Re: New house, well water pressure seems low

Posted by hj on February 28, 2004 at 09:58:56:
In response to Re: New house, well water pressure seems low
Unless you have very high ceilings the rise should be closer to 27 feet which would cause a loss of 12 psi from the water supply at the upstairs shower heads. 80 psi turn off will put a severe load on the pump assuming it is able to reach that pressure level. One thing to verify is what happens to the pressure in the tank when it reaches the turnon point of 35 psi. If the pressure continues to drop then the pump does not have the power, or capacity to keep up with the flow. If it rises then it does have the capacity and your shower pressure should return to normal after a short make up lag. If it remains steady, then you have just enough capacity in the pump to run one shower and if you use more than that you will eventually run out of water until the pump can build up pressure in the tank again. : We just moved into a new-construction house, our first to be serviced by well water. The water pressure coming from all of the fixtures seems low in comparison with what we're used to. I checked the pressure gauge, and it appears the pump kicks in at about 35 PSI and shuts off at about 60. This is a two floor house, with a basement underneath, and the tank is in the basement. The water thus has to rise about 30 feet from the pressure gauge to the shower heads on the top floor. The well is about 500ft deep. I don't know the HP rating of the submerged pump. : My questions: 1) is significantly lower pressure simply a fact of life with well as compared to city water? : 2) What would happen if I adjusted the pressure switch to say 40/80? : 3) Is it possible that the small filter (looks like a large automobile oil filter) the builder included in the system is clogged? Should I try to by-pass it and see if things improve?

Posted by hj on February 28, 2004 at 09:58:56:

In response to Re: New house, well water pressure seems low

Unless you have very high ceilings the rise should be closer to 27 feet which would cause a loss of 12 psi from the water supply at the upstairs shower heads. 80 psi turn off will put a severe load on the pump assuming it is able to reach that pressure level. One thing to verify is what happens to the pressure in the tank when it reaches the turnon point of 35 psi. If the pressure continues to drop then the pump does not have the power, or capacity to keep up with the flow. If it rises then it does have the capacity and your shower pressure should return to normal after a short make up lag. If it remains steady, then you have just enough capacity in the pump to run one shower and if you use more than that you will eventually run out of water until the pump can build up pressure in the tank again.

: We just moved into a new-construction house, our first to be serviced by well water. The water pressure coming from all of the fixtures seems low in comparison with what we're used to. I checked the pressure gauge, and it appears the pump kicks in at about 35 PSI and shuts off at about 60. This is a two floor house, with a basement underneath, and the tank is in the basement. The water thus has to rise about 30 feet from the pressure gauge to the shower heads on the top floor. The well is about 500ft deep. I don't know the HP rating of the submerged pump.
: My questions: 1) is significantly lower pressure simply a fact of life with well as compared to city water?
: 2) What would happen if I adjusted the pressure switch to say 40/80?
: 3) Is it possible that the small filter (looks like a large automobile oil filter) the builder included in the system is clogged? Should I try to by-pass it and see if things improve?

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