Excessive Air in lines (Shared Well)

[air boy]

Ok, I will do my best to explain my situation. Basically, I have a lot of air in my water lines. Primarily in the kitchen, but occasionally it reaches other faucets throughout the house. The kitchen faucet happens to be the closest faucet to the pressure tank. And, while there is a laundry faucet directly below the kitchen, minimal air comes out of that faucet.

I have a shared well with my neighbor and he does not experience any air in his lines.

I replaced the pressure tank and it had no effect on the amount of air in the lines.

I do not have a check valve between my pressure tank and the well my neighbor does.

I was suspect of the water softener playing a role, but if I bypass it, no difference.

I am guessing that I (and only I) have a pressure swtich on my pressure tank. Last night, I shut off a valve between the pipe that comes from the well and the pressure tank. As a result, my neighbor lost water pressure. That tells me that his system is not entirely independent from mine, meaning he needs access to my pressure tank/switch in order to provide water to his tank. Not sure if that is normal.

I also replaced the kitchen faucet as i found it strange when I turned off the water, it would continue to run for a little bit...I was thinking that was creating some sort of back flow and putting air in the line. No change.

Would entertain any thoughts. My wife is about to dump me and marry a plumber.

Thanks.

 

[Texas Wellman]

If you have a standard galvanized tank you may need a air-release. It has a float that lets excess air out when the air level gets too high. Basically you have the reverse of being water logged and the air is exiting out the tank and into your plumbing lines. Your neighbor probably draws the water down a little lower than you do out of the tank which is why he doesn't get any air. Some wells naturally make airs others have an air injector set-up that will auto-matically add air and you need a working air release to get rid of the excess air.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Justwater]

so do u mean there is no check valve between the well and the first tank (yours), but there is a check valve between the valve that runs to your neighbor and his tank?

sounds alot like a check valve up top before the main tank and switch, and a hole in the main pump line down the well. if you have a bladder style tank and your neighbor happens to have an older galvanized tank without a bladder.. he would never notice the air. not that this is the case, just tossing around ideas.

also, if you have a tank *with the pumps pressure switch*, and all your neighbor has is a tank.. then you are, and have been, paying the electric bill for his homes water consumption.

 

[air boy]

The pressure tank that I installed is a Flotec FP7120 - Pre-Charged tank...It holds 35 gallons, but is equal to a standard 82 gal tank. I replaced my old bladder style tank for two reasons, one it had a very small leak from a rust hole and secondly, I thought that what was causing the air in the lines.

Correct - there is no check valve between my tank and the well, but next to my neighbors tank (between the tank and the well) there is a valve. If I was to install a check valve, wouldn't that mess up my neighbor? Because then as he lowered his water, it would never get to the pressure switch to turn on the pump.

I think my neighbor has a galvanized tank with a bladder, but I am confirming with him.

Correct, I have the tank with the pressure switch and I have a separate electrical meter for the pump and I split bills with the neighbor.

 

[Valveman]

I would remove any and all check valves above ground. Then you can see that the pressure is dropping even when no one is using water. Which means you have a hole or leak in the pipe down the well which will need to be fixed. If after removing the check valve you don't lose pressure down hole, then you have a bleeder that is now staying closed because you removed the check valve, and your air problem will go away.

 

[air boy]

When you say remove check valves, do you literally mean remove them, or remove them from the picture for troubleshooting? I see what you are getting at, to basically see if the system at rest is draining back into the well, thereby pulling air into the system. Since I don't have any check valves at my house, my side is easy. On my neighbors side he does, so can I accomplish the same task by having him close a valve between his tank and the well? That should stop any air or backflow from his house.

So then I am just waiting for the pressure to drop? Would I expect it to drop enough that the pump would actually turn on? Or am I monitoring the air pressure on the tank itself for a smaller incremental change?

Last, you mentioned a bleeder that is staying closed? Not sure what that is referring to...like a garden hose spout that has a bleeder on it?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Valveman]

OK, so the line comes from the well, tees off at the neighbors house and comes to your house. If the check valve is between this tee and the well, then the check needs to be physically removed. Removing this check would keep a bleeder in the well closed, so it can’t add air to the system. But removing this check would let your tanks feed a leak in the drop pipe, so you would see the pressure drop when no one is using water. It may drop fast or slow, depending on the size of leak. It may drop so slow that you need to just come back in an hour to see if the pressure has dropped any. And if the pressure drops any while no one is using water, you will need to get the hole in the drop pipe fixed to eliminate the air problem.

If the check valve is after the tee on the neighbor’s line only, then it won’t make any difference on the air problem. I would still remove the check from the neighbors line however. Because not considering the air problem, your neighbor gets the use of both his tank and yours, while you do not get the benefit of using his tank.

If the check valve is before the tee to the neighbor’s house, then a hole in the drop pipe or a down hole bleeder orifice will make air in the system. If the check valve is only on the neighbor’s side of the tee, then you should not be able to get air unless the pump is sucking air from the well. Which would mean you are pumping harder on the well than it can handle.

No matter how the air gets in the system, air always travels to the high side of a plumbing system. If your house line is higher than your neighbors, then that is where the air goes and your neighbor never sees the problem.