WATER PRESSURE (WELL WATER)

If you don't have a failing pump or restricted piping, the answer might be a higher pressure pump. You might need the addition of an accumulator to even things out.

For a general rule of thumb, a well designed piping system will lose 1 psi of pressure for every 100 feet of pipe length. All of my experience is with refineries and gas plants - I've never worked on a well water pump system. I suppose its possible that silt, carbonates etc have gradually plugged up the inside of your pipes. Do you have any convenient flanges or unions you could disconnect to check the pipe internal condition? If not, do you have connections to install pressure gages to check the system pressure at the pump discharge and then further downstream?

Centrifugal pumps work by an impeller imparting energy to the liquid being pumped. Over time the impeller can erode or corrode away, slowly reducing your discharge pressure. You didn't say at what depth your pump is. How hard would it be to pull it up (you'll have to do this anyway if you're going to replace the pump), open the case, and inspect the condition of the impellers? Another possibility is the motor you are using to drive the pump. Have the amps it is drawing, or the rpm been falling off?

Pumps are specified by several charachteristics. The two most important are the flow rate, usually in gpm but sometimes in bpd, and the differential head (the difference between the discharge pressure and suction pressure expressed in vertical feet of the fluid being pumped). Also important are the physical properties of the fluid being pumped (specific gravity, viscosity and corrosive compounds present), and the dimensions of where you are going to put it.

Our house is on city water. About two miles down the road we have some friends who are on well water. As we were leaving Arizona to come back here after vacation, they were just buying a small RO (reverse osmosis) system. Their TDS (total disolved solids) was only about 500, but the guy's a retired engineer, and I think he just wanted something to tinker with.

Jim:

The pump/motor are above ground & as far as I know it is the only one. My Husband built this place as a Hunting/Fishing "camphouse" back in the early 80's when he was single.

About a year ago, We decided to try and LIVE here.
(Add washer and multitask H20 use).

I think the pump is 3/4 horsepower with a small (maybe only 5 gallon) tank. (Stainless Steel Housing). This is what's in the "pumphouse". We have a 40 gallon Hot Water Tank in the House.

Down here (AL) they call it a "stuck" well. Rod stuck in the ground with diamond shaped metal netting (Filter) on the bottom. Supposedly Spring Water is what we are getting. (Personally, I think The Black Warrior River backwater gets in ocassionaly as well).

I feel so ignorant when it comes to Country Living, I may not be describing this so you can get the real picture.


If I get a bigger tank in the pumphouse, will that help increase pressure?


My Wonderful Husband has only 1 flaw-IF IT AIN'T BROKE (completely) HE WON'T FIX IT.

But he's not the one washing dishes & clothes at the same time. Nor Bless his heart does he have thick waist long hair to get shampoo out of.

He's also a Farmer and the Cows don't care if his overhauls have a little rust stain on them.

I will try flushing and see if that helps. THANKS
for the suggestions AND for explaining things where I THINK I can understand them.

Can I put a filter between the pump and the tank (Accumulator)? I've got one (honeycomb-type you get at Home Depot) that's supposed to last normal people 90 days (25-30 for us) under the house where the water comes in.


What I'd really like to do is get that Overflowing Artesian Well 2 miles down the driveway piped to the house. OH WELL WOMEN ARE NEVER SATISFIED..

in most well systems that I know, the "tank" is also the source of the water pressure with settings to determine when the pump turns on and off based on the air/water pressure in the tank. On many tanks this is adjustable by adding air pressure just like on a car tire however some of the newer tanks have a sealed bladder that are not adjustable. in my experice the tank can become saturated with silt from the ground water and lose air pressure. I usually set the on/off pressure switch at about 20 psi as the min and 40 as the max.

Pump basics
There are many aspects to a water supply system that will affect the pressure at the point of use, but there are a few things that are more important that others:

1. the pump capacity (Gallons per minuet) should be more than enough for peak usage in gallons per minuet. take all of the water consuming items in your home, think about how many of them are used simultaneously. add up how many gallons per minuet that they use each, and you have somewhere to start. In the installs that I have done, an average is 35 gallons per minuet to keep the pressure up.
2. Bladder tank capacity- this is NOT as important as your pump. the bladder tank only offers TEMPORARY pressure while the pump is off. once the pressure drops to a preset level (determined by the controller module), the pump kicks on and supplies the demand. For most residential proposes, 3 to 5 gallons is more than enough. If the pump cannot handle the Volume (gallons per minuet, or GPM), then changing the pressure tank WILL NOT HELP!
3. Piping- is the second most important. For long runs, small pipe will decrease pressure. in most cases, this can be overcome by increasing the total pressure supplied by the pump by changing the setting on the pump controller.

For your situation, I would check out the GPM of the pump. As you stated, the system was installed for Temporary living, so changing the pump and possibly increasing the pressure sensor will most likely solve the problem.

Thanks, Leon. I don't know if Duce is still following, but that's good information.