Air in Water Line (Lots of it!)

Hello, I'm new here. Also, I'm at work, away from the problem.

This morning I was able to shower and otherwise use water in the house normally. After I was at work and my wife arose, she said when she flushed the toilet, she heard bubbling noise and air spurting. Then she went downstairs into the kitchen and found a similar air spurting situation there. She tried to let the water run, and there was dark crud coming out with the water, but she finally got water running throughout the house. About an hour later, she called me and said the air spurting problem has returned. Can anyone speculate what the problem might be, and what we can do until we can get a plumber out so as not to cause any further damage. As far as i know, my wife has not gone to the basement to inspect the water heater and water holding tank.

Thanks for any advice,
Jerry

Sounds like a hole in the pipe that is down in the well. Causes lots of air in the lines and stirs up the mud as well. Could also just be a bad Air Volume Control on the side of the tank. If you have a fitting in the side of the tank about half way up. If not, I'll bet a hole in the drop pipe. Call a pump man. Plumber won't be able to fix a problem down hole.

Could the well be running out of water?

Air spurts after the pump has been off for a while, usually a hole in the pipe. Air spurts after the pump has been running for a while, well is running out of water.

Turns out the pump was running. We need the well company to move the pump lower in the well. We need to wait for the well company to come out and assess how involved the job will be. My assessment above of murkiness of water was a bit exaggerated. Thanks for the feedback!

You need to start water conservation, the pump may not be able to be lowered.

Spread out laundry and maybe only one load a day, run smaller loads washing clothes that have only been worn for a few hours is a waste of water etc., and short 10 minute at most showers instead of tub baths etc..

You also need a low pressure safety pressure switch so a lack of water shuts off the pump in the future. Running a pump 'dry' ruins them.

If there is water but the recharge rate has gotten lower, a storage tank could help. Maybe with a lower pumping rate pump. Take water out of the well 24 X 7 and store it. If you have a low water cutoff you could probably use your current pump the way it is. Although this may continue to give you silt. With the low water cutoff installed you can open a hose faucet directly from the pump and isolate the pressure pump from the well. Use filling containers and timing it to measure how much water is being pumped before the water level goes below the pump. You can do that now if you turn off the pump real quick when you get to the end.

Could one of the pump guys please comment on the safety of the last method?

Once you know how much water can be taken out over a period of time you could use a timer on the existing well pump to control the system (with the low water protection as well). Use the new storage tank as your source of water for the house. You will then need a pressure pump for the house water. Use your existing pressure tank and switch.

Problem solved.

It turns out that Valveman was correct with his initial suggestion that there was a leak. It turned out that the fitting at the pump end of the flex pipe had developed a crack. The well men were very quick to diagnose the leak and they were able to pull the pump, replace the fitting and have everything back to normal in less than an hour. There's plenty of water in the well, and thus the pump didn't need to go lower.

Thanks to everyone for their opinions, and to Valveman for being the first with the correct answer.