pressure problem...

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thompsda

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Specs...
3 yr old 200' deep water well
2 gal/min recovery rate
1/2 hp Berkley submersible pump (2 months old)
20 gal pressure tank
no filters until after tank

Situation...
Lost all water pressure 2 days ago (on a Saturday of course!)
Reset breakers, and re-seated control box board, to no avail (left power off)
Took well-cap off and dropped in pebble and counted just ~2 seconds until spash heard (to confirm well wasn't dry)
While I'm at work my well-driller went out today (Monday) to inspect and sa when he turned all power back on, the pump kicked on and took 3+ min to fill the pressure tank
He also popped the well-cap and ensured adequate water supply and tested the pump (30 seconds to fill 5gal pail)
He then emptied the pressure tank again and re-filled it, which only took about 2 min this time, but he says that's still not good and thinks the line from well to house must be kinked or punctured, and wants to dig it up.

What are your thoughts? How long should it take to fill a 20 gal pressure tank? Could something else be wrong?
 

LLigetfa

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A 20 gallon tank would have about 6 gallons of drawdown. Since it took 30 seconds to fill a 5 gallon pail, it should take less than a minute to fill the tank.

You might have a leak in the pipe.
 

Reach4

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I would think that measuring the flow at the well with a restrictor giving about 70 PSI of back pressure would be a better test of the situation down the well.

It strikes me that your first pump only lasted 3 years. Lousy pump?
 

thompsda

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I would think that measuring the flow at the well with a restrictor giving about 70 PSI of back pressure would be a better test of the situation down the well.

It strikes me that your first pump only lasted 3 years. Lousy pump?

Not sure, my well-driller was surprised as well. We do have a lot of sediment and slightly acidic water (6.5ph).

After the rainstorm we're having here today, I'll probably get him to dig it up I guess and check :(
 

thompsda

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Dig it up? I'm pretty sure that three years ago buried wellheads were illegal.

not the wellhead
from my first post... "he thinks the line from well to house must be kinked or punctured, and wants to dig it up."
that's what I was referring to
 

LLigetfa

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Unless it is a really short run in good diggings, that would not be my next step. If you have a leak, how do you know it is not in the well?

I would first pressure test the line from the house. Then I would lift the pipe out of the pitless up to the top of the casing. I would then cap and pressure test the drop pipe. If there are any additional checkvalves, I would remove them and test again.
 
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