Water Pressure Issues

[Laura G]

We are on a well, and have had issues for quite a while. Currently, we have turned off our water conditioning equipment except for the uv light and iron filter. (Water has been tested; it's fine to use.) That seemed to really help our water issues - we were running out, pump going to 0. Seems like our conditioning equipment was cycling too much or something. That worked for about a month, but we're going back & forth between good pressure and very low (not a complete loss of water) pressure. Our pressure tank gauge is still staying between about 40 and 60 even when it's low. Iron filter was changed a week or two ago. When I checked the pump yesterday, when it was running and low and the shower was on, it was above 40 and making kind of a hissing/squealing noise except when I turned on the faucet nearest the tank. Any ideas of what the issue is and how we can fix it? Praying it's not low water. Seems to be a different problem than when we were running out completely and the water conditioning was on. We have a hard time figuring out what we can do ourselves and/or whether to call a plumber, the well folks, or the water conditioning people. Thanks in advance!

 

[hj]

If the pressure at the switch is within its range, then something is blocking its connection to the system. IF it cannot respond to a pressure drop when you open a faucet, the tank WILL run dry before the switch can turn the pump back on.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

What was making the "hissing/squealing noise"?
You said "When I checked the pump yesterday, when it was running and low and the shower was on". What does "running low" mean?

I think you are implying you have a jet pump. Does it have one pipe running to the well, or two?

 

[Laura G]

There is one pipe along with electric running from the pressure tank outside the house. Running low means it feels like the pressure is dropping - less water in the shower & other faucets. I'm not sure where the noise is coming from exactly - somewhere around the pressure tank. When I turned on the faucet near it, the noise stopped. Started again when I turned it off.

 

[Reach4]

Ah. Submersible. Good. I had mistakenly interpreted "When I checked the pump yesterday, when it was running and low and the shower was on, it was above 40 and making kind of a hissing/squealing noise except when I turned on the faucet nearest the tank." to mean that the pump was readily accessible.

What kind of pressure tank do you have? Does it, for example, have some device on the side of the tank? If so, it could release air at times.

You might want to get an additional pressure gauge to check the pressure down the line. They have inexpensive pressure gauges that screw on to a garden hose thread, such as you may have in your laundry area and on the side of the water heater as well as on the side of the house.