Hello all,

I'm a new homeowner looking to fix as many problems as I can on my own not only to save money, but to gain knowledge about my home. I've stumbled across this site a few time when looking for solutions to problems I've been facing so I thought this would be a great place to ask for guidance.

Shortly after my girlfriend and I bought the house I took a walk where the well is located(the very corner of my yard). I noticed a noise that sounded like water rushing coming from the well head. I noticed the bolts around the cap were loose. I figured when I got around to tightening the bolts the noise would go away. The other day our neighbors let us know that our well is making noise. Apparently this is a noise he's never heard before. He lived there for about 20 years. His well is a few feet from mine and his doesn't make this noise.

So I did some investigation...I turned off the electricity for the pump and noticed that the noise was less noticeable and eventually it completely stopped. I took off all the bolts and looked inside. Nothing looked too out of the ordinary, just some wires and a hose. I tightened the bolts turned on the pump and noticed that the noise was still present, but the it was dampened because I fully tightened the bolts around the well head.

Another thing to note is the house has pressure all throughout. The other day my girlfriend and I took a shower on the second floor with no issues. It doesn't sound like the pump is constantly running trying to fill the pressure tank. At the same time it does sounds like the pump is constantly running because the sound is nonstop by the well. There are not leaks that I've been able to identify. I'm assuming the hose inside the well has a leak and water is spraying deep in the well? I plan on calling the local well company to look at it, but I want to be armed with more knowledge before asking someone to come over to check it out.

The well uses a One HP Grundfos 3" stainless submersible pump. I have a receipt from the sellers that shows this pump was installed June 28,2017. The house was built around 1995-1998. Unfortunately I don't know the depth of the well.

Well Pump Noise Video

 

Is there a gauge on your tank? if so does the needle go up/down fairly constantly? I'm wondering if maybe the foot valve is defective and allowing the water to run back down from the tank into the well and then get pumped out again refilling the tank.

 

Yup, the tank has a gauge. I'll have to check it out when I get home from work. Thanks for the suggestion. I should have checked this sooner!

 

My guess is that you have a leak in the well. The foot valve is very deep under water so you won't hear water rushing and splashing even when it's leaking. I'm betting it's a part of the water line that's above water. If this well has a pitless adapter that might also be the source.

 

Should be easy to diagnose, the pump kicks on pressure builds, pump stops.

Now wait, does the pressure drop with no water usage?

If all is well then pressure should hold for considerable time.

If it drops then foot valve/check valve is likely bad!

 

Thank you all for the feedback!

I checked the pressure tank's gauge and it remained constant at about 55psi. I ran the water in the tub for about 5 minutes or so and it stayed around 43psi. I'm not sure what PSI the control is set to, to start the pump. I'm guessing it's around 45 since it barely dropped after that mark. Maybe I should have let the water run for longer. Either way when I stopped the water the pressure jumped back up to about 55psi where it stayed.

 

The pressure switch will run the pump as needed to maintain pressure. So, you likely will not see anything on the pressure gauge. Make sure nothing in the house is using water. Let the system build up pressure until the pump turns off and watch the gauge. Does it drop over time? If so water is leaking out somewhere. The gotcha is if someone installed a check valve as a Band-Aid fix for the leak so the water & pressure in the pressure tank and house can't bleed back to the well.

 

Sounds like water is jetting out when the pump is on.
See if the well company has warranty paperwork.

The sound I was expecting to hear was more like the hiss-then-gurgle you get when a sump pump shuts off.
That sounds like a continuous high-pressure leak when the pump is on, NOT a leaking foot valve where the pitch drops as the pipe loses pressure.

FYI-
The depth of the well is usually written or scratched into the underside of the well cap.
If there's a second number, that's usually the depth of the pump.

 

Just one more vote for what the other guys said. You have to stop using water and look at the gauge. It should hold steady if you are not using any water.

But as Pilot Dane says even if the gauge holds steady you could still have a leak down the well if there is a check valve installed, which, would probably be near the tank. That check valve would stop water from going backwards towards the well and to the leak. So in that case your pressure would hold steady in the house even if you had a leak upstream of the check valve.

Here’s a pic of a typical check valve.

 

Here is a likely scenario, based on the sound-

1) Seller didn't buy a new Grundfos well pump because they were bored (it wasn't a late-night impulse buy on Amazon)

2) So; sellers had a water issue, given the age and location of the house,

- a worn-out foot valve (lack of pressure)
OR
- a well where the water-table is dropping (lack of volume)


That suggests

A) the water jetting sound is due to a big pump and small valve, you are hearing water jetting out from a loose connection.

B) the water jetting sound is due to pump pulling the water level in the well down enough that the pump is exposed and thrashing water around.

I'd open your well cap, write down the depth of well and depth of pump numbers. Then ask your neighbor
A) when and why did your sellers have to do work on the well,
B) how deep is their well

 

Maybe the pump just died of old age in June 2017 and needed replacing. The house was built 1995-1998.