Hello,

I am fairly new to the well/septic tank lifestyle. And I have 3 separate questions

#1 My wife and I purchased a 7 year old home and we found out that our cold water feed to the washing machine has pitiful water pressure. I mean literally takes 20 minutes to fill it up. The hot is fine. I am not sure why this occurs since no other cold inlets in the house are that way. I am assuming that there could be a build up of scale/mineral deposits inside the piping running to my washer, but I would think other lines in the house would be the same way.

#2 My water pressure isn't generally all that great anyway so I read a few other posts about pressure tanks and such. I have a pressure tank that sits at around 48 PSI. And a water softener that has a sediment filter placed before the softener then a carbon filter for after the softener but I can't put a carbon filter in and have any decent water pressure. Even with just the sediment filter in use my upstairs shower pressure starts mediocre then decreases to still usable but less than desirable after about 1-2 minutes. I am reading these posts at work so I cannot see what my tank does with water on and such from here but I am wondering how I can boost the pressure so that I can use both filters. When I first moved in the previous owners had the softener bypassed and every faucet, tub, dishwasher in the house was orange. This was my first house so I had no idea that it was even bypassed for almost a year. With the softener back in use and at least the sediment filter on, I no longer get orangeness but it still smells a little. But my pressure is just not what I would like it to be.

#3 How does one check the GPM flow rate of your well? My house supposedly passed our areas 3 GPM minimum required flow test.

I would like to be able to use the carbon filter and I would really like my cold water to work better at my washer. Any suggestions of what a novice can check to help cut some fees that a plumber will charge to check out the system.

Disconnect the hoses at the washer and turn them on into a bucket to verify you have pressure at the valves. Check screens on the hoses.

Actually I had already tried that when we first moved in. I thought maybe I had a clogged hose but it is the spicket itself that has low pressure.

Are you quite certain that the hose bib hasn't mineral build up at the seat? Have you shut off the water to the house and removed the hose bib, checked and cleared the seat and then turned the water back on to check the volume and pressure coming out of the open pipe? If not give it a shot and let me know. Good luck, Tom