We just installed a Utilitech 3/4hp Jet Pump for our shallow well of about 30 feet. We installed it with a Union just in case we had to remove it in the future and the Check Valve (Foot Valve) is above ground next to the well. It seems to be acting crazy! You have to turn it off at the main breaker every time we use it and the pressure gauge fluctuates really fast when building pressure or if you turn the valve off. I was hoping it would be easy just go out and turn a valve on and the well would work. We are just using it for irrigation with sprinklers but you have to prime it each time which takes about 20 minutes then you have to clean the algae out of the sprinkler for it to work? Would a bladder tank help this problem? Thanks for any input! :)

The biggest concern to me is that you have to prime it each time. That would indicate a leaking check valve, foot valve, or possibly at the union you installed. It should hold prime.

The pressure gauge, absent a pressure tank, will probably jump up fairly quickly when you turn the pump on and bleed off in the same manner when you turn it off. I don't think you need a tank at all if all you do is run it for irrigation. BTW, what pressure does it run at when you are watering the grass?

WE have a bladder tank, but our foot valve is at the bottom of our well. Never have a problem>

Epine makes a good point. Peg, what you are calling a footvalve is almost certainly a checkvalve. The footvalve would be at the bottom of the well.

Having a bladder tank is OK, but is frequently not needed IF all you are doing is running some sprinklers. The key is this: Have the proper number of sprinklers to keep from having the pressure get too high or too low. If it seems to get too high, and you can't remedy it by adding sprinklers, then you might want to look at a pressure tank and switch to control the pressure.

That was my biggest concern too; priming it each time! What a pain. Yesterday I got desperate and bought a 2 gallon bladder tank. It's not perfect yet but it is holding prime now and the answer to your question is 60 lbs watering grass. Is that too high?

This is a well from the 70's down in the ground and I am not positive there is a foot valve down there. The pipe was small (like 1"1/4) and we were hoping there was a foot valve already down there; that is why we put the check valve above ground. Not sure yet but I did buy a 2 gallon bladder tank yesterday and it seems to be holding prime although the pressure is not set just right yet. I feel the bladder tank might be the secret.

I was hoping a bladder tank wasn't needed but got desperate yesterday and bought a 2 gallon one. Doing a lot better. I only have one sprinkler so far (haven't done the dream irrigation yet). It's running at 60 pounds which might be too high? Yeah, I guess I mean check valve. I sure hope there is a foot valve in the bottom of that hole! If not, maybe that is why it was not pulling water up? And, the adjustment on the side of the pump for the pressure seems kind of complicated to use. I believe they are set to 20 and 40 from the factory but we messed with it so much (during it's crazy cycling) that need to adjust it back now. Our sprinkler does keep getting clogged and using the standard horizontal 12". Maybe should get a single hole sprinkler?

Peg, the main consideration is to have the pump run non stop rather than a lot of off/on cycles. 60# is a little high but when you add more sprinklers, it will go down. A 2 gallon tank is really small. It won't help much from the point of view of having the pump pump up to, for example, 60#, then turn off until pressure drops to 40#, then turn back on, and so forth. It would be doing that cycle many, many times an hour and you don't want that. It's hard on a pump. If it's working well now, then I'd leave it alone.

You can get a inline filter that would probably solve the clogged sprinkler problem. You can get one for thirty or forty bucks. It has a replaceable filter element.

I have no idea why adding that small tank seemed to solve your priming problem, but if it works, then that's great for you!

Seems I have another problem now, seems the pressure adjustment is messing up. We adjusted it and now it seems to be causing it to cut off? Any tricks?

Peg, your switch probably has two adjusting nuts. The large center nut will adjut BOTH the cuton and cutoff points. Turn it clockwise to turn it up, and CCW to turn it down. The small nut only adjusts the cut off point.

See this site for a great description of the whole process. Just be aware that the nuts must be turn one or two complete turns to make much difference.

How to adjust water pump pressure, pump cut-on pressure and pump cut-off pressure - private pump and well system do-it-yourself repairs

Thanks for the referral to the sight! Well, back in business now as far as pump turning on and not cutting off due to the pressure adjustments. Not I can't seem to get it to prime lol; (when I do finally get this project working I'll be celebrating! :) I dumped tons of water in it today and couldn't get it to hold pressure. It kept losing it as soon as it was close. Maybe something isn't sealed just right or not sure what else. I gave up for the day and will try again tomorrow.

Peg, something is not right here. You say you have a checkvalve installed, and it sounds like it is within just a few feet of the pump. If that's the case, then you should only be able to pour a gallon or so of water into the prime port on your pump. It would run back to the checkvalve and stop.

I don't have much experience with jetpumps like yours, but I would think the check valve shouldn't be there. There is a checkvalve as part of the footvalve. That a major part of the footvalve's purpose. The above ground checkvalve really serves no purpose, and as far as I can figure out, could be a problem. The footvalve is designed to prevent water from flowing backwards, so when the pump turns off, the water in the wellpipe stays put. That prevents having to reprime the pump every time it cuts on. See this site for some good info on footvalves. Foot Valves used on piping for Water Wells, Explanation & Repair Advice

As I said, I'm no expert on jetpumps, but it sure seems to me that your above ground checkvalve is not working right.

I have had the same experience with my pump in the past. I tend
To think the only reason in started working when you added the tank
Is that you must have made a better seal than before and it held the water.
I learned the same way as you kept trying.
Right now I am trying to figer out how big of a tank
I would need if I wanted to run 2 or 3 hoses at once
Without the pump cutting on an off too much as well as
Not having a tank the size of nuculer submarine.

First you posted to an old closed thread. Piggy backing onto someone elses' thread is not a good idea. It gets confusing as to whom we are talking to.

But anyway, adding a tank for an irrigation system will not help. Your pump has to pump as much water as all the sprinkler heads (you said hoses, I assume you meant sprinkler heads) are capable of putting out. You can add a tank but as soon as the water in the tank is used up, the water volume and pressure will revert back to the capabilities of the pump. That will only be a few minutes unless as you say, you add a tank the size of a submarine.

To set up an irrigation system you need to find out the volume of each head, the number of heads and pressure need for them to operate, then size you pump to provide that volume of water at that pressure. Sprinkler heads only function properly at a certain pressure.

Can you bypass an existing bladder tank and just turn the pump on and off when you want to use water for any yard work

I suppose you could but why would you want to? There is no advantage. You would not have to manually turn the pump on and off. The pressure switch would still control the pump.

In fact, if you look at the piping, chances are that the house line is tapped into the well line before the tank. That means that when you have an extended use of water, the water flows from the pump directly to the house line, therefore directly to the hose bib. Already doing what you are proposing.