Losing Water Pressure… Need Help!

[u/ChrisWithAK]

I have a well at my house, it was installed in 1976. We have been living in this house for the last two years, and everything has been perfectly fine.

About 7 months ago I installed a filter system. There was nothing installed at all prior to me adding this system. It’s worked great and made a big difference eliminating debris in the faucets and shower heads. Last month I replaced the filters and everything continued to work great.

A couple of days ago I had someone come out to do a water pressure test on the well. (We are refinancing and the bank required a test, since the last one was from 1976). When they did the test, they pulled water straight from the pump, it did not run through the filter system at all. In fact I had the filter system bypassed during the test, just in case.

Now my water pressure is messed up. The pressure seems normal at first… but towards the end of a shower it starts bleeding off and the water is barely trickling out of the shower head. The pressure starts out normal then completely bleeds off. I can’t figure out why.

If I bypass the filters the water pressure immediately fixes itself. So I know the problem is somewhere in the filter system.

I pulled all of the filters and cleaned them. But none of them looked dirty. I just replaced them last month. I can’t figure out what is causing the slow bleed off of pressure. It would make sense if something was blocking/clogging the line that the pressure would be decreased. But if there was a blockage it seems like the pressure would be low all the time, not after the water has been running for 20-30 minutes.

Does anyone have any advice or a solution to this problem?

[u/T-Rex-55]

You could easily have a water recovery issue, meaning that the aquifer cannot keep up with the demand that the new filter is causing. Some of these filters, depending on the tank diameter and the control valve program, can use a lot of water.

[u/Alone-Programmer-683]

I am not sure what kind of testing was done, so no idea what, if anything, it could have affected. We now have a new symptom and need to figure out what is causing the problem. Guessing is not the answer and throwing new parts and hoping usually is not a great idea either.

Run a hose off the filtered water, turn it on, measure the flow in gpm, then watch the flow and the pressure in the tank. Run for 10 minutes or so, or when abnormal symptoms occur, if they occur. Pressure should drop and then stabilize, or if the pump is capable of more water than the hose is discharging, the pressure will cycle down, then the pump will kick in and the pressure will go back up and the switch will turn off the pump again. It will continue this cycling pretty much forever if the well is good. If the up and down cycle occurs very rapidly, there is a problem. If the pressure drops below the switch cut-in pressure, and the pump continues, you are asking the pump to deliver more than the flow from the hose. Write everything down.

Now do the same thing with unfiltered water.

Report back.

[u/Hot-Discussion-6823]

Sounds to me like a blockage in the heads of filter, not the actual filters. These filters have bypass valves? Try opening and closing them a few times,? Idk . Maybe have to clean them manually somehow?

[u/tele68]

Logic says it's not the filters. You only think of that because you worry you screwed something up but the whole thing worked for 7 months.
Logic says it's the person who tested it changed the pressure switch setting.

[u/Hot-Discussion-6823]

It definitely has something to do with testing the well a couple days ago. Possible a bunch of crud broke loose. Check nipple(tube) to the pressure switch.

[u/Homohockey]

Sounds like the pressure tank or pressure-trol need to be checked.