trouble with a dug well

lchmb

ok..so looking for thoughts...I have a 25' dug well...I've had it for 25 years and it's well maintained and tested. Water is awsome. Two days ago I started to notice air in the water from the faucets...Then I started to notice spurting. It comes and goes...I have a stand alone pump with tank in the basement..30/50. It seems to be running fine. I checked the well and the well is full almost to ground level...I made sure there was no ice. The well itself is above the house and with that much water will easily gravity feed close to 20lbs pressure.. I've verified no leaks in the house and watched the pump through a few cycles...My next step would be to pressure test the line...but where's it gravity I would think if there were a split it would empty the well....Anyone have any other thoughts?
Thanks
Tom

Fred

Sediment in the line, maybe?

Steamhead

Suction line leak?

JUGHNE

If the pump is in the basement and not submerged down the well then there is a suction line to the basement pump. Any leak in that line could suck air in; but usually you would lose prime. But it sounds as if you have a "flooded" suction line that is always full and would always reprime itself. To find an air leak on suctions what used to be done was apply grease to all fittings and the leak would suck the grease in. Now today there has to be a more friendly(edible) substance to apply to fittings. But the old timers swear that this would show them the problem.

What type of tank do you have? Is it a bladder type or just steel tank. Some steel tanks have an air injector device that add air to the tank whenever the pump runs. Was always sort of a flakey set up, I thought, and it could introduce too much air perhaps. Don't see the Jet pumps anymore or steel tanks.

Mark Eatherton

Hot, cold or both?

Jamie Hall

pressure tank failing...

deadmansghost

The pump shaft seal could be leaking air in when it runs. yet it wont show water leaking out.

lchmb

This is my system..It is happening on both hot and cold. The line runs roughly 200 ft underground to the well. We did go through a cold snap where the temp dropped to 15 below and of course this year we've had no snow..my fear is the line has a crack in it and is pulling air in...Just confused how it could happen where the line is under constant pressure....If I ever stop working all night I plan to put a pressure test on it to see if its under ground (that would really suck)

JUGHNE

Often I see pump guys around here double clamp all fittings. The SS clamps alternate screw head connections. Just what is done.......They may soften them with a heat gun slightly to get a tighter fit.

Your cold water being colder than usual with outdoor temps may have caused the fittings to contract and loosen. Just check clamp tightness first.....IFIM.

lchmb

never thought it possible to pull air in but not water out...I'll redo the clamps tomorrow just in case...Thanks for the ideas...

JUGHNE

It is the easiest place to start.
Vacuum is a pretty tricky animal. Water is just thicker than air. Also when the pump is running I always wondered if there was a venturi action created by the water flow past the micro leak which would suck in the air.

If there is a leak on the suction you would usually lose the prime, but having the 20PSI applied by gravity must prevent this??
Plus having the 20 on the suction lets you have the 30/50 PSI in your system. If I recall a single stage jet pump would be limited to 40 max??

lchmb

I'll stick with heat..much easier to understand...as far as the pump...it was purchased as a 30/50 system and can actually be used on a 40/60 from what the instruction say...

Jamie Hall

It seems really unlikely to me that the problem is in the line from the spring down. If this is a jet pump -- which I presume it is, but I wouldn't bet on it -- is the jet at the pump in your basement, or is it up at the spring? With the gravity head, there is no reason to have it up at the spring! The lowest pressure should be right near the pump, but it should still be positive.

I'm still thinking that you may have a pressure tank problem.

lchmb

Thanks Jamie...The pump is in the basement. The weird thing with all this is it doesnt do it every time. I'll tinker with the pump after the no heat calls slow down..that would be far easier than a new line all the way to the well...Thanks guys..Much appreciated..:)

hot_rod

Are you positive the water level in the well is staying up? There seems to be a lot of wells in my area that are dropping and needed to be deepened. Any way to watch it when you are using, or after a heavy draw?
I had to replace my submersible pump two summers ago and the pump guy suggested dropping it down another 10 feet due to lowering aquifers in the area.

quack24

i know a guy who was once having a similar problem one time it was leaking fittings and one time there was something caught in the pump. you can try putting a vacuum gauge to see if there is a suction side leak some pumps have a tapping that you can use or you can put a tee in the line

Mark Eatherton

My neighbor in the mountains had a well that had a sulphur smell to it. It actually produced a gas that was flammable at the faucets. He had a water treatment company put a chlorine injection system at the well head, and a carbon filter inside the house. Odor and gasses went away...

Might be time to have your water tested. It was iron reducing bacteria that was causing the problem.

ME

Jaberstein

I had a similar problem and it only came out of the kitchen facet. The facet O rings were bad and would let the discharge drain at the swivel connection when off. When either hot or cold was opened, air would first come with the water.

lchmb

Thanks guys...finally found a broken plastic 90 coming into the pump...funny thing is it wouldnt leak but when I shut the line off could hear a squeaky sound..replaced the 90 and havent had an issue since...(2 days) much appreciate the idea's...Cause I was stumped and the wife wasnt happy...o.O