[grnegz]

Hello guys! Been reading many of your posts today & haven't quite found an answer to my question yet, So I'll just ask it!

My system is on a well with a pressure tank under the house. The well is located about 300 yards from where it starts servicing the house. The system is set at about 45psi (I know how to adjust it) & the GPM at the nearest fixture is about 2.41. The supplies leading up to the pressure tank is 1" PVC & after that it's 3/4" copper. I have about a 150' run to the master bathroom to where I want to add two shower systems to, a his/hers type deal.

The problem is that any time a toilet flushes or a faucet used while the shower is on, the flow drips significantly in the shower anywhere in the house. This is not a new problem, but an ongoing one. We do have hard water, but we have a softener & sediment filter to take care of it all, so I don't think it's a mineral/sediment problem.

I don't think that upgrading my line to 1" will do anything additional, I think the flow or GPM needs to increase. How would I do that? An additional pressure tank under the master bath? A pressure booster? A combination of the two? Thanks in advance for your help.

[ballengerb1]

Your pipe size and psi are all fine so the problem lays eslewhere. Does both hot and cold drop at the shower? Your gpm is very low and we need to track down the restriction. Do you have a PRV or back flow preventer?

[grnegz]

No PRV or back flow valve.

Also this house was built in 1996, relatively new.

[ballengerb1]

I guess we need to start with the water coming into the house, can you break that connection right after the tank. We need to see if you are get more gpm from the tank and the restriction is down stream. We are talking almost 1000' of piping and throw in a few elbows this is going to knock down your gpm.

[grnegz]

You got me in the right direction... Here's what I've done so far:

I took flow measurements from a field spigot for straight well flow & got 14.29 GPM. This tells me my well pump is doing just fine.

Took a measurement from a house spigot after the pressure tank, whole house filter & softener & got 3.53 GPM. This is better (and truer) than my initial measurement from the garage of 2.41 GPM.

Next I removed the filter cartridge (which hadn't been changed in 5 months or so) from the whole house filter & took a measurement from the same house spigot. It then measured 5 GPM. A respectable increase & a choke point indicator.

Next I bypassed the water softener & did not put the filter cartridge back in & tested the same house spigot. It now measured 6.98 GPM. Now we're getting somewhere and another choke point indicator.

So here's my thinking and feel free to help me out here to see if I'm wrong. Currently the plumbing setup is Supply - Pressure Tank - Whole House Filter - Softener - House. I'm thinking that I could get back up to close to that 7 GPM if it was plumbed like this: Supply - Check Valve - Whole House Filter - Softener - Check Valve - Pressure Tank - House.

Additionally, I would like to add another Pressure Tank on the opposite side of the house under the Master Bath. The house is a pretty long ranch style home.

Any suggestions?

[ballengerb1]

I am going to wait for one of our plumbers to jump on, I have not worked on many well systems, none with this length run. Tom, Mark or Milo should be along soon.

[grnegz]

I made a mistake on my initial measurement from the well to the pressure tank. It's not 300 yards... it's 300 feet.

[ballengerb1]

Still long enough to cause some pressure drop. I'll see if the guys are around.

[speedball1]

Have you considdered adding a check valve, a booster pump and a pressure tank at the entry point of your house to maintain house pressure? Regards, Tom