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How the Well Tank Affects Building Water Pressure & Flow InspectAPedia®  -     How to diagnose loss of water pressure or loss of water in a building How to decide if water pump replacement is needed How to decide if water tank replacement is necessary Typical cost of various well, pump, and water tank repairs.

This article describes how the water pressure tank or "well tank" affects water pressure and flow in a building - part of diagnosing bad or lost water pressure. The basics process of diagnosis and the costs of the repair are explained. Consumer advice on saving money on well repair costs includes a review of the parts and labor costs of a typical well pump and pressure tank replacement case. Page to sketch is courtesy of Carson Dunlop.

© 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

How might a bad water pressure tank be related to water pressure or water supply loss symptoms

1. A bad or defective water pressure tank or water tank bladder can cause well pump short cycling which in turn is hard on the pump (damages the pump) and, especially with an older pump, might push it over the edge of failure. When the water pump fails the building will lose water supply completely (unless it is served by an artesian well). Our photo (left) shows a Well-X-Trol internal-bladder well tank installed below a one-line jet pump.
   
   See WATER TANK BLADDERS & CAPTIVE AIR for details on how captive air or bladder type well tanks work.
   See WATER TANK BLADDER PRESSURE ADJUSTMENT if you need to adjust or fine tune the air charge in a bladder type water tank.
2. A leaky or defective steel or glass-lined well tank (tanks without an internal bladder) often loses its air charge and leads to short on-cycles of the water pump. Water tank problems can also lead to poor water pressure or flow in a building. To review loss of air charge, water pump short cycling, water pump pressure control settings, and other water tank repairs see WATER TANK AIR, HOW TO ADD and also WATER PUMP & WATER TANK REPAIRS.
   
   Other detailed articles on this type of water tank are found at
     WATER TANK AIR VOLUME CONTROLS
     WATER TANK AIR ADD AT AIR VALVE
     WATER TANK AIR ADD BY DRAINING
     WATER TANK AIR HOW MUCH TO ADD
     WATER TANK AIR HOW OFTEN TO ADD
   
   At WATER TANK LIFE EXPECTANCY we discuss about how long you can expect various types of well tanks or water tanks to last.
   
   At WATER TANK PRESSURE CALCULATIONS we get very detailed about how the peformance of a water tank might be affected by extremes in temperature to which the tank is exposed. Putting your well tank in hot sun in Arizona or Mexico will give different performance than you can expect from the same tank in a building interior and different again from a tank exposed to sub-zero weather in parts of Canada or northern states of the U.S. Adjustments to the well tank's air charge or operating pressure may be needed.

A water pump might be at end of its life and about to burn up but still work after a cool-down cycle (some pumps have a thermal overload that shuts them off and an automatic reset - especially one that is inaccessible such as a submersible).

In this case water pressure and supply will return after the cool-down problem but the failure is likely to be recurrent. This is not a problem with the well tank.

Here is a list of well and water pressure diagnostic steps that might help decide if the problem is with the well tank or something else:

• Bad or No water pressure? See WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS GUIDE for a step by step detailed guide to diagnosing and correcting bad water pressure or total loss of water pressure. Before changing a water pump or control, we need to know why the water pressure or water flow is poor.
• Intermittent water pump cycling is discussed at Intermittent Water Pump Cycling When No Water is Running - this means that the water pump comes on for no apparent reason.
• Short cycling of a water pump means that the water pump turns on and off too rapidly or too frequently when water is being run in the building. See What Causes 'Water Pump Short Cycling' and Water Tank Repairs: Diagnose 'Water Pump Short Cycling'.
• Loss of water pressure means that the pressure with which water enters a plumbing fixture has become too slow, or is sometimes too slow or weak in water flow rate, or water flow may stop entirely. See Water Pump Problems? How to Diagnose & Repair Poor or No Water Pressure.
• Details on how to repair the water pump pressure control switch are discussed at How to Repair the Water Pump Pressure Control SwitchThe illustration at page top is courtesy of Carson Dunlop, Inc. in Toronto.
• How to boost water pressure in a building by installing a pressure booster pump and pressure tank is discussed in detail at PUMP, WATER PRESSURE BOOSTER

• How to Adjust Water Pump Pressure: The detailed, step by step procedure for inspecting and adjusting the water pressure control switch is discussed in detail at ADJUST PUMP PRESSURE CONTROL.
• Diagnosing Water Pump Short Cycling on and off: If your water pump is clicking on and off too often or quite rapidly see SHORT CYCLING.
• Diagnosing & Repairing Poor or Lost Water Pressure and Flow: we still have water flowing but pressure and flow quantity are reduced. See WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS GUIDE
• Diagnosing & Repairing Lost Air in the Water Tank: The problem of lost air in the water pressure tank along with how to correct that condition are discussed beginning at SIGNS OF AIR LOSS. Also see WATER TANK AIR, HOW TO ADDfollowed by WATER TANK BLADDERS & CAPTIVE AIR and WATER TANK BLADDER PRESSURE ADJUSTMENT
• Diagnosing & Repairing a Water Pressure Control or Water Pump Control Switch: We discuss diagnosing and repairing a water pressure control switch that sticks "on" or "off" or simply won't operate, at water pump Pressure Switch Repairs.
• How to boost water pressure in a building by installing a pressure booster pump and pressure tank is discussed in detail at PUMP, WATER PRESSURE BOOSTER

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PLUMBING TOPICS
WATER PRESSURE REGULATOR ADJUST
WATER PRESSURE REPAIR GUIDE & COSTS
  Questions about lost water pressure
  Advice to a homeowner
  Adjusting Water Pump Pressure Control
  Right Repair to Pump & Tank?
  Well Pump & Tank Replacement Costs
WATER PRESSURE LOSS DIAGNOSIS GUIDE
WATER PRESSURE & FLOW MEASUREMENT
  Water Pressure Intermittent
  No Water Pressure
  Well Tank relation to Water Pressure
  Shaking the Water Tank?
  Water Pressure Tank Problems
  Water Pressure Tank Diagnosis
  Water pressure Later Returns "on its own"
  Water pipe clog diagnosis
  Water pipe clog repair guide
  Making the "right" repair
WATER PUMPS & WELL TANKS
WATER PUMP CONTROLS & SWITCHES
PUMP TYPES & LIFE EXPECTANCY
  WATER PUMP, ONE LINE JET
  PUMP, TWO LINE JET
  PUMP, SUBMERSIBLE
  PUMP, WATER PRESSURE BOOSTER

• Alan Carson, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, has permitted our use of the well and water pump system used at the top of this and some other pages at our website.

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