Hello,
I have an issue with water pressure dropping at home, and I hope that someone could steer me in the right direction on what to look for.

My family and I went to Germany to work for a couple years, and while we were gone, the well pump went bad and was replaced. (I can’t remember why it went bad). The tenant said that everything was fine after it was replaced.

When we moved back into our house, we noticed that if we run the bathtub in the master bedroom , the water has good pressure for about 15 seconds, then slows down to a crawl. It literally takes 20 minutes to put a foot (if that) of water in the tub. Also, there is no water at all in the rest of the house while the tub is filling up…not even a drop will come out of the kitchen sink for example. The same applies if I turn the hose on outside. When the tub is filling up, the pressure gauge on the pump is bouncing around zero and you can hear the pump making a weird noise like its cavitating. When I turn the tub off, pressure gradually builds back up and shuts the motor off like it’s supposed to.
Also, you can see in the one picture, that the flow control valve coming from the sediment tank is almost completely shut. If I open it even the slightest bit, the water pressure significantly drops on the gauge and the needle bounces around.

This never used to happen with the old pump/motor. I do not have the old motor either, so I can’t compare notes on what I used to have. I keep hearing about a foot valve, but I don’t know anything about wells. The pump sounds like its sucking air though once the gauge is bouncing around at zero psi.

I have attached a couple of pics. It is a Goulds J10 pump on a Goulds 1hp motor if that helps. My well is about 300 feet, I live in Florida, and the well is about 40 feet from the pump.

Thanks in advance

 

That system does not look like its set up correctly, but if it worked before then ???

Anyway possibly its the ejector down in the well. It would need to be pulled and replaced.

You have a two pipe system.

 

i was told by the property manager that handled the repair that nothing else was done to the well except the motor being replaced, but yes, i know that we always used to have good pressure in the house before we left.

What exactly looks setup wrong?

thank you very much.

 

First I would check to make sure you don't have a restriction anywhere. It could be a clogged water filter or a valve that's mostly closed. Another possibility, and more difficult to check, is that the venturi in your well is clogged with debris.

Water can only be sucked up about 30' no matter how powerful the pump so deeper wells must push the water up from below. In your case the smaller pipe is sending pressurized water down into the well where at the bottom you have a venturi and water is forced up to the pump in the larger pipe. The venturi has some small passages and if they become clogged your pump looses power and flow. Most venturis can be disassembled and are easy to clean out. The worst part is that it's located at the bottom of your well. So, I would exhaust all above ground possibilities before pulling the well.

 

Welcome to the forums.

Excellent pictures

I see you have a jet pump which uses two lines. The two lines go down to the well point where a check valve is located. That check valve is called a foot valve because it's at the base of the well. One of those lines draws water up from the point. That's the line with the valve in it. The valve keeps the water from draining back into the well. The second line is a return line which injects water back into the point thru a venturi. This venturi creates a vacuum drawing water into the system.

Are you sure your well is 300' deep ? Jet pump systems are usually only used down to 100'.
The well point is required to be sized according to the depth of the well and should be matched to the pump used.

Most important: When your pump shuts off...... does the system pressure hold steady ?





whoops......I'm a little late here

 

i dont know of any other valves that would be there or any filters, except for the softener and chlorine tank pictured below, which is inline with the system. i looked at the valve handles on top of them both and they are turned all the way over 90 degrees like they should be.

i am curious if maybe the pump (Gould J10) is not big enough for that deep of a well? I am just shooting ideas out there....

thank you for the input...i will assume as well that digging anything out of a 300 foot well and replacing it is not cheap either....

 

i am only going on what i was told from the previous owner of the house that it is 300 feet..my neighbor also says his is 300 feet. How could I find out? Is that something the permit would tell me maybe if i went to city hall?

When the pump is off, it holds pressure just fine.

you guys are great, i've learned more about my well in 4 posts than the 10 years i lived there lol

 

If your system holds pressure when the pump shuts off that means the foot valve is not leaking. There could still be an issue with a clogged venturi.

I don't know if depth would be listed on the permit.
Is your neighbors system also a two pipe jet pump system like yours ?

 

ok well i guss thats good

i will check when i get home tonight

 

The jet or venturi on you well can be up to 80ft down... Thats the max a two pipe system can pump from.

The depth of the well is not what determines really anything but capacity I believe with a shallow system. Its the water level. So you can have a 300 ft well, but the water level is say 50 ft down. Then you place your venturi down I believe as far as you want. As long as the water level stays above 80 ft your good.

Thats my knowledge anyway..

Start by tuning off power to the pump and drain that metal well tank. Check the air charge... Add air if low. Set air to about 5 psi below the cut in psi. So if the well kicks on at 40 psi then set to 35psi.

 

I think if it was a restriction the pump would cycle properly...

One more note: Does the pump take longer then usual to reach the cut off psi? You could simply have a suction leak too. That is the larger pipe leading from the well head to the front of the pump.

May even be right at the adapter threaded into the pump.

 

Thats bleach injection right? Has that large mixing tank ever been drained? May be loaded with sediment. Should be drained and flushed periodically as well as the well tank...

I never seen the system set up like that...Does the water out of the well recycle in a loop through the filters and back to the big tank? Then back out to the house?

 

the one is a chlorine tank and the large one is the sediment tank i guess you call it...i will drain both

and yes it does seem like it takes a while for it to shut off...maybe he didnt put the suction line fitting in tight enough...interesting...

is smoke the best way to check for a suction leak?

 

In your case it may leak water. My well had a suction leak but it sucked in air... Thats because my foot valve was faulty. Then the well would lose prime.

When the pump is running I would think it would suck air in, hence the cavitation you hear...

But the water level can also be low in the well and possibly your drawing air in...

Or just a matter of the venturi is clogged...

Dont know to you pull it up.....

 

ok well i am going to take all this in to consideration and i will post back what i find if, anything...i will drain the tanks, check the pipes for leaks, etc and see what i find out

thanks again to everyone for all your help

 

let us know!!! We like happy endings here at DIY...