Well Pressure Tank ??

I live in a 100++ year old farm house, a few weeks ago I was outside and noticed the well pump was rapidly cycling on and off. I went in inside to find the wife doing a load of wash. I thought this was not right the way the pump was cycling, so the next day I called a local well guy in the phone book. He came out within less then a minute said our tank was waterlogged.

We have a 40 gallon tank made in 1997 by well-mate tank. The well guy recommend going to a 60 gallon tank to keep the pump from cycling less. He wants $1200-1300 to install a new 60 gallon tank. I think that his price is very steep. Looking around the net a replacement tank just like ours, same make and model and size is only $300, and a replacement air cell is less than half of that. So my question is if I hired the well guy to put in a new 60 gallon tank would I be getting hosed on the price?

Here is a picture of the current set up in our well pit. There are two tanks, 1 steel and 1 fiberglass.



The current set up does not make a lot of sense to me and the well guy could not put it into laymen terms either. It's just a hokey set-up but apparently it seems to work. (or did at some point in time) The galvanized water line comes from the well (you can see this in the lower right side of the picture), it goes into the galvanized tank about a foot off the ground on the right. It comes out of galvanized tank on the left side and into a T. If you follow the T down it goes over to the fiberglass tank and that's the only in or out on the fiberglass tank. If you follow the T up (just below the shut-off valve) it goes out the side of the well pit and that is what feeds the house. There is also a small water line that runs along the backside of the fiberglass tank that goes to an outside water spigot. The black hose that you see coming off the T and the whole other mess of fittings feeds a couple water hydrants out by the barn.

The price above I mentioned for the well guy only includes disconnecting the modern fiberglass tank and installing a new one in its place, and leaving the old galvanized tank still hooked up. He said the whole system needs to be ripped out and updated which would be a T&M job and could run anywhere from $600-$700.00 for parts and labor in addition to the tank price he already quoted me.

I have done some reading on the forum here before I joined. It seems like now would be the time to install a CSV valve and small tank. I've read several valveman posts and it seems like this is the recommended thing to do. We're not sure how deep the well is. The well guy said he did not drill it but given the area I live in and his experience is that it's probably 100'-150' well. I asked him what the capacity of the pump but without pulling it he couldn't tell me anything for sure.

Is this a project I can tackle as a homeowner or do I need to hire a professional to do the job? There is a family of four that lives in the farmhouse, not sure of average water usage monthly, but each person takes a bath/shower a day with basic washing/cleaning usage. There is no livestock that need watering. The only real extra water use would be for the large garden my wife wants to put in this summer. Thanks for any tips or suggestions you may offer for our current system.

Matt

The only problem with the galv tank is that it loses air. Air mixes and goes out with the water. The automatic air maker systems do not work for very long, so you start having to air up the tank with a compressor every once in a while. Apparently somebody got tired of airing up the tank, and teed in a bladder tank. The bladder keeps the air from mixing with the water, at least until the bladder breaks.

The problem with adding a CSV, is that you still have the automatic air maker system that was designed to work with the old galv tank. It will have a little bleeder orifice about 5’ down in the well that needs to be plugged. Otherwise it can pop out with the added pressure of the CSV, or it may already be leaking all the time, which is part of your problem.

However, an easy and quick fix is just to air up the old galv tank. First remove the bladder tank, as a bad bladder can contaminate your water. If there is not a Schrader valve over by the pressure gauge, add a ¼” tee to the pressure gauge and install one. With the pump turned off, open a faucet or two. Blow air into the Schrader valve with the compressor until no more water comes out the faucets. Stop blowing air, turn off the faucets, and start the pump. You can probably get by for a long time, as long as you remember to keep some air in the galv tank.

No doubt plugging the bleeder and adding a CSV would be the best fix. But you might want to wait until you have to pull the pump, and update the system then. I would get another estimate or two before I did anything drastic.

It's hard to tell from the picture whether that fibreglass tank has a bladder or an air volume float. I have a tank that looks like that and mine has a float valve inside and an air vent at the top. Drain the tank and unscrew the plug at the top to see what's inside. I thought bladder tanks were short and stout, not tall and thin.

Also, I can't see any checkvalve in the pic so unsure whether it uses a snifter/bleeder system to get air in. Bleeder systems have a checkvalve at or near the tank, a snifter valve near the tank, and a bleeder part-way down the well. The checkvalve closes, the bleeder bleeds, and the snifter lets air in.

Some of those old galvanized tanks had an air volume control on the side that connected to a piston pump.

I am pretty sure that is a WM12 bladder tank. The air volume control is under the pressure switch, so I assume it has or had a check valveand bleeder. Even seen check valve and schrader installed in the well before.

Looks like a WellMate to me too (as the original poster suggested). I can't help but wonder if the well guy even tried putting air into either tank.

Ja, the glass tank looks like my WellMate, except mine has no bladder. WellMate tanks have a replaceable bladder. My recollection of those old air volume controls was that they let air in but don't let air out, so right-sizing the length of pipe between the snifter/bleeder was key or else you'd get too much air spitting at the faucets.

i'm with WWP, did he even try to air up the wellmate? ..they are notorious for leaking air over time. might just need a drain and charge.

did he drain the steel tank to buy you some time? did he do anything? 12-1300 just to remove the old 40 and install a 60gal... i'd a told him to kick rocks!