New Homeowner Well Pump Help

[Paul Marsh]

Hey guys, recently bought a house about a year ago. Noticed there was a well pump in the garage for irrigation. Haven't used the irrigation yet as we plan to overhaul the backyard and redo the sprinklers. There is no bladder tank or pressure switch on the pump, it is turned on automatically via a relay with the sprinkler timer box on the wall. I have a 3/4 inch ball valve hose bib on the discharge pipe and when testing the pump it takes about 2 - 3 minutes for it to start pumping water out the discharge pipe. It is a 1 HP pump, not sure how deep the well is. I was concerned the pump wasn't staying primed and that the check valve on the suction line was bad so I replaced it but upon further inspection, the original check valve indeed functioned as intended. Once water starts flowing, it runs about 45 - 50 PSI at 20 GPM. My only concern is if the check valve is functioning properly and keeping the pump primed, is it still normal for it to take a couple minutes for water to flow? Does it actually take that long to siphon water depending on the depth of the well? I just don't want to burn the pump out. Thanks in advance!

 

[Valveman]

If a jet pump is primed the pressure and flow should be there immediately when the pump is energized. A foot valve on the bottom of the suction pipe is preferable. If you have a check valve closer to the pump, the line before that check valve can drain back. Either fix the leak before the check valve or use a foot valve at the bottom of the suction line.

 

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[Paul Marsh]

How would I go about seeing if there even is a foot valve or replacing it? Not sure how deep the well is. I only have about 2 feet of 1-1/4" CL200 PVC before it goes through the concrete slab.

 

[Valveman]

It could be a well point. In that case the check does go at the top, but you may have a leak in the well point below the check valve. A metal detector might help find the well, but most likely you will just need to do some digging to find the well head.

 

[Paul Marsh]

Not exactly sure what a wellhead is. This is my first time dealing with a well pump. I have attached a couple photos below. The pump is a 1 HP STA-RITE in the garage with one feed pipe and one discharge pipe going to a single irrigation zone, this is not being used for household at all. The second picture shows the feed line and also the new section I installed yesterday with a new check valve and unions for easy removal later on if needed. As you can see, there's not much room for digging at all, everything is surrounded by a concrete slab. Do shallow wells require a foot valve?

 

[Valveman]

The top pipe coming out of the pump should go to the irrigation. The bottom pipe should go the the well head. Which pipe is that coming through the wall?

 

[Paul Marsh]

The top pipe coming out of the pump should go to the irrigation. The bottom pipe should go the the well head. Which pipe is that coming through the wall?

Correct, the top pipe goes to the irrigation. The pipe you see coming out of the wall in the second picture is the suction line. You can see the white check valve inline. I first checked to see if it was installed in the correct direction which it was. So then I decided to replace it with a better brass check valve, not knowing how old this system was (house built in 1980). The original check valve did indeed work though. Which leads me to believe there is either a faulty foot valve or a foot valve was never installed and the well is shallow enough to where they didn't care if it took a couple minutes to flow water for irrigation. I'm just surprised the pump hasn't burned out and has lasted this long.

 

[Valveman]

Somewhere out in the yard that pipe should connect to a well point that has been driven into the ground. If the drive pipe gets a hole in it above the screen section it can loose prime before than check valve. Otherwise that check is like holding your finger over a straw full of ice tea. If there are no leaks it should stay primed. However, that is an unusual pump as it looks like a self primer with a ejector for a jet pump? It may pull up a prime even without a check valve, it would just take a minute or two. Your brass check valve is a good idea, but the unions you used can leak air under vacuum at the o-rings. Glue is better.

 

[Paul Marsh]

Somewhere out in the yard that pipe should connect to a well point that has been driven into the ground. If the drive pipe gets a hole in it above the screen section it can loose prime before than check valve. Otherwise that check is like holding your finger over a straw full of ice tea. If there are no leaks it should stay primed. However, that is an unusual pump as it looks like a self primer with a ejector for a jet pump? It may pull up a prime even without a check valve, it would just take a minute or two. Your brass check valve is a good idea, but the unions you used can leak air under vacuum at the o-rings. Glue is better.

Ahh, that makes sense. I got a similar response from a family friend that said it was a self priming pump and that it could take a couple minutes each time it comes on for the water to begin flowing and that it wasn't harmful to the pump. Does this sound correct?

 

[Valveman]

Very unusual for me but yes. As long as there is no leak in the suction line it should prime itself in a minute or two. The check valve should help though.