Causes for air in water lines

[JeremyF559]

We purchased a house last March and in July, our well pump died. We had it changed and ever since, we get air in our water lines after the sprinklers run for a while. We didn’t have the issue before, we installed the same 3hp submersible pump and the same controller box. The water level is at 85ft and the pump is down to 180ft. I did notice that the relief valve on the well head goes off nearly every time the pump is on, I’m not sure if that’s normal.

I was looking at possibly having someone come out and install one these on the pump in hopes of that helping. https://www.lemcoseals.com/index.php/lemco-drawdown-well-seals/6-x-1-lemco-seal-detail

Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Reach4]

We didn’t have the issue before, we installed the same 3hp submersible pump and the same controller box. The water level is at 85ft and the pump is down to 180ft.

You want to monitor the current for any of the wires to the pressure switch. What is the current when the pump is working normally, and what is the current when you see air.

If the current drops suddenly at that point, the water level in the well probably fell down to the level of the pump. 3HP is pretty huge for a pump at 185 ft. What diameter is your well? It is easy to see a pump like yours pumping the well dry. At least there is plenty of water in your area.

A clamp-around ammeter is the tool of choice to measure current.

I did notice that the relief valve on the well head goes off nearly every time the pump is on, I’m not sure if that’s normal.

Not normal.

 

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[Valveman]

Lemco seal is not going to help. Air when the sprinklers first start is probably a hole in the drop pipe. Or if this does not have a diaphragm style tank, the Air Volume Control on the side of the tank could be bad. Picture of set up would help.

My guess is you have two or more check valves. One at the pump and one before the tank. The one below is leaking back and letting air in the pressure relief valve. Next time pump comes on you get a shot of air.

And no the pressure relief valve should never dump water unless there is a problem and the pressure is too high.

 

[LLigetfa]

There is not enough info about the complete system. Unless there is a micronizer inline to precipitate iron along with a HP tank, the relief valve should be seeing the same pressure as the pressure switch so should not be popping.

@valveman may have nailed it with the multiple checkvalves prognosis. They can create a partial vacuum in the line and they can also cause water hammer which could be what is popping the relief valve.

The air related to after the sprinklers ran could also be due to the large amount of air that a micronizer might produce. If there is an iron filter inline, it could accumulate the excess air and when house water is used, that air may move forward into the house plumbing. If/when the sprinklers are not used between iron filter backwashes, there might not be enough air accumulated so as to move forward into the house plumbing and the air simply gets purged during the backwash.

I had a neighbor that replaced his HP tank with a bladder type so the air from the micronizer would accumulate in his iron filter. Whenever he saw air spitting from a faucet, he would do a manual backwash on the iron filter to purge the air.