Water Fluctuation

We had our well dug about 3 years ago. For the first 2 1/2 years it was working beautifully. Then, six months ago, we were having problems with water pressure and narrowed it down to our holding tank. The bladder had ruptured and so we were having to constantly be recharging the tank with air to keep our pressure up. Well, we have finally been able to replace the tank but have come to discover a more serious problem.

Our well seems to be running on a 12 hour cycle. We have water for about 12 hours a day and then for the next 12 nothing. The holding tank is holding air in but the pressure gage for the well is showing 0 psi. When we turn on the faucet at the well it only spurts out air. We have tried shutting the pump off for several hours and then turning it back on but until that 12 hour time frame has passed, nothing happens. Have any of you heard of anything like this happening? Any suggestions of what we can do?

I have never hear of anything like a 12 hour cycle on a well.

Describe your system from the well to the pressure tank; sub pump?, check valve, jet pump (deep or shallow well type)?, type of pressure tank, check valve at tank?, pressure switch settings, tank air pressure setting (with no water in the tank)?.

Do you have any irrigation and if so, any timers on it?

The well depth is 150 ft. 8 inch Well Casing. The pump is set at 85 ft. and the static water level is 61 ft. Our pump is a Grundfos Submersible. The pressure tank is an 85 gallon Challenger bladder tank. The pressure switch settings are 30/50. The tank air pressure is 30 psi when there is no water in the tank. We do not have any irrigations.

The biggest thing I don't understand is how, when there is air pressure still in the tank the pressure guage on the well is showing 0 psi. This really has us baffled.

semmknight said:

The well depth is 150 ft. 8 inch Well Casing. The pump is set at 85 ft. and the static water level is 61 ft.

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Why do they drill a 150' hole and then set the pump at 85'...

semmknight said:

Our pump is a Grundfos Submersible. The pressure tank is an 85 gallon Challenger bladder tank. The pressure switch settings are 30/50. The tank air pressure is 30 psi when there is no water in the tank.

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First problem is that the tank air pressure needs to be set 2 psi less than the cuton pressure of the switch.

semmknight said:

The biggest thing I don't understand is how, when there is air pressure still in the tank the pressure guage on the well is showing 0 psi. This really has us baffled.

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Simple, when the tank is empty of water, there is still air, and pressure in the tank. There is no water in the tank, so that pressure is zero. If you watch yours with it set to 30 now, the water pressure will decrease to 30, then suddenly drop to zero. This is one of the "features" of bladder tanks and why they have an equivelent size of a larger non-bladder tank.

Rancher

They drilled to 150 to try and find another water table. Where we live there are two that can be found one at around 60-65 ft. and another at about 150 ft. When there was no water found at the 150 mark we decided to stay at the 61 water table.

When we installed the pressure tank we did lower the air to 28 psi but when we came up with no water late into the next day and we checked the air pressure it was up to 30 psi.

Thanks for the info on the other. It helps.

I just went and looked at the pressure gauge on the well and it is reading 66 psi when our settings are 30/50. Could it be possible that somehow the timing or whatever has been thrown off on the well? And if so, what can be done abou it?

The geysers in Wyoming only shoot every hour or so... there is a water fall somewhere that runs only half the time because of some bizarre underground siphon. Maybe you have a tourist attraction.

More likely your well is underproducing - drop the pump much lower and add a pump protector that can "watch" your water level.

The air charge in your tank is INDEPENDENT of the water pressure system, so do not look at that for information.

semmknight said:

I just went and looked at the pressure gauge on the well and it is reading 66 psi when our settings are 30/50. Could it be possible that somehow the timing or whatever has been thrown off on the well?

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Yep, it sounds like your pump has thrown a timing belt..., OK it could be the switch, or the guage. But I don't have a solution to the 12 hour cycle thing.

Rancher

Your water level and your pump aren't far enough apart for my liking. I would lower the pump. I think you will find the pump is running out of water.

I'm miffed by the 12 hour thing also, but I think there is more going on than meets the eye. If your pump ran for 12 hours without pumping water, you wouldn't have to worry about it anymore because it would have nuked itself already.

This 30/50 switch with the gauge reading 66 psi makes absolutely no sense either, "UNLESS" your pressure switch tubing is so plugged that it takes it 12 hours to go from off to on and visa versa.

bob...

A geyser in the middle of an Arizona desert that would be an amazing event around here.

Thank you everyone for your input. You have definantly given us some things to look at.

Your pressure gauge may be blocked up with rust and preventing the correct pressure to be read. The same for the pressure switch which will prevent the pump from coming on.

It ended up being the switch. It was kicking on but not kicking off once it got to the designated pressure. The pipe and switch itself were so far gone that we had to replace them both.

It has been over 24 hours and we still have water!! I am still keeping my fingers crossed that this is the end of a very long journey but we have been dealing with this for so long I am almost afraid to hope.

Thank you to everyone for your input. You have helped more than I could every express!!!

You're welcome and thank you for the feedback.