Air in water line

[Lenny]

Hope somebody can help me! I have a lot of air in my water lines. (I have a well with submersible pump). The house is a slab. I thought my pressure tank was bad. But, it is o.k. A plumber came out and said I have a leak in the water line somewhere from the well to the house. He said to dig down to the level of the pitless adapter by the well. I did. No leak there. Then I dug down to where the black pipe goes into the foundation of the house. It was a little muddy, but didn't find the leak. It seems to be coming from under the house! . There are no wet areas (on the ground)from the well to the house. So, I'm thinking the leak is probably under the house. What should I do next???

 

[Toolaholic]

my 2 cents

hire a pro leak finding co.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Speedbump]

Do you have a check valve in the house line by the tank?

bob...

 

[Gary Slusser]

Copied/pasted from the Pumps and Wells forum...

Shut off the water to the house, watch the pressure gauge for 10 minutes to see if it falls. If so you have a leak on the well side; that would usually be the check valve in/on the outlet of the submersible pump, or the foot valve on a jet pump. If the pressure holds you don't have a leak from the tank to the pump in the well. So fire the plumber and send him a bill for your excavation! and only call another that knows wells and pumps and can pull the plumbing out of a well. Or better yet, call a pump guy or well driller.

Air in the water usually means the pump is sucking air, or as we say you have a dry well condition. That's when the water level in the well falls to the inlet of the pump. It is abnormal for a water leak to cause air in the water although that can happen on a well system but not usually one with a submersible pump.

Gary
Quality Water Associates

 

[hj]

leak

If the leak is before the tank's check valve, assuming no check valve or a defective one at the pump, then the water in the pipe from the pump can drain down and draw air into the pipe. Then when the pump starts that air will be injected into the water system. The amount of air induced is in direct proportion to the size of the leak and the frequency of pump operation.