air in water!

We have a really simple water system that has worked well for years, but lately has lots of air in the water- I'm talking major spitting here.

We have a spring box connected to a big reservoir and a line from there to the house- gravity fed, but not enough pressure for a shower. So, in the house, there's a filter, check valve, jet pump, and bladder tank, in that order. There's no water on the floor below the pipes or pump and the filter stays somewhat clean.

If there's a leak between the reservoir and house, wouldn't the reservoir run dry? It's not.

I'm wondering if there's anyway that the pump could be pulling in air? My neighbor "worked" on it and found a broken piece- a wear ring? I don't know, he threw the part away and put the pump back together and declared it fixed, since it still pumps. Arggghhh.

Please help! Thanks.

I dont know what the wear ring is but i would suspect you have a suction leak some where in the line before the check valve. The problem could be where he fixed whatever was broken. A lot of times people will try to fix breaks in the suction end of a well system and if they are not done right,the smallest vacuum leak can create the problem you are having.

SAM

I would suspect that filter you have in the suction line which should by the way be in the pressure line if at all. I never liked in line filters for many reasons. What is it you are trying to filter out?

bob...

I missed the filter being on the suction side of your system. I totally agree with speedbump. You should never have something like that on the suction side of the system. I would bet your vacuum leak is where the filter is.

SAM

The reservoir is just a big plastic thing with a piece of plywood on top- not sealed really. There's some sort of grunge on the bottom- soft stuff. We put the filter on the intake side of the pump to protect the pump from the grunge. (We live in the mountains and have really good water- been drinking the stuff for years with no ill effects.)

Is there anyway I can check the filter for leaks? It's a sediment filter with a valve on the bottom. We just open it every once in a while and flush it out.

Is there a way to tell if the leak is in the line from the reservoir to the house? Again, I would think the reservoir would empty out if the leak was there. It's about 250 gal, so there's some head pressure.

No one's mentioned the pump- is that not a likely source of air?

Thanks so much for the advice.

In line filters will not filter out anything that could hurt you. You said you drink the water with no ill effects, so ditch the filter. It shouldn't be in the suction line. Air will leak under vacuum very easily where water will not even leak out under pressure, so looking for the filter to empty is not a solution. If you feel better having the filter, put it on the pressue side of the pump.

Pumps don't suck air, fittings, cracked pipes, leaky filters etc. do.

bob...

OK, I'll get rid of the filter this weekend and hope that helps.

One more question, if you don't mind. If there's a cracked pipe between the reservoir and the house and the line is buried about 8 ft deep most of the way, wouldn't the pump be pulling all kinds of dirt into the line?

The only way you might get some muddy water is if there is water around the pipe that has the leak. Then you wouldn't be getting air, just the dirty water. Remember an air leak might leak a lot of air but not water because of the difference in density. It doesn't take much of a pinhole for air to get into a pump and make it try to lose it's prime.

bob...