HELP!!! Need to do something about water well

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Chris Shafer

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We bought a house almost 2 years ago. When we purchased the house, we had to have the water well treated due to bacteria. The water tastes disgusting even after being filtered. I am not sure yet how deep the well is. I am going to have to drop a string and measure that. A little about the well...

The well setup is fairly complicated in my opinion and it must be an old way of making wells that they are getting away from because I cant find much about the type of system we have. We have a well with an air compressor that pumps air into the well casing which in turn bubbles water up the well into a very old and disgusting concrete tank. I know we need to get the concrete tank replaced with plastic if that's the way we decide to keep it. The concrete tank has red algae in it that bleach did not get rid of. The system also has a pressure tank and a pump. I know there is a level switch in the tank that shuts off the compressor at a set level and there is a pressure switch attached to the plumbing lines somewhere, but I am going to have to look more closely at how everything is set up for more details. I'm not sure what size the pump is right now either, but I would think it should be sufficient for pressure because it has a 1 1/2" outlet reduced to a 1 1/4" main line to the house. How it goes from there, I have no idea. I do know that there is a lot of CPVC in the house and it appears that the cold water lines are 3/4" and the hot water lines are 1/2". I am also assuming they did this for pressure purposes because the well is about 300 to 400 ft from the house and the water heater is on the other end of the house and the house is at least 100 to 120 ft long. There are 3 different cut off valves in the ground at different locations around the house, so I know it divides up and enters the house at 3 different locations. All that being said because my water pressure isn't that great either. Another reason I need to do something about this. It is enough to utilize, but it could be better.

So I guess my questions are ...
Should I convert to submerged pump and get rid of the storage tank all together?
Keep as is and replace storage tank, pump, plumbing?
Any Opinions?
 

Valveman

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Maybe all you have to do is turn up the pressure switch on the booster pump to get more pressure in the house. Get a model off the pump and find out how much pressure it will build. If it has a max pressure of like 68 PSI or higher, you can turn the pressure switch up to 40/60, but not 50/70. I usually figure 10 PSI loss through filters as a rule of thumb, so I try to run the pump and pressure switch at 50/70, to get good 40/60 on the outlet of the filters.

I am guessing the red stuff in the tank is an iron bacteria. The air lift pump and vented storage tank is a way to aerate the water and get the iron to settle out. Many times they use a well pump like that to help aerate the water, and/or because a regular submersible would clog up with the iron in a short period of time.
 

Chris Shafer

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Maybe all you have to do is turn up the pressure switch on the booster pump to get more pressure in the house. Get a model off the pump and find out how much pressure it will build. If it has a max pressure of like 68 PSI or higher, you can turn the pressure switch up to 40/60, but not 50/70. I usually figure 10 PSI loss through filters as a rule of thumb, so I try to run the pump and pressure switch at 50/70, to get good 40/60 on the outlet of the filters.

I am guessing the red stuff in the tank is an iron bacteria. The air lift pump and vented storage tank is a way to aerate the water and get the iron to settle out. Many times they use a well pump like that to help aerate the water, and/or because a regular submersible would clog up with the iron in a short period of time.


That is something else I forgot to add in there. I'm pretty sure the pressure switch they have installed is not the correct one. I think, if I am recalling correctly, that the max pressure setting on the switch was like 40 or 45 PSI. I will definitely check this evening and update any wrong information I am putting in here.
 

Reach4

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That is something else I forgot to add in there. I'm pretty sure the pressure switch they have installed is not the correct one. I think, if I am recalling correctly, that the max pressure setting on the switch was like 40 or 45 PSI. I will definitely check this evening and update any wrong information I am putting in here.
Most pressure switches are adjustable. Typically each 3.5 turns CW on the nut on the big spring raises both cut-in and cut-out by about 10 psi. Usually no need to mess with the nut on the little spring.

But if you try and still cannot get the pressure as high as you like, pressure switches are pretty cheap and easy. While changing a pressure switch, clean or replace the nipple, and consider a new 0-100 psi pressure gauge while you are at it.

It may be that the bubble system and cistern were mainly that way to deal with iron. A submersible would be nice, but you would have to deal with the iron somehow.
 
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