Well Pump Keeps Running? No Pressure – but it’s Probably Your Well Pressure Tank

“It seems like our well pump is going without a break.”

If this sounds like your water system, there’s a technical description for it: “short cycling.” No sooner does the pump stop running, than it starts up again. It’s desperately trying to maintain pressure within the system.

Why? The well pressure tank, which stores water drawn from the well prior to use, has an issue. The precise issue depends on the type of water pressure tank.

Most likely it’s “waterlogging,” which occurs in a bladder tank. These well pressure tanks, the most common model, store water in a bladder inside their metal shells. Surrounding air presses on the balloon, keeping the water under pressure.

All is well until the bladder springs a leak … and the air pocket fills with water. Bye-bye, water pressure.

Homeowners in Oak Hill, it’s time to replace the tank … which necessitates a call to Kelly James Service, the well water pressure tank specialists in Oak Hill. They’ll put in a new pressure tank the same day, and halt your well pump’s endless short-cycling.

Air spitting from faucets? It’s another indication of a broken bladder. If the problem isn’t already fatal, it soon will be.

Not all Oak Hill houses with well water systems have bladder tanks. Some use an air volume control tank, a component of the well’s vertical in-ground pipe. The system employs bleeders, which allow a measured volume of water into the pipe. The water creates an air pocket, which generates pressure when the pump cycles to push in additional water.

Problems begin when these bleeders become blocked over time, reducing the initial water level in the pipe. With less water, pressure in the system falls. The pump cycles in a nonstop effort to provide additional water to sustain sufficient pressure, and keep the system working.

A third type of well water pressure tank is made of galvanized metal, which requires. Typically found in older homes, these tanks eventually leak. Like an air volume control tank, the well pump operates near-constantly to sustain pressure as the internal water level diminishes.

Galvanized and air volume control tanks can also suffer from mineral buildups. These constrain water flow from the tank into the home. Low water pressure results. Again, replacement is the only viable choice.

Oak Hill residents: Tired of listening to your well pump run endlessly? Let Kelly James Service restore the peace – not to mention water pressure – that you value. You’ll be amazed how short a time they require to stop your pump’s short-cycling.