# poor water pressure



## fishawn69 (Jan 12, 2009)

I have a well, replaced all old pipe with copper and have little water pressure. My ? is can I just put some more air in my blatter tank and solve this.


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## Big Reds (Oct 14, 2007)

After all the pressure is off the system, what is the bladder pressure? Should be around 30 lbs. as an average. Did you have low pressure to begin with? Is it low pressure or low flow? If you have good pressure and flow out of the outside sillcocks, and not from the faucets, you may have clogged screens in your faucets.
Check it out and get back to us with the results.


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## doogie mac (Oct 24, 2010)

Big Reds said:


> After all the pressure is off the system, what is the bladder pressure? Should be around 30 lbs. as an average. Did you have low pressure to begin with? Is it low pressure or low flow? If you have good pressure and flow out of the outside sillcocks, and not from the faucets, you may have clogged screens in your faucets.
> Check it out and get back to us with the results.


 Yup,just what Big Red said.
Also listen for when your pump comes on and goes off.Depending on the size of your pressure tank it could be fairly regular .Sometimes the air side of the tnk becomes waterlogged-by pushing the valve will tell you if this is the case.
Guess what Im trying to say is find out if you have good pressure with the pump running first. Sediment buildup will usually affect the cold water feeds only(not always....).Like Red said,check screens.washing machine feeds will tell a lot if you have sediment issues.


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## N M Mechanical (Feb 7, 2008)

Well was pressure good before project? If so the good bet that the piping is wrong but if pressure was poor before then tank
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## fishawn69 (Jan 12, 2009)

Its poor all around when pumps running or not.The blater is old and the gauge is hard to read. If i shut off the pump and bleed the system out my tank should read around 30 pounds of pressure. Ill check that. Checked the screens thier was a little sedement not bad blew them out and didnt make a differance. I did put a large filter before the new softner and it dont take long to turn almost like a blackish,mucky look to it. Could it be that crap in the filter is in the blater and cloging in up or thaking up room in it were water should be.


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## doogie mac (Oct 24, 2010)

Is your pressure tank one of the old galvanized tanks? Most pressure tanks nowaday are blue (usually but not always well-x-trol)-also,pump may be your issue. Pressure switches are either 30-50,or 20-40psi -but as long as your pump comes on,its not the switch.Shallow well or deep well?
You made mention of an in line filter prior to the water softener-this also could be your issue,as could also the water softener. Try to by-pass both(probably wont be able to b.p. the water sftnr)and see if pressure increases.


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## Big Reds (Oct 14, 2007)

Thinking now the filter is the problem at least part of the problem. By pass the filter and softener (should be a bypass valve by the softener).


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## benster (Jul 31, 2006)

Could be a bad blater? Drain water out of tank and shake it, if you hear water in the tank the blater is bad. Water never touches the inside of the tank.


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## tdejong302 (Nov 28, 2004)

Unplug your water pump. Turn on your closest/lowest faucet to the pump. Wait until you have a trickle of water coming out. Shut off faucet. Now go back to you tank and see if you have a air hose input to add air to your tank. If you do use a tire pressure gauge to check your pressure. It should be around 30. If not add air to your tank. Once around 30 plug your pump back in. 

I'm assuming you have a pounded point. If the above did'n't work and you already checked your filters/screens. You may need to see if your well is dry. Unhook your pump and send a weighted line down the pipe to see how much water you have in your pipe. Good luck.


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## andy9086 (Jan 10, 2010)

Your tank has nothing to do with the water pressure. All it does is "store" water so your pump doesn't cycle on and off every time you turn a faucet on. Put a hose on at the tank (before the filters) and see what you get. If no pressure then the problem is in the well. If it is good there then start eliminating things after that. (Master Plumber).


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## PLUMMER47 (Dec 9, 2006)

WAIT!!!! To properly check for the correct pressure on the bladder or draw down tank you have to have the well off and zero static pressure in the system. Correct bladder pressure is set to 2 psi below pump switch turn on. So if you have your pressure switch set for 30-50 then the bladder has to be set at 28psi. If you over pressure the bladder you can make the well never come on, or worse yet damage the bladder. Pressure switches are all the same for residential. You can make a 20-40 into a 40-60 just by turning the pressure adjustment nut,5/16. The other nut is to adjust the differential for turn on turn off. So you could make it 40-50 or 20-60 for example. 1 turn is about 2 psi. Put a new pressure gauge on , they often go bad or are inaccurate. If the pressure from the hosebib on the tank tee under the pressure switch has good flow and pressure then its a problem further down stream. All it would take is a little debris from the old galvanized pipes. The other area to look at would be the inline sediment filter. If you didn't have one before they can clog quickly in some cases or you might have too small of a micron size in there. 10-20 micron is fine and will last alot longer than a 5 micron or smaller. Ideal set up is to have the pump run a minimum of 90 seconds (longer the better). Anything shorter will short cycle the pump and also shorten its life. Good luck


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## westflo (Feb 6, 2011)

It seems like that your water tank has some waterlogged. Turn off the power to the pump. Then try to drain the tank.


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## mwp (Feb 18, 2004)

Change your filter!!


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