The last week or so I've heard the pump running quite a bit throughout
the day/night. It appears I have a grey substance building up in the
prefilter in 1 day or so.. I mean it is a lot more then I've ever seen
in the two years I lived in the house.. Also if I may add, the water
system is only two years old.. Anyway I have never seen that much
sediment in such a short amount of time.

After seeing this I decided to do some tests for my self. I shut off
the valve between the prefilter and the pump so I could eliminate all
the equipment and focus on the well, Pump and pressure tank. After
doing this, it appears the pump continues to go on and off as it does
in heavy usage.. (I assume by eliminating the carbon/resin tanks by
turning off the valve, that I would not have any leaky faucets or
something to think about in this test)

Back to my tests, I listen closely to the pipes that come in from the
well to the pump and from the pump to the pressure tank.. I here quite
a lot of water traveling back and fourth it sounds and the pump kicks
on almost every minute and the pressure is reaching 45psi and drops
fast.

At this point I'm thinking maybe I have a leak underground after the
check valve to my pump and maybe it is picking up mud or something..
But the sediment that is found in the prefilter does not look like
dirt... more or less like a grayish powder looking.. I plan to put
another on/off valve between the pressure tank and the pump in the
morning to see if pressure drops between the pump and pressure tank.

So my questions a does anyone think this pressure tank could be the
problem I checked the valve on the top and only air came out... I
understand if water comes out then they may be bad? Or could the
problem be in the ground with a small crack in the pipe and dirt or
something is coming in

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Mike

You don't say what kind of well pump you have; from your description, it
sounds like you have a jet pump. I'll also assume you have a captive
air type tank(s) rather than the old fashioned ones that don't use a
rubber air bladder. The pressure in the bladder should be adjusted as
per the manual using an air gauge. Simply verifying that air comes out
the valve isn't good enough. While you're at it, check the pressure
setting on the pressure switch. The system should have an over-pressure
valve too; check that water is not coming out of it. However, if water
is not being drawn out of the system through the normal plumbing or
over-pressure valve and the system cycles anyway, then you have a water
leak regardless of the air pressure in the tank.

Close the valve that is just beyond the tank (there should be one
that is just after the tank and before the pipe disappears into the
ground, building wall, etc. and before any other pipes branch-off). If
there is no such valve, you should install one. Then inspect the tank,
above-ground pipes, and pump for water leaks. If you don't find any
above-ground leaks, then the leak is either in the pipe between the well
head and pump or inside the well casing (either the pipe(s) or foot
valve are leaking). At this point, you're going to need a professional
to deal with it. BTW, if you let the pump continue to short-cycle for
very long, you're going to need a new pump.


wrote:
The last week or so I've heard the pump running quite a bit throughout
the day/night. It appears I have a grey substance building up in the
prefilter in 1 day or so.. I mean it is a lot more then I've ever seen
in the two years I lived in the house.. Also if I may add, the water
system is only two years old.. Anyway I have never seen that much
sediment in such a short amount of time.

After seeing this I decided to do some tests for my self. I shut off
the valve between the prefilter and the pump so I could eliminate all
the equipment and focus on the well, Pump and pressure tank. After
doing this, it appears the pump continues to go on and off as it does
in heavy usage.. (I assume by eliminating the carbon/resin tanks by
turning off the valve, that I would not have any leaky faucets or
something to think about in this test)

Back to my tests, I listen closely to the pipes that come in from the
well to the pump and from the pump to the pressure tank.. I here quite
a lot of water traveling back and fourth it sounds and the pump kicks
on almost every minute and the pressure is reaching 45psi and drops
fast.

At this point I'm thinking maybe I have a leak underground after the
check valve to my pump and maybe it is picking up mud or something..
But the sediment that is found in the prefilter does not look like
dirt... more or less like a grayish powder looking.. I plan to put
another on/off valve between the pressure tank and the pump in the
morning to see if pressure drops between the pump and pressure tank.

So my questions a does anyone think this pressure tank could be the
problem I checked the valve on the top and only air came out... I
understand if water comes out then they may be bad? Or could the
problem be in the ground with a small crack in the pipe and dirt or
something is coming in

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Mike

It sounds like all that sediment coming up from the well has ruined
your check valve. If the main water shutoff is off, and water
disappears out of your pressure tank, it can only be going back down
the well.

Get a sand separator put on your pump (basically a nylon stocking that
filters out most of the sand before it gets in), then have the check
valve tested. Probably worth calling a well company to do all this. If
it's only 2 years old, the one that installed it should be taking a
look. It should not fail this fast.

wrote:
The last week or so I've heard the pump running quite a bit throughout
the day/night. It appears I have a grey substance building up in the
prefilter in 1 day or so.. I mean it is a lot more then I've ever seen
in the two years I lived in the house.. Also if I may add, the water
system is only two years old.. Anyway I have never seen that much
sediment in such a short amount of time.

After seeing this I decided to do some tests for my self. I shut off
the valve between the prefilter and the pump so I could eliminate all
the equipment and focus on the well, Pump and pressure tank. After
doing this, it appears the pump continues to go on and off as it does
in heavy usage.. (I assume by eliminating the carbon/resin tanks by
turning off the valve, that I would not have any leaky faucets or
something to think about in this test)

Back to my tests, I listen closely to the pipes that come in from the
well to the pump and from the pump to the pressure tank.. I here quite
a lot of water traveling back and fourth it sounds and the pump kicks
on almost every minute and the pressure is reaching 45psi and drops
fast.

At this point I'm thinking maybe I have a leak underground after the
check valve to my pump and maybe it is picking up mud or something..
But the sediment that is found in the prefilter does not look like
dirt... more or less like a grayish powder looking.. I plan to put
another on/off valve between the pressure tank and the pump in the
morning to see if pressure drops between the pump and pressure tank.

So my questions a does anyone think this pressure tank could be the
problem I checked the valve on the top and only air came out... I
understand if water comes out then they may be bad? Or could the
problem be in the ground with a small crack in the pipe and dirt or
something is coming in

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Mike

Well I needed to replace the check valve. First I listened to the check
valve and I heard water gushing through it after the pump went off.. I
guess that meant the pressure droped and the water went back into the
well.

So after changing the check valve, I let the water run directly from
the pump bypassing the water system for about a 1/2 hour.. at first I
saw a lot of dirt come out.. it was strange... after a while , the
water turned clear..

So as Andrew stated.. I think the next step is to install some type of
sand separator... that is a great Idea!!!

I just hope this does not have anything to do with a high growth in the
loxahatchee, FL area.. and I hope my well is not going dry.. I found
this site if you guys are interested in floida aqafers current levels
http://www.sflorida.er.usgs.gov/ddn_data/index.html

Thanks everyone for you help!!!