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

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

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

Why? The well pressure tank, which stores water drawn from the well prior to use, has a problem. The precise 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 type, store water in a bladder within 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 Plat, it’s time to replace the tank … which means a call to Kelly James Service, the well water pressure tank experts in Plat. 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 serious, it soon will be.

Not all Plat residences 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 amount 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, 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 adequate pressure, and keep the system going.

A third type of well water pressure tank is made of galvanized metal, which annually. Typically used 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 drops.

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

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