Well not pumping - PUMPTEC controller has power

[Blue Oaks]

Remember this just feeds the tanks I put up on the hill. There is no pressure switch on it, so the valves are not really doing much other than making it easier to service the well without making a mess from all the water in the pipe.

I doubt there will be much if any hammer, but we'll see. I haven't turned it on after gluing it together yet. I had to leave for work very early this a.m. With the two unions it is a pretty simple operation to change that whole configuration. FWIW there was zero hammer previously and you could barely tell the well pump was turning on and off, even going back 7 years to when I bought the place.

That is very much granite dust. We also got a fair amount of iron / rust / scale out and you can clearly see the difference in the materials. My well guy is 2nd generation and has been doing this for 40 years.

I'll ask about the sulfur eliminator. He recommends doing the acid flush every couple of years which I will be doing. He said the previous owner did that and had good results.

 

[Valveman]

Lol! Sometimes the second generation just does what the first generation told them to do, but they really don't know why like the first generation did. But I bet he picked up a few things in 40 years. That is nothing to sneeze at, on top of starting with a good base from listening to the first generation. Don't know much about granite dust, but would have thought it would be pumped out when the well was new.

I understand the ball valve and not wanting the line uphill to drain back when working on the well, But I would take the handle off and hide it. Something about a handle, people just want to mess with it. Somebody closes that one for you and the pump burns up.

There is certainly water hammer at that second check valve. If you put a pressure gauge just prior to that check valve it will peg every time the pump comes on. Most likely the longer the pump is off, the higher the peak pressure when the pump starts. Most people can't hear or feel the water hammer until the bottom check starts leaking back a little or the top check starts closing faster than the bottom check. Then the hammer becomes obvious. The pump would also be happier if it had all the head pressure available on it at start up. That second check takes off some if not all of the head above it. If you wait to remove that second check valve until you start hearing the "thump" on pump start, it has been happening to a lesser degree for a long time.

Acid wash every year or two is a good idea if you can't keep stuff from building up with something like an aerator.

 

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[Blue Oaks]

Are you calling that one a second check valve because the pump has a check valve in it?

 

[Valveman]

Are you calling that one a second check valve because the pump has a check valve in it?

Yes.

 

[Blue Oaks]

"Well" it's producing a ton of water! In a drought year, late in the season I would see the pump run for about a minute. The most I've ever seen it run before stopping to recharge is about 5 mins. I just got bored waiting for it to stop after 40 mins!!! I guess all the rains in CA are hitting the water tables.

 

[Blue Oaks]

OK, OK it only pumped that long when the casing was full of water. After it cycled a few times I pumped what I think is a net 15 gallons every 15 mins, roughly. That seems to work out to pumping about 3 out of 15 mins at 5 GAL / min. In any event that's plenty of water for my needs. I'll inspect after 2 years and see if I need to call the guy in for an acid flush.

 

[Valveman]

15 gallons every 15 minutes is 1 GPM. You might try restricting the output of the pump to 1 GPM and let it run 24/7 when needed. Running continuously is the best thing for the pump. Drawing a steady 1 GPM from the well should keep the water level in the well constant, instead of washing the well up and down every time the pump comes on. But it you don't use aeration or something to keep that stuff from building up again, you might as well go ahead and schedule the next acid wash, and I don't think I would wait 2 years to check it.

 

[Blue Oaks]

My next door neighbors got their "welcome to country living" moment last night. I heard some water rushing, like a fast moving creek or something about 9pm. When I investigated with a flashlight I could see multiple streams of water as big around as my thigh emerging from the neighbors property near their driveway. I hustled over to let them know and by the time I got to their door and had them come out to see, all 15,000 gallons had drained out and was in the drainage ditch and street. I think they have a 4-6" pipe that comes down the hill from their elevated tanks to a couple fire hydrants in front of the house at about 40 PSI. That pipe must have burst just under their paver driveway as that is where most of the water was coming out. They paid $3M for the place last June and they're now in the 3rd world this morning with no running water. Sigh, welcome to the country.

 

[Valveman]

Elevated storage tanks do have their problems. At least with a pump you can have it shut down on low pressure.

 

[Blue Oaks]

Apparently that water column rushing down the hill pulled a hell of a vacuum at the top.