well water surge

[jb112454]

I recently put in a well and the water surges every time the pump starts and stops. The well is 250' deep and the pump sits at 240'. I installed a check valve at 30' from the top per the installation instructions but the instructions were kinda vauge on where "one check valve for every 200' of depth" didn't say where to put it. Anyone have any advice or had the same problem?

 

[Von]

JB,I have no advice really, but my check valve is right on the pump. My well is 135ft. deep and the pump is about 3ft off of the bottom. With the valve at the pump, the line always has water in it.

 

[DaveNH]

Is the holding tank water logged?
Could be that the bladder let go.
Check to see if the tank is holding some pressure.

 

[gordon]

Here are a couple of things that come to mind. Don't know if it will put you in the correct direction or not. But here goes.

What is the pressure gauge reading when the pump kicks in and also when it kicks off? Pressure switch could need some adjustment.

Also along with pressure, what is the air pressure inside your bladder tank? Is your bladder tank the correct size for your pump horsepower? As stated in another post the tank could be bad. If you have water at the air valve on top of the tank then the tank is in need of replacement.

If all of the above is correct then you can use a gate or ball valve to throttle the output of the pump. To keep the surge down some. That way the water line doesn't have the full open flow of the pump.

Just some ideas
Gordon

 

[dgood1]

I had a similar problem. Had to turn the pump off, drain the tank and check the pressure on the tank. The pressure was low after 10 years of use. I put air in up to the recomended pressure and now the surge is gone.

Don

 

[Anonymous Poster]

If there isn't a foot valve (check valve) at the pump level, and only near the surface, that could be your problem. When your pump shuts off the level of water in the pipe is pulled by gravity towards the static water level of the well. This weight of water will pull a vacuum-a perfect vacuum will only hold (suck) about 33 feet of water. Hence any level above 33 feet over your static water level and below the foot valve is empty (truely, as in a vacuum). When your pump starts you are "refilling" this portion of the well pipe, up to your check valve. Any idea what the static water level is?

For all I know there may well be a valve integral with the pump, so this may not be a problem. Can you describe the condition (surging) in a little more detail. I'm not sure just how the condition I was talking about above would show itself. There might be a water hammer, or perhaps trapped air in the water due to the low vapor pressure pulling air out of the water in the vacuum.

Brian