Leak from deep water well pump to bladder tank?

[MCnetwork]

I recently bought a home and have never had a well. I noticed that the well seemed to be cycling to often, finally it went out. I replaced the pressure switch (30/50) and got it going again. The same problem persisted so I took the following step.

• Checked tank pressure after shutting the water to the house off, turning power off and opening hose to empty tank. There was no pressure in the tank so I put in air up to 28 psi into the tank and restarted the system. I did let some air our to make sure no water was coming because I knew if that was the case the bladder was bad. This did not fix the issue.

• I adjusted the pressure switch to try to get the correct cut in and cut out points, did not work.

• Checked for a leaking bladder, it is not leaking.

• Checked all pipes within the well house for leaks, there were none

Now here is what I am thinking is going on but need advise, I first thought that the check valve down in the well was bad. One think I have noticed is, I can shut the water to the house off and start the pump and it struggles to get to even 30 - 40 psi, once the pressure switch trips and turns pump off, the pressure goes to zero almost instantly. The fact that the pump is struggling to fill the tank makes me think that between the check valve and the bladder tank, there is a leak, so the pump struggles to push water since it is losing some of it on the way up. When the pump shuts off the water immediately drains back down to that leak.

I am not even sure where my pump well is, there is a old large sheet metal box on the ground behind the shed, I just thought it was old sheet metal, I am thinking it might be under that but have not pulled it up yet.

Currently since I just spent all of my money on buying this house and renovations it needed, so I can't afford to have a professional come out and pull the deep water well. I am not sure if this is something I can do, but from reading, I believe I would need an A-frame and it is not a job for someone who knows little about wells.

I am thinking of installing another check valve as a temporary fix to keep my pump from burning out until I have the money to have a professional come out and pull the well pump out and fix the issue. There is no water on the ground surface so it must be deep within the well. By putting a check valve on the incoming line before the pressure switch. This way once the tank has been filled it will hold the water it has until the pressure switch is flipped. I know this is not the "right" way to do this but I am wondering if I could just do this for now to stop the water from rushing back into the ground and keep the well pump from cycling off and on continuously?

I really appreciate any advice, like I said, I am not a well expert (although I might be after all of this) but I am very good with fixing things and if this is something that I can do myself, I believe I could do it with the right direction.

If anyone out there could tell me #1 if a second check valve just before the pressure switch would work as a temp fix #2 is pulling the well something that you need special equipment for and really needs to be done by a well professional?

I just know that if the pump continues cycling every minute or two, it will eventually burn our and that will really be expensive at that point. Sorry for such a long post, I just wanted to make sure I explained what has been done and what symptoms I am having with the well. So thank you so much in advance for any suggestions or recommendations. I know the right thing to do would be to call a well company and pay thousands of dollars to have it fixed properly but right now that is just not an option.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Reach4]

makes me think that between the check valve and the bladder tank

What kind of distance is that? Is that path hidden?

Describe your system. Where is the pump? Above ground? Why do you call it a deep water pump? Where is the pressure tank? Where is the check valve?

 

[Sponsor]

 

[MCnetwork]

What kind of distance is that? Is that path hidden?

Describe your system. Where is the pump? Above ground? Why do you call it a deep water pump? Where is the pressure tank? Where is the check valve?

Thank you for your response. First of all I apologize for my ignorance on this but I am learning.

So I have a shed, that is where the pressure tank and pressure switch are. There is a pvc pipe running up from the ground and into the shed, from there I am not sure how far it runs to the well, I have not dug that line up yet. I am not sure it is a deep water pump, I am thinking it is a deep water pump because our neighbors had issues with theirs and the well company said that their well was extremely deep and they had to go deeper than normal. The shed is about 100 feet from the house and I am not sure the distance to the actual well. There is a 4x8 piece of sheet metal half buried behind the shed, about 20 foot from the pressure switch/tank. I have not tried lifting this up, maybe I should, I am thinking that would be the only place the well could be since I have searched my entire yard to find it and I am not able to. The current check valve I am imagining is somewhere between the surface and the pump but I don't know to be honest. I would be happy to take pics if that would help. Thanks so much for your help with this.

 

[MCnetwork]

Update - I went looking further and was able to find an old above ground pump, it is disconnected and not active, I am thinking someone came in and potentially used that well's line for the one that is running now? I am really not sure now, it was overgrown around it and I had not even seen it until today. Here are some photos, it is about 7ft from where the pvc line runs to the pressure tank inside the shed.

 

[LLigetfa]

The fact that the pump is struggling to fill the tank makes me think that between the check valve and the bladder tank, there is a leak, so the pump struggles to push water since it is losing some of it on the way up.
. . .
If anyone out there could tell me #1 if a second check valve just before the pressure switch would work as a temp fix #2 is pulling the well something that you need special equipment for and really needs to be done by a well professional?

Since the pump struggles to reach cutout, it will only be worse, not any better with an additional check valve. Also, a leak just gets worse over time as the hole enlarges due to wear so a very short term workaround.

If the leak is down in the well, the recirculating water can create heat and the heat can soften PVC drop pipe to the point the pump falls off the end. That or PVC casing will collapse and trap the pump.

Given that you are in Florida, the pipe from the pump house to the well should not be buried too deep so easy enough to dig it up and follow it back to the well. You could also use a cable locator to trace the wire.

 

[MCnetwork]

Since the pump struggles to reach cutout, it will only be worse, not any better with an additional check valve. Also, a leak just gets worse over time as the hole enlarges due to wear so a very short term workaround.

If the leak is down in the well, the recirculating water can create heat and the heat can soften PVC drop pipe to the point the pump falls off the end. That or PVC casing will collapse and trap the pump.

Given that you are in Florida, the pipe from the pump house to the well should not be buried too deep so easy enough to dig it up and follow it back to the well. You could also use a cable locator to trace the wire.

Thank you for your response, did you see the old well I just found and posted? It was all overgrown with vines and I never even saw this, could this be part of the issue? If this main well pipe is being used for the submerged well and they just piped a pipe into this old one and left it, if the old one had any leaks couldn't this be the issue?

Thanks

 

[LLigetfa]

Get the shovel out and start digging. The distances you mention are not worth trying to guess what "might be". It's not like you are going to make a mess of a pristine lawn from the looks of it.

I had a boss that ran into trouble with his well pretty much identical to what you describe. He noticed the pressure was low but that was months after he was chasing a problem with very high electrical bills. Turned out he had a leak in the pipe between the old well and the new well where they cut the pipe and inserted a galvanized elbow. The elbow rusted a hole that just got bigger over time gradually increasing his bill to double. The water never came to the surface but rather flowed into the old well.

 

[MCnetwork]

Get the shovel out and start digging. The distances you mention are not worth trying to guess what "might be". It's not like you are going to make a mess of a pristine lawn from the looks of it.

I had a boss that ran into trouble with his well pretty much identical to what you describe. He noticed the pressure was low but that was months after he was chasing a problem with very high electrical bills. Turned out he had a leak in the pipe between the old well and the new well where they cut the pipe and inserted a galvanized elbow. The elbow rusted a hole that just got bigger over time gradually increasing his bill to double. The water never came to the surface but rather flowed into the old well.

Ha Ha... yes you are right, it is not to pristine on that side of the shed! I am grabbing the shovel and my boots and going to see what I can find out. Thanks for your info! I will keep you posted on what I find. Take care!