I live in a house built in the sixties and it has all orignal metal piping. We have a well , and pressure has never been great. Within the past couple of years the pressure is reducing. I've other comments and sounds like it could be either build up in the pipes or a bad pump valve. My question would be how do I reduce the buld up in my pipes without replacing them? And how do I locate the valve to determine if it is damaged? This has become an annoyance since two water supplies cannot be on at the same time. Please give me some advice... Thanks

 

Pipes need to be replaced there is no other way to fix them, replace them with copper.

For the pump I can not help you on it.

Best Regards Plumber2000 www.atozplumbing.com

 

I would bet that the pipes are slowly plugging up.

As far as checking the pump valves, do you have a jet pump or a submersible pump. The jet pump would be mounted on the top of the well while the submersible would be near the bottom of the well. To check the foot valves the piping would have to be pulled. Check your pressures at the tank near the well. Check the cuton and cutoff pressures by opening a closeby faucet and seeing at what pressure the pump cuts on at and cuts off at. I don't know what your pressure switch is set on but cuton at 25-30 psi and cotoff at 45-50 psi should be adequate. Pulling the pipes to check the foot valves is not a easy job (it is dirty) and I would exhaust the other possibilities first.

 

R.L. is probably right about your pipes being almost plugged. Something you might check ....,At your pump should be a water faucet,open it and see if you have adequate pressure,if you don't your pipes in the well may have a hole in them. You will have one {1} pipe if it is a submersible pump. Two pipes if it is a jet pump. Usually if the foot valve is not operating properly the pump will lose it prime and won't pump at all. If all this checks out then your pipes are probably built up with crud and need replacing with copper or pvc schedule 40. pvc is very easy to work with and will last as long as anything else.....Good luck Charlie//

 

Do not use pvc for the pipes in the house, pvc is not rated for hot water, if you use anykind of plastic pipe inside, use cpvc.

Best Regards Plumber2000
www.atozplumbing.com

 

What everybody has posted so far is essentially correct. It appears as though there is a good chnce you will need to replace the plumbing in the house. Some have recommended PVC and CPVC for that. If indeed you do have to replace the plumbing, by all means check with your local building department FIRST and see if it is legal to use plastic pipe OF ANY SORT inside the house. Depending on where you live, plastic may not be a legal option.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Plumber2000:
Do not use pvc for the pipes in the house, pvc is not rated for hot water, if you use anykind of plastic pipe inside, use cpvc.

Best Regards Plumber2000
www.atozplumbing.com

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