Pressure Tanks Full of Sand

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RayMan

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Five pressure tanks were replaced on a shared well and I was informed by the well technician who did the work "there was a lot of sand in the old tanks". The control box was also replaced. I know the pump is next but my question now is:

Should the 5 homes on the shared well be checking their plumbing for sand clogs and where would they start checking to determine if any sand got into their plumbing system?

Two homes have Water Softeners and three have RO Systems under the kitchen sink. None of the homes have a full house water filtering system to my knowledge. Two homes are uphill from the well, two are fairly level with it and one is downhill of the well.

Any imput you have about these situations will be appreciated. Thank You.
 

Reach4

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Five pressure tanks were replaced on a shared well and I was informed by the well technician who did the work "there was a lot of sand in the old tanks".
That is way different than "full of sand". The pump guy did not sound alarmed, did he?

A Sandmaster in front of your pressure tanks may be worthwhile. http://www.lakos.com/groundwater.htm

I would put a whole-house filter on city water, and I certainly would for well water.

Should the 5 homes on the shared well be checking their plumbing for sand clogs and where would they start checking to determine if any sand got into their plumbing system?
Maybe unscrew the aerators and take a look. I flush my WH every few years.
 

RayMan

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Thank You for the link to Lakos Sand Filtration. The well guy only does installations but commented the first tank was full of sand, the second tank was about half full, the third was waterlogged and tanks 4 & 5 were about a quarter full of sand. These were 44 gallon Amtrol tanks and every tanks bladder had broken.
 

Craigpump

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You're FAR better off putting a Sub K over the pump in the well if you can. That will kerp the sand out of the system & extend the life of the pump.
 

Valveman

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Sand will shorten the life of bladder tanks. But most tank bladders are destroyed from going up and down, over and over many times while the pump cycles on and off. This is especially true with shared wells. A 44 gallon tank only holds about 12 gallons of water, so three of those do not hold enough water to keep the pump from cycling too much.

I have improved many systems like this where there were 3 or 15 pressure tanks in a row. I get a call because every year they have to replace 2 or 5 of those tanks from all the cycling damage. After we install a Cycle Stop Valve all but one of those tanks can be removed. So as long as even one tank is still good, they don't have to purchase another tank. The cycling goes away so the one tank left will last many, many years, and the pump itself will last much longer as well.

Also you might be surprised to know that eliminating the cycling also reduces the amount of sand. Cycling the pump on and off continually also surges the well up and down, which stirs up the sand. When using a CSV and drawing a steady amount from the well, the well is not surging and the sand is usually greatly decreased.
 
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