Air sputter at faucets: lowering water pressure won't help

Will Lowering Water Pressure Setting Fix Air Discharge at Faucets?

Water taps and toilets have been spluttering - do I need to lower the water pressure?

Hi, just to say this is a great website very helpful, read many things on it over the years.

My issue is that my taps and toilets have been spluttering for a couple of weeks now and it coincides since we dropped the well pump 10 inches due to a dry spell we had and the depletion in the well water. The system had run dry for a day so there was no water at all in the pipes in the house.

Now the pump is working fine but the pressure at the taps and toilets (worse upstairs) is very spluttery and quite loud.

The pump reaches the correct pressure (5bar) then cuts out as it should but the gauge on the controller drops slowly to around 2 bar without any faucets open.

I have checked the expansion vessel we have and the schrader valve is giving me zero reading. No water or air hisses out when i put a pin on the valve head. I knock the bottom of the tank and it sounds tinny which i believe it should do.

So confused as to what the issue is and whether its the membrane inside burst? Sharder valve faulty? The lowering of the pump requiring me to decrease the pressure relief valve? On 2018-11-01 by Andy Brumby

Advice by (mod) - that's probably not the best fix

Thank you for the nice comment, Andy. We work hard to provide researched, un-biased information so I'm really grateful when a reader finds it useful.

Sputtering taps usually means that there is air getting into the water supply system.

That can happen due to very low water in a well, and indeed using less water by lower water pressure might let you run water longer before the air problem shows up, but your observation that the pressure drops back down when no water is running in the building suggests that there could be a leak in well piping above the water level in the well. That will let water out as well as letting air into the system so that the next time the pump runs air appears at faucets (as it's over-charging the pressure tank with air).

If the leak were just air at a bad Schrader valve I don't think you'd see pressure falling in the system.

Just what that valve will do when you depress the valve pin depends on where it's located in the system (on the tank or on the piping, for example).

If the valve is on a bladder tank pressing the pin will release air unless the bladder has burst and the tank is waterlogged.

If the valve is on a bladderless tank pressing the pin will release air unless the tank is completely waterlogged.

If the valve is on well or water piping near the tank (usually at its bottom level) pressing the valve pin may simply release water.

If pressing the valve does nothing then the valve is plugged or the system is at zero pressure.

See the diagnosis and repair advice at AIR DISCHARGE at FAUCETS, FIXTURES

Watch out: if your well and pump and tank previously used a snifter and drain-back system, an old drain back valve on the well piping in the well can also cause excessive air to be added to the pressure tank and to sputter or discharge at faucets.

We explain that problem at SNIFTER VALVE MALFUNCTION

Followup by Andy - will flushing the system fix this?

Thanks for the speedy reply. I understand it could well be a leak in a joint etc in the well line so i will check this tomorrow thank you.

However tonight, as soon as the pump had shut off from its cycle and filled the system, i shut off the isolation valve which is located after the pressure tank (ours is the internal bladder/membrane type) and the pressure gauge on the controller stayed level and didnt slowly decrease like it has been.

Once i opened up the isolation valve it slowly dropped from 5.5bar down to 2 bar where it then sits before a tap is turned on. We have a pressure reducing valve further up the line which does seem to be 'hissing' whilst the gauge drops from 5.5 bar to 2bar.

Will still check line tomorrow in well but should I try flushing the system dry and then refilling it with all the taps open to see if there is any air elsewhere within the system? Its just strange this has only happened since the well ran dry a few weeks back.

More advice by (mod) - signs of a running toilet - don't flush the system "dry"

If the valve that you closed is between the pressure tank and pump and the building itself, and if on closing that the pressure didn't fall, that would tell us the leak is in the building (such as a running toilet)

If the isolation valve that you closed is between the pump and the well, the it's the opposite conclusion.

I wouldn't "flush the system dry" (if this is an above-ground pump like a jet pump) unless you have a good water source for re-priming.

Excessive Air Pressure Gets Into the Water Pressure Tank

I am getting switch chatter and when I check the pressure on the tank the pressure is way higher than the shut-off pressure on my switch.

There is plenty of air in the tank. As soon as I remove some of the air the pump goes to working correctly again.

2 weeks later I have the exact same problem and once again have to remove air to get it to work correctly. is there any reason why I would be getting excess air in the tank other than somebody putting it in there on purpose On 2019-01-17 by Morgan

by (mod) - sources of excessive air in the water pressure tank

Morgan

Please check out the air sources at

AIR DISCHARGE AT FIXTURES

As one of those sources may explain the problem you describe

Let me know how that works for you or ask additional questions as you need

Need for pre-charge pressure in a water tank if lots of head pressure

If You have lots of head pressure from a gravity feed system do I need a Pre charged tank? (July 2, 2014) Dan Tipping

Reply:

Dan

The air reservoir in a water pressure tank is there to smooth the on-off cycling of the pump that will otherwise short-cycle, causing damage to the equipment. If your home feeds entirely by gravity and doesn't use a pump there'd be no role for a pressure tank.

Dan Tipping continued

Thanks, I was thinking the same. There is a pump that pumps the well water up a big hill to a tank. The tank then feeds the cabin. I recently had a leak in the pre charged tank and this got me wondering why it was even there. I think I will get rid of it... Thanks,
Dan

Reply:

Usually people don't install equipment without a reason, buut a pressure tank on the building side of the water supply tank on a gravity system = I dunno why it's there.