I have a Grundfos well pump that was put in 12-14 years ago. The regulator is set to 40/60 and I have a wellxtrol 32 gallon tank with an air bladder. The pressure seems low at the faucets and the pump takes about 8-10 minutes to refill the tank with all the faucets shut off. A while back I started noticing air in the system. I can hear some cavitation in the pipe when the well is pumping water into the house. My acid neutralizer 'absorbs' most of that air during everyday use and then blows it out the drain line when it regenerates. Leaving the tanks inline (not bypassed) gives about the same pressure at the faucets as when I bypass them. I can bypass all the tanks and just have a sediment filter and uv light left in the line. I just put a new cartridge in the sediment filter. Would they be causing restrictions to reduce water pressure that much?

Or is it time for a new pump?

If so, I had all new heavy plastic tubing and wire put in last time. Would it be necessary to put all new in again? My well is about 85 ft deep.

Thanks for any input.

Are you sure the well is fine?

You mean as in the water table being high enough?

Good question, how would I check that?

I can't imagine it would be low since we had record rainfall in 2018 and normal rainfall last year. There are at least 5 wells in a row on my road that are presumably on the same underground vein. Also there hasn't been any construction or new wells drilled within a couple miles of me. But it wouldn't hurt to check. Thanks.

Well. I mean you could have a bad pump.  Here is what I would do.

hook a pressure gauge up to the output and  start pinching it off.  Have some flow out on the ground or somewhere that you can guesstimate what the flow is.  Like nothing hooked up downstream or a wide open pressure tank so your in control of the resistance.

run the pump at a few pressures and get an idea on the flow at those pressures.

check the pump curve and see if it matches up with what you see. Should be listed on the net somewhere.  Probably would need to know how deep your water level is also.

should only take 10 minutes or so. To figure out of your pump can put the pressure and flow out.

also you can tell if your pump is running dry during this time.

how deep is the well?

If the flow falls off and start sputtering after a while,  your well is out of water probably.

whats your normal cycle time on the well?  I would pump for at least 5 times that long to get an idea.  All day is fine too. Let's you know if your running out of water.

Talk to your neighbors, it your wells are on the same water table, you might get some more information.

As to checking your static water level, since your well is only 85' feet, shut the breaker down, remove the three or four bolts on the well head cap, get heavy some string or fishing line and a small bobbber, let it out until you feel slack, mark the line, pull it up and measure.

Your static level with an 85' well is probably around 70'-75'.

Not necessarily... it depends on the water table, geology, and several other factors.

FWIW, static water level can vary as much as 50 ft seasonal in many areas of the country.

My well pump just died after 14 years. The first thing the companies wanted me to check was if there was water in the well. Find your well cap and drop an ice cube down there and listen to hear if it hits water. If it hits water, drop another one down and count how long it takes to hit water. That will let you know how deep the well is.

16 x (time measured in seconds) x (time measured in seconds) = approx. depth to water in feet

Could be a bad bladder in your Weltrol.  We had one fail and the symptoms are close to what you described.  Replaced that and then 1.5 years later, our 12 year old pump failed (only 210 feet down).  at 14-15 years, you are doing good on the pump.

Depends on the brand of pump. Mine has been 190 feet down for 30 years. Pulled it 2 years ago to replace bad wires and decided to send it back down again.

Thanks for the replies.

I 'checked' the depth with the ice cube method and it took 3-4 seconds for a splash - it seemed relatively loud too. I was going to do the bobber method if the level was questionably low. The splash seemed to be pretty high up so I'm confident the level is pretty high.

I'm not sure how to check the bladder but I did tap the air valve and a little hiss of air came out with no water.

If any body can tell me how to check the bladder it would be much appreciated.

I have unfortunately been down this road, but with a 700ft deep well.

My biggest advice to you, right now, is get rid of that 32 gallon tank and BUY A BIGGER TANK. Or an array of tanks. A 32 gallon tank does not mean 32 gallons of draw. You likely only have (from memory) about 6 gallons of draw with that tank. Whatever you need to do to give yourself 20-25 gallons of draw, do it. Alternatively, you can look into a cycle stop valve if it fits your usage patterns.

Bottom line is, if that pump is 12-14 years old at this point, youre getting close to the end of its life anyway with that size tank. The reason I say this is because cycles kill pumps and thats a fact that you (and your well driller/supply shop) WILL take to the bank. Thats why the driller supplies the smalles draw tank they can get away with that gives them enough run time for motor cooling.

Have you even checked anything yet?

I wound up getting a plumber out today.
He said the pump was drawing a little more current than normal but still had some life left.
So he pulled the pump. It looked like the brass coupling on the pitless may have been leaking a little. Then he found about a 1/8" hole in the brass check valve that was screwed into the top of the pump. He said it was up to me but recommended replacing the pump and replacing the couplings with stainless steel. Since the pump was 14 years old I was leaning in that direction before he got here. I went ahead and had the pump replaced with a 1/2hp 7gpm goulds. Now it only takes about 30 seconds to cycle between pump cut in to cut out.
He said the pitless was questionable and replaced the o-ring. He also said to keep an eye on the system and if it kept getting air then the pitless may need to be replaced.

We shall see.

Thanks for all the help and input.