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 sounds like your water system, there’s a technical term for it: “short cycling.” No sooner does the pump stop going, than it starts up all over. It’s desperately trying 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 occurs 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 ruptures … and the air pocket fills with water. Bye-bye, water pressure.

Homeowners in Sylvan Mounds, it’s time to replace the tank … which means a call to Kelly James Service, the well water pressure tank specialists in Sylvan Mounds. They’ll put in 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 Sylvan Mounds 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 volume of water into the pipe. The water creates an air pocket, which generates pressure when the pump cycles to push in additional water.

Problems ensue when these bleeders become blocked over time, lowering the starting water level in the pipe. With less water, pressure in the system falls. The pump cycles in an endless effort to provide more water to sustain required pressure, and keep the system going.

A third type of well water pressure tank is made of galvanized metal, which annually. Typically found in older homes, these tanks eventually leak. Similar to an air volume control tank, the well pump operates near-constantly to maintain pressure as the internal water level goes down.

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 option.

Sylvan Mounds residents: Tired of listening to your well pump run constantly? Let Kelly James Service restore 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.