Well GPM?

How do you find out how many Gallons Per Minute a well puts out? I just turned on my water at the "T" on the bladder tank, waited for the tank to empty so that it was just the pump pumping out the water, and It flows at 4 gallons per minute. (filling a 5 gallon bucket while counting 60 seconds). Was this correct, or do I have to turn on every faucet in the house at once and collect and measure this amount after one minute...or is there some other way. I need this number so I can find out how big a water conditioning system my well can handle. I have asked this in the water conditioning forum but I get conflicting and/or confusing answers. Thanks!

I think you are confusing the terms a bit as the amount of water your well can produce and the amount of water your pump can pump are 2 totally different things. One can change the pump to change the amount of water provided to the home. The limiting factor is how much water the well can produce. A professional well company can test the well to see how many GPM it can produce.

The problem that you have is that your pump is not pumping enough volume to properly backwash an iron filter. If your well can produce enough water, then a pump with a greater pumping capacity can be installed. This would then allow for proper backwashing of an appropriate iron filter.

bluinc said:

How do you find out how many Gallons Per Minute a well puts out?

I just turned on my water at the "T" on the bladder tank, waited for the tank to empty so that it was just the pump pumping out the water, and It flows at 4 gallons per minute. (filling a 5 gallon bucket while counting 60 seconds). Was this correct, or do I have to turn on every faucet in the house at once and collect and measure this amount after one minute...or is there some other way.

I need this number so I can find out how big a water conditioning system my well can handle. I have asked this in the water conditioning forum but I get conflicting and/or confusing answers. Thanks!

Click to expand...

Assuming you have a submersible pump.

The boiler drain or fixture you are using limits the flow through it based on the size of the valve; either 1/2" or 3/4" and usually 1/2", and they are stop valves, not a full flow valve. The line from the well will be at least 1". So you are measuring the time it takes to fill the pressure tank and the number of draw down gallons of the pressure tank that are delivered when the pump is off and you use water.

About the only way to check the output of the pump is to lift the drop pipe out of the well a foot or two and use a pressure gauge and a valve to be able to throttle the output to the average pressure of the system (30/50 is 40 psi) and then a gpm flow meter.

If you know the gpm and hp rating of your pump and the static water level in the well, and have a pump chart you can come up with the output of the pump. Or, if you measure how far out from the end of the pipe the water goes and how far it falls, all in inches, there is a chart that will tell you the gpm.

If you have 3/4" plumbing off the pressure tank, you will get much more than 4 gpg to a softener or filter and you can change the 3/4 to 1" off the tank to the softener or filter if needed. More important is coming up with the correct size softener.

Thank you all for your attempts to assist. My immediate need is to simply find out the quantity of water that my current configuration (well, well pump, plumbing, fittings, etc) is providing to my nearly brand new 9000 twin softener (28k grains). It appears to be only 4 gpm since that is the amount of water that shoots out of the hose (in one minute) that is attached to the drain fitting on the bladder tank "t" (that is, after the bladder empties its contents - the quantity is higher it seems when couting the water that comes out of the bladder tank when full - or at least it comes out with alot more force) - which is the same size fitting/plumbing (3/4") as what goes up to my conditioner inlet. I am guessing that what comes out of that boiler drain valve is about the same as what goes up to the conditioner since it all the same size tubing. All indications are from other posters and water guys that have been to the house is that this amount of water per minute is just not enough to properly backflush this much iron (~12ppm), regardless of what system I had installed.

I can't seem to ask the question right to get a simple straight answer as to whether it is even POSSIBLE to remove this much iron with only this much water available. So let me ask again in this way...IS THERE A SYSTEM IN EXISTANCE THAT CAN REMOVE ~12PPM OF IRON HAVING ONLY 4 GALLONS OF WATER PER MINUTE COMING OUT OF THE BLADDER TANK "T" TO WORK WITH. IF SO, WHAT SYSTEM - I WILL BUY THE BLESSED THING TODAY.

It may be the size of the drain fitting that is limiting you to 4 GPM. While running 4 GPM, if the pressure builds up and the pump shuts off, you don't have on enough faucets to test the pump or well.

bluinc said:

My immediate concern is finding out the quantity of water that my current configuration (well, pump, plumbing, etc) is providing to my nearly brand new 9000 twin softener.

It appears to be only 4 gpm since that is the amount that shoots out of the hose in one minute that I attach it to the drain fitting on the bladder tank "t" (after the bladder empties its contents) - which is the same size fitting/plumbing (3/4") as what goes up to my conditioner inlet.

Click to expand...

The boiler drain valve you have will be 1/2" or 3/4" and then your hose will be 1/2" or 5/8" garden hose probably but...

This 4 gpm is insufficient for even a 1 bathroom house. Are you having problems running more water than a toilet flush and drawing a glass of water at the kitchen sink? Can you run the clothes washer and take a shower without flow problems?

bluinc said:

I am guessing that what comes out of that valve is about the same as what goes up to the conditioner since it all the same size tubing. All indications are from other posters and water guys that have been to the house is that this is not enough water to properly backflush this much iron (~12ppm), regardless of what system I had installed. I cant seem to find anyone that can give me a simple straight answer as to weather it is even POSSIBLE to remove this much iron with only this much backflushing water available. so I will ask it this way...IS THERE A SYSTEM IN EXISTANCE THAT CAN REMOVE 12PPM OF IRON HAVING ONLY 4 GALLONS OF WATER PER MINUTE TO WORK WITH. IF SO, WHAT SYSTEM - I WILL BUY IT TODAY.

Click to expand...

The softener has a DLFC (drain line flow control) and it is rated in gpm which limits the max gpm going out the drain line during a regeneration. Backwash is one cycle position of the regeneration and is used to flush out rust (ferric iron) from the resin bed and your softener is removing ferrous (dissolved iron). So some of your assumptions are incorrect.

The gpm of the DLFC is determined by the type of media in the tank and the size of the tank. What size tanks or softener do you have, and don't add the capacity of each tank together, you only get water through one tank at a time.

Go back to the guys you bought the softener from and go with what they tell you but, unless you are using a special resin and Turbulator distributor tube, don't expect a regular softener to remove over 5 ppm of iron for very long.

Is your softener removing all the iron or are you having rust staining problems?