Whats wrong? Water stops and then after 5 - 10 minutes comes back

[rose123]

Been having problem for about 1 month. We can be taking shower or doing dishes and it seems water starts to make popping sounds and the flow changes and then stops completely. We have to wait anywhere from 5-10 minutes to get water again. Cannot use washing machine if someone is going to shower. Can you tell me what is wrong and if it is expensive to fix.

[LLigetfa]

Not really enough info to say what is wrong. The popping sounds are probably air bubbles. As the pressure drops and the tank empties, air trapped above the water will leave the tank. Why there would be air is yet to be determined. Could be the well running dry.

What style of tank? what kind of well? What type of pump?

[valveman]

Like LL said, we don't even know what kind of pump you have. But usually when I hear this complant, it is the overload in the motor tripping, and it just takes a few minutes for it to reset itself and try to start the pump again.

[Clydesdale]

Popping sound is definitely from air bubbles from running dry. If you have a deep well pump, like LLigetfa said, the well is likely running dry. Depending how deep the well is and how many stages the pump has, you could try lowering the pump 10 or 20 feet. If you have a shallow well with a self priming pump, check the foot valve, it might be partially plugged up thus not supplying water fast enough to the house while water is in use. Or, shallow well is too low.


Like valveman said, need to know what setup you have or it's just a guessing game.