Well Water Tank Questions

[Dimitrios Paskoudniakis]

I recently moved to a home with a well, previously only living in homes with city water.

The previous owners had valves set to bypass the water filter. A few weeks ago, I opened valves to divert the water back through the filter. In the past week, the house water pressure has dropped significantly. If I close the flow to the filter and reopen the valve to bypass the filter, the pressure is fine. A couple weeks ago, I also drained and refilled my hot tub, which required alot of water.

What's going on with sudden low pressure through the filter line? The filter looks OK. Incoming and outgoing water is clear.

Also, my well tank had a preset pressure of 38 psi. There is a pressure gauge between in the incoming house water and the tank that reads 50 psi. Does this mean the air in the tank is 50 psi, and is this too high?

[RBM]

Try replacing the filter first. Even though it may look clean, it could be saturated with particles causing the lack of pressure

[Harry K]

I am not familiar with maintenance on filters but yes, the filter is the problem. Probably clogged. Require some kind of back flushing or replacing he medium.

As to the pressure. Not enough information. Is your set-up running a 'constant pressure' system, i.e., does the guage show the pressure going up to a certain pressure - cutting off- then coming on at a lower pressure? Or does the guage show the same pressure all the time? You need to watch the guage while you are drawing water to check.

If it is the most common type - has a hi cut off/low cut on the proper tank precharge is 2 psi below the cut-on setting. That is set by shutting the pump off and then drawing all the water you can out of the system (empty tank).

Normal setting for that type switch are:

20-40 - rare as 20psi is not really very acceptable on sprinklers, showers, etc. 30-50 - common but even 30 psi will give problems with some sprinklers. 40-60 - common and very nice performance throughout the range.

Settings above 40-60 are not recommended for residential use as they cause excessive stsrain/wear on fittings.

Your reading of 38 with a guage reading of 50 (if it varies) would be correct for a 40-60 set up.

I haven't worked with a constand pressure set-up so I can't answer if the 38 setting is correct for those.

Harry K

[frank.logullo]

Assuming a simple candle type sediment filter, you can replace it yourself. I do mine every 6 months or sooner if they look very dirty. Frank

[butwhat]

Filters have different micron ratings. A 2 micron filter will plug with particles larger than 2 microns and a 20 micron filter won't catch particles smaller than 20 microns til it starts to plug up. I 2 micron filter will also restrict water flow more than a 20 micron filter will. Personally I prefer the better filtration of the smaller micron filters. I banked 4 ea 1" inlet/outlet filters in parallel so I could have my smaller micron filtration without sacrificing Gallons per minute of flow. If filter plugging is a frequent problem you might want to install an automatic back washing filter 1st in line. You should also check to see when the last time your well was serviced. With some wells it is necessary to redevelop them periodically. One method is to pull your suction line and run a 3/8" or 1/2" line attached to an air compressor down the well. This will bring sediment up out of the well and help clean your screens. Be prepared to divert a lot of water. Also you need to anchor your blow line or your air line will shoot out of the well like a missile. Fun to watch, but not the preferred method.

frank.logullo wrote: