Wells, bladder tanks, water psi, and bugs!

[CTC B4Z]

Ok, just getting settled into my new house. Its out in bumfukt egypt so of course I'm blessed with well water and septic. My main issue so far has been the water, not so much the hardness or taste, but the pressure. Shower has low pressure for about the first 4 minutes, after that the flow about shuts off for a second til what I think the pump kicks on. Then its balls out, great pressure, but only for about another 5 minutes than its back down low. I also run low on hot water, but the tank looks like a standard size tank. Dont understand that very much

Whats the issue here? Bladder tank too small? If I go with a bigger bladder tank, I am able to increase pressure and volume correct? What about pump, should I upgrade my pump? I havent even looked at the system yet, Im just assuming.

Bugs! BLEH!!! I have talked to several people in the area and they have confirmed what I have seen a few times in the house are wood roaches. They tell me if I have oak tress(which I do close by) thats where they come from. They have said their not the roach you think of that reside in NYC slum apartments. What can I do to keep them out as best as possible? spray around the house and baseboards? If so, what product?



oh yea, first time homeowner, ty ty

 

[RobbyMaQ]

Is there any sort of sediment filter?
Our pressure drops noticeably when it gets dirty...

Larger bladder will give you more time at higher pressure, but will also take longer to fill.

From what you describe on your shower, that pressure drops low and drops off completely for a second until the pump kicks on makes me think that your pressure switch may need adjustment.

 

[NyhtRyder]

You should have a pressure switch right before the tank, it is also where your wiring hooks up. This is what tells the pump to kick on and kick off. It is adjustable somewhat, but also needs to be replaced sometimes.

 

[KLB]

A dirty filter will definitely kill your pressure if you have one. Our water is very high in iron, and it can clog the filter pretty quickly.

You should probably have a well company come look at your setup. They can make sure everything is in good working order.

 

[x10]

does the pressure have a air pressure gauge, if not take your tire pressure gauge and check that you still have a air chamber,

I forget the exact pounds but it should be printed on your tank, air it up and wait overnight, if the pressure is still good then look other places,

My house was vacant for years before I moved in and I had a similar problem, Airing it up got me back in order, My house was a repo so Im not sure the Ahole who lost the house didn't go down and bleed the pressure off, they has sabotaged almost everything else that wasn't too much work

 

[Cameramonkey]

You may also need to drain and refill the pressure tank. Growing up we had a 200 gal pressure tank that every year or two we had to drAin and refill or to would get waterlogged. Draining the tank would give us back the cushion of air that would help maintain pressure between pump cycles. It sounds like you have lost the air pocket. Pressure switch could need tweaked too.

But fix it fast. The more your pump has to cycle the shorter the life.


Id is also have the water heater coils checked as it sounds like you are down one. Or it's possible it's full of sediment and you are only using half the tank. We had that with our house when we bought it. They never drained it and we have very hard water. Long story short the sediment was up above the bottom coil so it was useless.

Welcome to homeownership.

 

[femurphy77]

does the pressure have a air pressure gauge, if not take your tire pressure gauge and check that you still have a air chamber,

I forget the exact pounds but it should be printed on your tank, air it up and wait overnight, if the pressure is still good then look other places,

My house was vacant for years before I moved in and I had a similar problem, Airing it up got me back in order, My house was a repo so Im not sure the Ahole who lost the house didn't go down and bleed the pressure off, they has sabotaged almost everything else that wasn't too much work

You may also need to drain and refill the pressure tank. Growing up we had a 200 gal pressure tank that every year or two we had to drAin and refill or to would get waterlogged. Draining the tank would give us back the cushion of air that would help maintain pressure between pump cycles. It sounds like you have lost the air pocket. Pressure switch could need tweaked too.

But fix it fast. The more your pump has to cycle the shorter the life.


Id is also have the water heater coils checked as it sounds like you are down one. Or it's possible it's full of sediment and you are only using half the tank. We had that with our house when we bought it. They never drained it and we have very hard water. Long story short the sediment was up above the bottom coil so it was useless.

Welcome to homeownership.

You have to drain the water before you refill the air bladder or you'll end up with a false charge with symptoms exactly like you're describing. We have a 50 gallon bladder and an inline whole house filter, you can flush a toilet, run the dishwasher or do the laundry while in the shower without any pressure drop. The instructions on the top of my tank said that you should set your bladder pressure 2 pounds lower than your low pressure cut in switch. In other words if your pump turns on at 30#s then you set your bladder at 28#. It also suggests checking it twice a year.

 

[CHCRandy]

Bladder tank could be bad as well. I remember them failing us on the golf course....they claim the bladders can go bad with time.

 

[CTC B4Z]

Bumping this up here!

It's been about a year with a water filter, tankless water heater, and a softener. Water is good 90% of the time. About 2x a month the hot water gets so eggy it's absolutely disgusting to shower. Cannot figure out the issue. The softener regens every 500 gallons and I've went down to a >1 micron filter... The plumbing should be well cleaned out by now, we installed pex everywhere

 

[actaeon277]

Eggy as in sulfer?

Does it go away? How long?

 

[churchmouse]

Yup that is sulfur and I do not think a filter will deal with this.

 

[ghitch75]

you most likely need to change your anode rod to a aluminum or zinc one......

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

I deal with the sulfur issue as well. As long as I keep salt in the softener it is almost a non-issue. A carbon filter on your incoming line will all but eliminate the smell. I have a direct line to the well for my drinking water and all it has is a charcoal filter.

 

[DocIndy]

The new ranch be just moved into is a well/septic. The previous owner had a softener put in with a reverse osmosis filter for the kitchen sink and refrigerator lines. There was also a chemical injection system I was curious about. Apparently it's a hydrogen peroxide injector that eliminates the sulphur smell. Who knew??? So now I have to figure out how often I have to add the chemical and where to get it.

 

[actaeon277]

The new ranch be just moved into is a well/septic. The previous owner had a softener put in with a reverse osmosis filter for the kitchen sink and refrigerator lines. There was also a chemical injection system I was curious about. Apparently it's a hydrogen peroxide injector that eliminates the sulphur smell. Who knew??? So now I have to figure out how often I have to add the chemical and where to get it.

Can you find a manual for it online?

 

[churchmouse]

you most likely need to change your anode rod to a aluminum or zinc one......

Dos a "Tankless" even have an anode....???

 

[ghitch75]

Dos a "Tankless" even have an anode....???

no...

 

[mom45]

Bumping this up here!

It's been about a year with a water filter, tankless water heater, and a softener. Water is good 90% of the time. About 2x a month the hot water gets so eggy it's absolutely disgusting to shower. Cannot figure out the issue. The softener regens every 500 gallons and I've went down to a >1 micron filter... The plumbing should be well cleaned out by now, we installed pex everywhere

Are you in the southern part of the county? When we lived in the Rensselaer area, the sulfur in the water was horrible. Very few homes in that area didn't have problems with it. We had an injection system thru Culligan and a softener that made it much better when it worked but the system failed often due to the amount of sulfur in the water.

There was another company that was doing the reverse osmosis systems that we were looking at, but moved before we actually purchased that.

 

[edporch]

Are you in the southern part of the county? When we lived in the Rensselaer area, the sulfur in the water was horrible. Very few homes in that area didn't have problems with it. We had an injection system thru Culligan and a softener that made it much better when it worked but the system failed often due to the amount of sulfur in the water.

There was another company that was doing the reverse osmosis systems that we were looking at, but moved before we actually purchased that.

Yes, we have a house NE of Rensselaer in Barkley TWP that has terrible sulfur water.
So bad that the fumes in the air from it would corrode electronics.

TO FIX IT, we need to use a hydrogen peroxide type water softener at the well house before the water even is piped inside.
A standard inside the house softener didn't cut it.

But the water now is so good, there's hardly a hint of any sulfur taste.
It was almost a miracle!

 

[mom45]

Yes, we have a house NE of Rensselaer in Barkley TWP that has terrible sulfur water.
So bad that the fumes in the air from it would corrode electronics.

TO FIX IT, we need to use a hydrogen peroxide type water softener at the well house before the water even is piped inside.
A standard inside the house softener didn't cut it.

But the water now is so good, there's hardly a hint of any sulfur taste.
It was almost a miracle!

The system we bought back in 1990 was a chlorine injection system. The injection point was constantly clogging and the chlorine would eat thru the plastic lines and I would end up with pool grade chlorine being pumped out into the room every time the line sprung a leak. I was so glad to move away from that area. We have wonderful water where we live now. When we first bought that house, I took a yellow plastic bucket to clean before we moved in. This was before the water treatment system was in place. The water actually turned the bucket black. I can remember putting water in a glass and letting it set on the counter and observing the oil floating on the top. It was horrible. We lived out on Bunkum road behind the airport.