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

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

If this resembles your water system, there’s a technical description for it: “short cycling.” No sooner does the pump stop operating, than it starts up all over. It’s desperately working to maintain pressure within the system.

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

Most likely it’s “waterlogging,” which happens in a bladder tank. These well pressure tanks, the most common model, store 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 breaks … and the air pocket fills with water. Bye-bye, water pressure.

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

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

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

Problems ensue when these bleeders become plugged over time, lowering the starting water level in the pipe. With less water, pressure in the system drops. The pump cycles in a nonstop effort to provide more water to sustain sufficient pressure, and keep the system operating.

A third type of well water pressure tank is made of galvanized metal, which annually. Commonly installed 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 goes down.

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

Greendale residents: Tired of hearing your well pump run nonstop? Let Kelly James Service bring back the peace – not to mention water pressure – that you expect. You’ll be amazed how short a time it takes them to stop your pump’s short-cycling.