Low pressure and volume on shallow well pump

[pandtmoore@msn.com]

I have a shallow well Gould Jet Pump with a 15 to 20 gal. holding tank that says the pressure in the tank should be 2lbs less than the kick in pressure. 3to 4 yrs. Old. I am here 6 mo. and gone 6 mo. Last spring I left the pump on while I was gone. When I returned in Nov. I had no water. The next morning it just kicked in. Now when I flush I have almost no water pressure. Even when it pumps up and shuts off my pressure at the faucet seems less and with much less volume. I turned the screw on the spring pressure regulator but it didn’t change much. It is set at 55 psi. and 35 psi kick in. I tried to let air out of the holding tank but then when I opened a faucet I could here water noise coming from the holding tank so I added air. Tks. For any advice you can give.
Paul Moore

[Rancher]

I returned in Nov. I had no water. The next morning it just kicked in.

OK, you had no water, then suddenly the next morning you had water? You turned on a faucet, did you leave it open, you flushed, or what?

Now when I flush I have almost no water pressure. Even when it pumps up and shuts off my pressure at the faucet seems less and with much less volume.

Do you have a water filter, or water softner? If so put them in bypass.

I turned the screw on the spring pressure regulator but it didn’t change much.

What did it change? Is the pump pumping up to the cutoff pressure?

It is set at 55 psi. and 35 psi kick in. I tried to let air out of the holding tank but then when I opened a faucet I could here water noise coming from the holding tank so I added air.

Turn off the pump, drain the tank, measure the air pressure in the bladder., set it at 32/33psi ... shouldn't you hear water noise in a water tank? Do you mean you heard gurgling noises? Is your pump cycling a lot, i.e. does it pump up to cut off pressure fast?

Rancher

[speedbump]

Do you have a "Whole house filter"? Better known as an inline filter.

bob...

[pandtmoore@msn.com]

To Rancher and Speedbump,
Thanks for your reply guys. I have now plenty of pressure--------------the problem was the in line filter as Speedbump put it. It was just over 6 months old and since it was charcoal color it didn't look bad but when I took it out ----it was really bad----------I have good tasting water but that filter was not a healthy looking thing. I hope this answer helps someone else. I would not have believed that the filter could hold the volume down so low. thanks again.
Paul Moore

[Bob NH]

If you have a filter, you should always have a pressure gauge on the inlet and outlet of the filter. The tank gauge is usually one of those, but you need another one on the side of the filter not measured by the tank gauge.

When there is no flow, the gauges should read the same pressure. If there is a little difference, note the difference and take it into account when you are checking it when there is flow.

When you find the pressure is low in the house, check the pressure difference across the filter when you are running high flow.

There are different points of view of whether you should have a filter. You can tell whether what is getting trapped in the filter is acceptable to go into your water system. You might try to cut open the filter you just took out an look at it.

If you want or need a filter, you will get substantially longer life if you double the filters by adding the same quantity as you have in parallel with the old one so there are more paths for the water to flow. The added filters will give you more life for each cartridge, so you will get about 3 times the interval between changes and about 1.5 times as much water through each cartridge.