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

“It seems like our well pump is running constantly.”

If this resembles your water system, there’s a professional description for it: “short cycling.” No sooner does the pump stop operating, than it starts up again. It’s desperately trying to sustain pressure within the system.

Why? The well pressure tank, which holds 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, hold water in a bladder inside their metal shells. Surrounding air pushes 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 Brown Deer, it’s time to replace the tank … which means a call to Kelly James Service, the well water pressure tank specialists in Brown Deer. They’ll install 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 Brown Deer 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 uses bleeders, which allow a modulated 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 start when these bleeders become plugged over time, reducing the starting water level in the pipe. With less water, pressure in the system falls. The pump cycles in a nonstop effort to provide more water to maintain required pressure, and keep the system working.

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

Galvanized and air volume control tanks can also be compromised by mineral buildups. These impede water flow from the tank into the home. Low water pressure results. Again, replacement is the only viable option.

Brown Deer residents: Tired of listening to your well pump run constantly? Let Kelly James Service bring back the peace – not to mention water pressure – that you appreciate. You’ll be amazed how short a time they require to stop your pump’s short-cycling.