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 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 sustain 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 occurs in a bladder tank. These well pressure tanks, the most common model, hold water in a bladder within their metal shells. Surrounding air presses on the balloon, keeping the water under pressure.

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

Homeowners in Lake Forest, it’s time to replace the tank … which means a call to Kelly James Service, the well water pressure tank specialists in Lake Forest. 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 symptom of a broken bladder. If the problem isn’t already serious, it soon will be.

Not all Lake Forest 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 controlled volume of water into the pipe. The water creates an air pocket, which generates pressure when the pump cycles to push in more water.

Problems begin 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 maintain sufficient pressure, and keep the system functioning.

A third type of well water pressure tank is made of galvanized metal, which annually. Usually used in older homes, these tanks eventually leak. Similar to an air volume control tank, the well pump runs near-constantly to sustain pressure as the internal water level drops.

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.

Lake Forest residents: Tired of listening to your well pump run nonstop? 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.