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Well Pump Repair in Winterpock, Skinquarter & Beach

ZIP 23838, which takes in much of Chesterfield's rural southwest around Winterpock, Skinquarter and Beach, has more homes on private wells than any other ZIP in the county. This page covers well pump repair and replacement here: where the wells are concentrated, the old coal-basin rock under part of this area and what it does to water and equipment, the Chesterfield side of Moseley, and the offices and resources that apply.

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The county's most well-dependent ZIP

Chesterfield County's 2024 parcel records show about 2,232 homes in ZIP 23838 with a recorded well and no county water connection, the highest count of any ZIP in the county and about 30% of its roughly 7,466 well homes. The ZIP's preferred city name is simply "Chesterfield."

ZIP lines out here don't follow the roads you'd expect. In the county's parcel data, Winterpock Road and Beach Road addresses turn up under both 23832 and 23838, and every Skinquarter Road parcel carries Moseley's 23120 ZIP. Give the contractor your road and your ZIP, and don't worry about which "area" you're in.

Three old crossroads

Winterpock is an unincorporated community in western Chesterfield with no post office of its own. It was the chief town of the Clover Hill Pits coal mines, worked from 1837 to 1883, and had more than 1,000 residents in 1870. Skinquarter is an unincorporated town off U.S. Route 360, at the headwaters of Goode's Creek and Skinquarter Creek, both of which drain to the Appomattox River. It was a stop on the Farmville and Powhatan Railroad, which ran from 1884 to 1905. Beach was served by the same railroad. The Beach Station historic district, at 11400 and 11410 Beach Road in the Village of Beach, was listed on the National Register in 2008; its buildings date from about 1890.

Coal-basin rock, and what it does to well water

The coal under Winterpock tells you something about the ground. Virginia Energy says the western part of the county occupies part of the Richmond basin, a Triassic half-graben filled with up to 4,000 feet of sandstone, conglomerate, siltstone and shale, and that coal occurs near Midlothian and at Clover Hill, near Winterpock. An undated Virginia Energy map for its Winterpock Area Emergency Project marks old vertical mine openings near Coalboro Road and Winterpock Road.

Groundwater from sedimentary rock behaves differently from water out of the granite farther east. The 1985 USGS report on Virginia Piedmont groundwater says it may be hard or very hard, that iron and manganese problems occur in sedimentary rocks, and that, unlike wells in crystalline rock, their yields increase with deeper drilling. The state sources don't map the basin's edge lot by lot, so this describes parts of western Chesterfield, not every home in 23838.

What that means for your pump and tank

  • Buildup. Virginia Cooperative Extension says iron and manganese build up in pipes, pressure tanks, water heaters and softeners. If your pressure has faded slowly, mineral buildup belongs on the list with the pump and tank. See weak or falling pressure.
  • Testing. The EPA's secondary standards are 0.3 mg/L for iron and 0.05 mg/L for manganese. The Chesterfield Extension office's water clinic tests both, along with hardness.
  • Deepening. If the well itself is running short, USGS's finding that sedimentary-rock wells gain yield with depth makes deepening worth discussing here, where in granite, past about 300 feet, it usually isn't. It needs a $300 VDH permit. See drought and dry wells.

Moseley, on the Chesterfield side

The 23120 ZIP had about 598 Chesterfield homes with a well and no county water in the 2024 parcel records. For those addresses, the Chesterfield offices and rules on this site are the ones that apply, and the western county's basin geology may apply too, though again its edge isn't mapped property by property. Skinquarter may straddle 23120 and 23838, which is why a Skinquarter address can read Moseley.

Growth, county water and the drought

RichmondBizSense reported in August 2026 that Chesterfield's draft comprehensive plan cuts planned future residential density by nearly 10%, "mostly to the south and west of Route 288." Whether county water reaches a particular address is a question for Chesterfield Utilities at 804-748-1864. On the drought, Chesterfield was under a watch as of DEQ's October 2, 2026 update; the drought page has the timeline and what to do if the well, not the pump, is the problem.

Offices for southwest Chesterfield wells

  • Well permits and records: Chesterfield Health District, environmental health, 804-748-1691.
  • Building permits: Chesterfield Building Inspection, 804-751-4990.
  • Water testing: Virginia Cooperative Extension, Chesterfield office, 804-751-4401.
  • Power outages: Dominion Energy's outage map; downed lines 866-366-4357. If another utility serves your road, use its outage line.

Southwest Chesterfield well questions

Why is my well water so hard?

Well water takes its character from the rock it comes through, and the USGS links hard water and iron and manganese problems to sedimentary rock like that under parts of western Chesterfield. A test tells you how hard yours is and what it's carrying.

Would deepening my well help out here?

It may, if your well is in the basin's sedimentary rock, where the USGS found yields increase with depth. In crystalline rock the same report found little gain past about 300 feet. Ask the contractor what nearby wells are drilled into.

Is Skinquarter in 23838 or 23120?

Addresses there appear under both. Use whatever ZIP is on your mail when you call or fill in the form.

Does a pump replacement here need a permit?

Not from VDH, and the state building code exempts a like-for-like pump swap. Ask Building Inspection about tank, switch or wiring work. Well rules has the details.

How this site helps

Call or send a request from anywhere in southwest Chesterfield, and if the contractor covers your road, it goes to one independent local well and pump contractor; the referral is free.

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Well trouble in southwest Chesterfield?

Call or send a request and it goes to one independent local well and pump contractor. You pay nothing for the referral.

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