Ask Me Help Desk - Well water pressure problems

OK, here we go. My family moved into a new home, built in 2001. The home has a well, large reservoir tank, an iron filter with two additional water cylinders, and water softener. Our water pressure is poor anytime we use more than one water source in the house. Showers are a nightmare when the washing machine gets turned on.

I have checked, and adjusted the well controller box (two screws) so the well comes on at 40psi and kicks out at 60psi. Here are the questions:

1. I noticed that the reservoir tank is about 6psi lower than the pressure, should I add air to the tank?

2. Should I be running higher water pressure to compensate for the iron filter and water softener, do these additional conditioning units cause pressure loss at each connection?

3. Should I short cycle the well cut in and cut out, in other words have it cut in at 55psi and cut out at 65psi.

4. Is there a way to measure the actual water pressure at the output, like a shower or faucet, then adjust the well and reservoir tank to reach 60psi at the point of output?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

First of all, you would not want to short cycle the pump. Pumps need long cycles, not short ones. Short cycles wear out a pump much faster.

Sounds like you have a volume problem, not a pressure problem. My experience with wells is that this is a fairly common problem. If your pump is cutting off at 60#, then you have good pressure at this point. As the pressure falls, then obviously you have less as it moves toward 40#.

If you are suspicious of the filter, then most of them have a bypass valve. Enable the bypass valve and see if that helps the pressure problem. Most filters/softeners only cost a modest amount of pressure and aren't a major contributor to pressure/volume problems so long as they are in good working order and properly maintained.

For the tank pressure, assuming it is a bladder tank, you need to turn off the system, drain the tank through a nearby faucet until system pressure is zero, then fill the "top" of the tank to 38#. Once that is done, turn the system back on.

Quote:

1. I noticed that the reservoir tank is about 6psi lower than the pressure, should I add air to the tank?

The correct setting for your bladder tanks would be 2 PSI less then the cut-in point of the control box. This setting to be adjusted only after you shut off the power and bleed the pressure off. Then set the tank pressure.

Quote:

4. Is there a way to measure the actual water pressure at the output, like a shower or faucet, then adjust the well and reservoir tank to reach 60psi at the point of output?

Sure there is. I soldered on a 100 PSI gage onto a 1/2" female threaded adapter and checked house pressure by removing the shower head, screwing on my gage and turning on the shower valve. But be aware, the more pressure you put into the system the more strain you put on pipes, joints, and faucets. If you ever develope "water hammer" that extra pressure can come back and bite you.
Regards, Tom

Interesting idea with the pressure gauge and the shower head. That would be a nice tool to have. You can also buy a pressure gauge which will screw onto a outside facuet.

My only thought on that is this: The only reason any outlet in the house should have a different pressure from what you have at the tank is a difference in elevation. So long as no water is running anywhere, the pressure should be static. So if you have 50# at the tank, you will have 50# at the same elevation in your house, so long as no water is turned on. It would be interesting to see what happens with your house pressure once, for instance, you turn on the washing machine. You will probably see a dramatic drop in pressure at the shower head with Speedball's pressure gauge idea. However, I would guess that would be true in any house whether on municipal water or well water. It is only a matter of how much loss happens. When two faucets are on, there is a pressure drop as compared to only one being on. This is due, as I understand it, to volume. So, BigTodd, I still think you have a volume problem. Could be due to a buildup of mineral deposits (scientific name: "crud") in your pipes, but probably not since your house is not very old.

Let us know what happens when you bypass the filter and if that helps any. If it makes you feel any better, I have a two story house. When my son turns his shower on, it is the lowest plumbing point in the house. That pretty much does away with the rest of the house getting any meaningful water. I attribute that to 60 years of mineral deposits in pipes which has reduced our volume.

Thanks guys great feedback. I did bypass the Iron Filter and Water softener, it did not help much with the pressure. My shower is upstairs and the laundry and other bathroom is down stairs. Where did you find the 100psi pressure gauge that was soldered to the shower coupler? I want to try that.

I did also take the shower head off and looked into the pipe. I did not see any build-up in the pipe. That's not saying all the pipes are the same way, but I though it would be a good place to look to see if there was crud build-up.

Why is it recommended that the pump be turned off and the tank drained off before setting the pressure? If the badder is empty how would I set the pressure. I would think with the tank badder empty there would be no pressure at all in the tank. I confused.

You can find the pressure gauge in any Lowe's, Marvins, Home Depot, Plumbing supply business, etc. They are rather common.

You want to set the bladder pressure in the manner we described because... well, because that is how it's done. As I understand it, you want the "top" pressure above the bladder 2 # lower than cut out pressure so that the bladder will always flex upward, not up and down and up and down as pressure changes. Believe me, you will have no problem putting 38# pressure in above the bladder.