way to measure the water flow?
Q2: Do these numbers seem in the right ballpark for what you guys
experience?