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I am on catchment but my house has always had really strong pressure, except at the kitchen sink, on cold. I have greater pressure on hot for some reason. When pressure diminished, I simply changed the filters on the water line.
Below the house are two pressure tanks right in a line. I did not install these. They have always been here. I have speculated that having two was what gave me good pressure.
Lately, my pressure has diminished and it is not even close to time to change the filters. My refrigerator no longer produces ice and my kitchen sink is close to a trickle.
Could this be the pressure tanks? The pump? I do notice that my pump kicks in more often than it used to. It did not used to kick in every time I flushed the toilet for example. Now it does.
Who diagnoses and fixes these things? Is it a plumber? Is there a company that handles these things, like Waterworks?
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Kelena, just venturing a guess here, but from all the details you provided it sounds like maybe one or both of the bladders in your pressure tanks may have ripped / debeloped a hole. There could also be a chance of a leak somewhere in the system, have you tried following the plumbing under your house/ can you get under your house? Anyways I'm not a plumber and thats just conjecture, sounds like you'll need to call a handyman or plumber with catchment experience.
I would not recommend water works, but yes, in anwser to your question those are the type of people who would handle this issue.
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Michael's Repair - 982-7557
He fixed my pump problems.
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We have a similar problem, please post what the diagnosis and solution are when you know.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
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rainyjim: I do think it has something to do with the pressure tanks as the pump (which is submersible and in the catchment tank) is still working. The gauges on the pressure tanks no longer work properly although I was told by the last guy who came out that it was just the gauges that are faulty. No leak that I can detect under the house.
jlgerk: Thanks for the referral. I don't think this is a pump problem but I presume that Michael's repair can also handle pressure tank and other issues.
csgray: will post solution, although I am not sure how soon I will have one!
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First: greater pressure on hot...as in a little or a lot? if a lot, most likely not pump/pressure tank, as they feed water to both....if a little, check the pump/pressure tanks...
Do your pressure tanks have gauges? If so, they should be ~45psi (The only time this would not be a good indicator is if the line in the gauge was blocked...our old house had REALLY hard water & when replacing a blown tank bladder, the fool gauge still read 48psi... darn pipe was solid calcium!) ADDED, noticed you answered this...still good to hoave...so you know the pressure at the tanks...
If the pressure tank do not have gauges, that is a good thing to note for future safety...
next do you have an over-pressure valves at/near the pressure tanks...that may have blown....
If everything looks good at the pump/pressure tank....next start checking all of your cold lines for any leaks.... copper lines are more prone to pinhole corrosion here, but plastic lines can split....and both can have joint failures... this is where the fun begins...
Added... if the cold water pressure issue is just in one area of the house (you only mentioned kitchen) you may also want to check the cold lines for a shut off valve to the area... that may be the problem
Oh, & the sink faucet may be the problem with the initial low pressure at the sink complaint... it may be the faucet itself, but SIL had a cold water shut off gate valve that had decomposed & crapped up her kitchen sink cold water....
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There's an easy way to check if the tank bladder has gone bad. Remove the valve stem cover and press the pin momentarily, if water squirts out, the bladder has failed.
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Even with bladder tanks the pressure has to be restored in the tanks periodically (6 months?). If not done it will lead to premature bladder failure. If the tanks are heavy, as in filled with water, the bladders are bad. The fact that the pump is cycling frequently also indicates a probably failed bladder, which will be followed by a failed pump if not corrected quickly.
To reset the tank pressure the pump should be turned off and if there are shut offs that can isolate the tank then shut then. The tank should then be drained. If substantial air comes out after all water is gone that's another signal the bladder is gone. With the tank empty of water, the tank air pressure should be 2 psi below what the pressure switch of the pump is set to kick on at. Use a tire gauge on the tank air fill valve to check the pressure. That is also where to add or remove air. You can replace the defective tank water pressure gauges to be able to determine if the pump is kicking on and off when you want and set the pump switch accordingly or replace the switch with one with the desired setting. Go for whatever setting (reasonable) you want, just set the pressure in the tank as previously described to correspond to the switch.
As to why you had varying pressure between the hot and cold I don't know. Assuming no pipe restrictions and they are both on the same pump, they should be the same.
Edit: I'm not sure why you would have two tanks unless due to the location there wasn't enough height for a decent size tank so they ran two in parallel. It would be cool if they were plumbed so that you could isolate them so that you could replace one while still having water in the house . Doubtful I would think but it's something I would do. It would be unusual for both bladders to fail at the same time.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
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OH, Guess I should have answered your question: Plumbers normally handle the pressure issues, as the are normally post pump...(pump issues can be different, as they MAY be well pumps (OK, yes you have one of those...but USUALLY the well pump is in a well....) or a catchement submersible (Yes, you do have catchment...but that pump...
& I think that Oink may have hit the reason for the 2 pressure tanks...there may have only been either size X on the shelf or room for size X & the installer wanted 2X capacity (larger pressure tanks have less pump cycling...esp important when you have a well pump down in a well...)
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Kelena,
If figure it out first I will let you know what we find out. I'm off to Oahu for a training on contemporary constitutional issues this weekend so it won't be super soon.
Carol
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
