No Pressure Building Up

We purchased a home Feb. 2007. We have not had any water pressure problems or pump/well problems. We have a submersible pump. About a month ago I noticed the shut-off valve to the house was leaking really badly and the ground has about 2" standing water. Upon further inspection, I noticed the 'T' that leads to the pressure tank had a hairline crack and was also leaking water. Today, I cut off the whole section 1) after the valve before going to the house, 2) before the 'T' coming from the pump, and 3) after the 'T' going towards the pressure tank and replaced the 'T' and shut-off valve, everything is PVC. I turned the breaker back on to start the system. The pump just continuously runs and never shuts off, but it never builds pressure. Before starting these repairs, I checked with the local hardware store asking if there would be any problems if I shut off power to the system and cut out the leaking parts and replaced with new and was told there should be no problem, the system should come back up fine. Any thoughts, or suggestions? Thanks. Rob

There is a logical process that must be applied to diagnose the problem.

A pump has a "characteristic" that describes the relationship between flow (gallons per minute) and pressure. You must do a test to find out if the pump is doing what it should. You must have a good pressure gauge on the system.

Turn off all water uses in the house. Then find a faucet such as a hose outlet; maybe a drain near the tank. Start the pump with that faucet partially open and close it down to try to measure the flow from the pump when the pressure is steady at about 10 psi. Use a 5 gallon bucket and watch with sweep second hand to measure time and determine the gallons per minute. If you can't get flow at this condition then try it with the valve all the way open.

Then close it completely and measure the pressure that it reaches where it won't turn off. That is a "zero flow" condition. Don't do this for too long because if it is actually preventing flow from the pump it could damage the pump.

The symptoms you describe suggest either a pump failure (impellers failed) or a pipe failure somewhere between the pump and the tank. If you get flow at some pressure but no flow at some pressure below the switch shutoff pressure, then you have a leak or a bad pump. If you get no flow with the valve open then you can add low water in the well to the list of possibilities.

I suspect a leak in the pipe somewhere. Have you had a deep frost that could freeze and fail the pipe between the well and the tank?

Thank you, sir. I will try what you suggested. At this point, I am not getting any water come out of any faucet, either partially or full open. The pressure reading on the gauge never moves, the needle never moves off of the peg. I'll report back on what I find. Thanks. Rob

Also, to my knowledge no deep frost. We are in TX about 90 miles north of the Gulf, so I don't imagine it ever freezes that deep.

The leaks were caused by freezing. Take the cap off the well casing and with the pump running see if you hear water in the well. If so you have a crack etc. in the drop pipe the pump is hung on.

Or you have another leak underground on either side of the tank.

I'm not sure what the cap on the well casing is, I only see a blue Sta-Rite (sp?) motor of some sort mounted to a white pipe going into the ground. Any ideas?

Then that is your pump, IIRC called a turbine pump. I am not familiar with them at all. There is a shaft that goes down the white PVC pipe and water comes up through it and out to your tank.

Couldn't it be a vertical deep-well jet pump?

Thanks for the advice. I just wanted to write another post in case it might help someone else out someday. I still don't know what kind of system I have, whether the blue Sta-Rite motor housing that is mounted above ground is the actual pump or not.

I finally called a local well and pump guy and asked him about it. He said it sounds like I lost the prime. He told me to remove the pressure gauge and slowly and patiently pour water in the opening. He emphasized being patient and not thinking I was done when I saw water and air bubbles coming out and to keep at it until there was a steady flow of water out of the opening and it stayed visible in the opening when I stopped pouring. It took 2 gallons to do that. I screwed the pressure gauge back on and turned the breaker on and instantly there was water pressure and I had water in the house. It built up pressure and shut off. I checked everything for leaks. I opened the outside faucet and let it run till the pressure dropped and the pump kicked on again and ran until it got up to proper pressure and kicked off again. All seems well. I will continue to monitor and make sure no further problems. Again, thanks for taking time to give me advice. Most appreciated.
-Rob

Yes it could be a jet pump too, but it's definitely the pump motor.