spurt of air at faucet

we have a shallow well single family residential plumbing system - no water softner or filter. on just the cold line, in mainly the bathroom faucet, there is a short spurt of pressure (air mixed with water) and then runs normal after about 2-5 seconds. i think the toilet in the same bathroom has the same symptom because after a flush (and when the flapper closes) it sounds like a burst of pressure (air mixed with water) for about 1-3 seconds and then fills normally. we've had the problem for at least a couple years and never addressed it. 3 weeks ago the pump (Goulds 3/4HP jet) siezed up and had to be replaced (with new check valve as well). in addition the well itself needed to have the screen "blasted" becasue of buildup (mostly iron). probably the reason the pump failed (constantly drawing too high a vaccum). so that's all fixed but we still have the same spurts of pressure in these couple of outlets. What is this? Normal? Sign of another problem? Need to get it fixed?
Great Thanks

It sounds like the water heater is building pressure that is releaved when you open a faucet.
This normally is resolved when you have an expansion tank.
Is there air in the bladders of your tanks on your well system?

Thanks for the reply. What doesn't make sense is that the air/water pressure spurt is only on the cold water supply to only 1 faucet and 1 toilet in the house. There is no problem on the hot water so i am confused how the water heater could be the source of the problem. yes we have a bladder tank and i would have to assume there is air in the bladder because the pressure is well regulated at all other water outlets in the house. is intalling an expansion tank the only solution? and is it necessary (e.g. i am possibly hiding a different - more severe problem)?

What doesn't make sense is that the air/water pressure spurt is only on the cold water supply to only 1 faucet and 1 toilet in the house. There is no problem on the hot water

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That doesn't make sense to me either.

Is the shutoff to the cold on that toilet and sink opened all the way?
Sometimes when a valve is partially closed, it can cause a problem.

yes, they are open all the way. in fact, i tried closing the shutoff valve and opening the faucet (no water comes out of faucet). i wait about an hour and when i open the shutoff valve i get the short spurt. once again, it is just the one bathroom faucet and perhaps the toilet in the same bathroom. it is a little harder to say the toilet has the problem just due to the way it lets water in. could it be something in the supply line just to this area of the house? i've got 3 other sink fuacets, 2 bath/showers, dishwasher, clothes washer that seem fine, hot and cold...i will add that the outside faucets spurt a little too, though.

It could be an air leak on the drop pipe in the well above the water level. The spot may or may not leak water. That could be the o-ring on a pitless adapter or and insert fitting with PE pipe on the pitless adapter. Or it could be a pump cavitation but that is a stretch; unless you have a too large pump, or very low static water level.

Or it could be methane, an odorless tasteless clear gas. Take a 2 liter soda bottle and fill it half full and cap it tight. Shake it hard for 15 seconds, light a match or lighter and hold the flame under the cap as you hold the bottle all but horizontal and uncap it and squeeze it so the air in it goes through the flame or just touches it as it goes over the flame. It there is ignition, you have methane.

If there is an odor of rotten eggs, sulfur, it is H2S and it can ignite.

If there's no ignition, I'm out of ideas.

edwardlaplante said:

Thanks for the reply. What doesn't make sense is that the air/water pressure spurt is only on the cold water supply to only 1 faucet and 1 toilet in the house. There is no problem on the hot water so i am confused how the water heater could be the source of the problem. yes we have a bladder tank and i would have to assume there is air in the bladder because the pressure is well regulated at all other water outlets in the house. is intalling an expansion tank the only solution? and is it necessary (e.g. i am possibly hiding a different - more severe problem)?

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Sometimes the bladders can go though.

I was experiencing the same thing to be honest. It did not happen all the time though. The pressure at my other appliances was fine. I just happened that when I turned on the water for the first time, did not matter which appliance, I got this burst of air and water for a second. This usually happened when I turned the water on for the first time over night.

Anyway ... I just switched to a tankless water heater. I insisted while they were there that they put in a new expansion tank. The plumber did not think that I had to, but when he took it off and drained the water in it, the water was all rusty and terrible. The bladder obviously had gone.

I don't have the problem anymore ...

i would like to correctly understand what you beleive fixed your problem. are you saying that you had the water heater replaced and at the same time you had an expansion tank installed and this fixed the problem? in my case, is the bladder tank we have in the crawl space right next to the water pump the same thing as an expansion tank? if so, are you saying that the bladder could be bad and that is the source of the pressure spurt? and as a final indicator that if i drain my hot water heater and there is alot of rust at the bottom that is a further indication that the bladder is bad?
Thanks for trying to help

Rust in the WH could be an indication that it is about to rust out and may have nothing to do with your bladder tank.

The way to verify a bladder tank is good is if it holds both water and air. Shut off your pump, open a faucet. You should get a fair amount of water out that was stored in the tank under pressure (the pressure should have compressed the air in the tank, and it will push the water out). If you don't get any water out under pressure, there's no air in the tank. If you do get some, then take your tire pressure gauge and check the air pressure...it should be 1-2# less than the low pressure turn-on point of your pump.

ok, now the problem seems to be getting worse. just today we had loud, forceful pounding from the toilet after a flush and while it was filling back up and now it also seems to be happening at other faucets. the kitchen sink had a spurt with some rust/iron in it. tell me if some of my observations make sense. 1) it never happens on the hot water line so the WH may be acting as a buffer to the source of the problem, not a problem with the WH. 2) it appears worst in the bathroom sink and toilet which have the closest run line to the bladder tank. somehow air is getting into the system between (and possibly including) the well and the output of the water/bladder tank. From below i tried the first test and got quite a bit of water out of the tank (a30 gal tank) with the pump turned off, so the bladder tank is holding water. i am not well enough equipped myself, so it sounds like you are recommending having a plumber come and check the pressure check point settings at the pump and check for pressure and possible problems with the bladder tank.

OK, so i am doing my own follow-up on this as i did not get good enough infromation in this forum to get to the root cause. let me start by saying this, for any water supply problem you need to get advise from an expert in the type of supply system it is. i understand that even "experts" can't be experts in everything. So here it is, very simple, if you have air spurts in you faucets, especially on just the cold line AND you have a shallow well, jet pump system (just as i said i did) then the problem is OBVIOUSLY an air leak between (and including) the well and the pump. We found it and it was a hairpin leak at the coupling between the check valve in front of the pump and the supply line from the well. removed old coupling and vavle. istalled new coupling and double tap check valve with vacuum gauge and now our system works like a charm. any follow up questions, i would be glad to help as i have gotten TONS of information on the subject.

It could be an air leak on the drop pipe in the well above the water level. The spot may or may not leak water. That could be the o-ring on a pitless adapter or and insert fitting with PE pipe on the pitless adapter.

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This answer was given early on...
3rd reply in fact!
Without the person on the other end checking things it is always a good idea to hire a pro.

that reply was misleading because it refers to drop pipes and pitless adapters which my system doesn't have. i guess to properly offer a solution you really need to have more details on the exact system configuration. the 2" shallow well, jet pump systems were installed in droves down here (salisbury, md)from '90 to a couple of years ago when they finally just about banned them in favor of 4" with submersibles. any experienced plumber down here knows exactly what the problem is and how to go about fixing it. my problem was that the first plumber i called out was inexperienced and led me astray (at a high monetary cost and alot of frustration).

We try to make the best of the information given and often ask questions to try to zero in on problems...

Fortunately our discussion is free...

ok now that we cleared all that up - i've got a question. same system. the water pump kicks on within 30 seconds once water is being let out at a faucet (always after a flush). seems like maybe the cut-on and cut-off pressure sensor check points are off. it is a goulds 3/4, shallow well jet pump. one thing i noticed was that the needle on the pressure gauge (on the pump) max's out at 40psi. looks like the needle is stuck but maybe it's the pressure sensor. so i think the pump kicks on at 30psi and only kicks off at 40psi. that might explain why it kicks back on as quickly as it does - there is only a 10psi difference bewteen the trip points. make sense? if so, were is the pressure sensor on the pump that would need to be replace?

Assuming you have a bladder tank, the easy way to check the pressure gauge is to use your tire pressure gauge on the air fill valve of the tank.

10 pound differential won't store much water in the tank resulting is more on/off cycles of the pump, wearing it out faster. You'll also want to check the static pressure in the tank. To do that, you have to turn the pump off, then open a valve until the water stops, then using your tire pressure gage, check the pressure in the tank. It should be 1-2# less than the startup pressure of the pump control.