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I have a GSW 312 series shallow well pump. I am getting great water pressure from the pump, but 10ft from the pump I am only getting a small flow. What do I need to do, this pump normally works very well?
Oh... one other thing can happen.. Sometimes a hose will get a perforation of the inner lining, making it so the water pressures up beneath the lining, resulting in the water being mostly shut off..Oh... one other thing can happen.. Sometimes a hose will get a perforation of the inner lining, making it so the water pressures up beneath the lining, resulting in the water being mostly shut off..
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Single drop jet pumps are the best shallow well pumps. They feature one-way check valves to keep pumps primed. The pump sits above ground, drawing water through a single inlet pipe. Because the mechanics are straight-forward, they tend to need less maintenance.
Jet pumps, the most common pumps for shallow wells, are mounted above wells and draw water up with suction. The height the water can be lifted depends on the weight of the air. Although air pressure varies with elevation, jet-pump-operated shallow wells are commonly limited to 25 feet.
Jet pumps create pressure through the use of an impeller, or centrifugal pump. The impeller moves water — known as drive water — through a narrow orifice, or a jet, mounted in the housing in front of the impeller. Constriction of the jet causes the speed of moving water to increase. As water leaves the jet, a vacuum sucks additional water from the well. This additional pumped water combines with the drive water, discharging into the home at high pressure.
The process of drawing water with shallow well jet pumps uses water. This means the pumps need to be filled with water before they can work. One-way check valves are installed to keep the water from flowing back down the well
to get the pressure up you have to step down the dia of hose or look for leaks or obstrutions in the hose sounds like pump is going bad length rise in hose pump is working slower maybe something to look at new pump
What type of pump is it? Is it a shallow well pump or submersible
pump? Is the pump connected to a pressure tank? How have you confirmed that the pump is working properly? Is there a drain valve, and is there water pressure from the drain valve when it is opened? If the pressure tank is of the pre-charged type, is it working properly? Is there water coming out of the air valve? Are there any shut-off valves in the system which may have been turned off, preventing water flow?
pressure in centrifugal pumps depends on the number of impellers in the pump housing, the clearance of the impellers to the housing and the power of the motor to drive the impeller/s
volume flow is also important as a pump without a high output will not produce pressure
check the jet size at the foot valve that is used to help lift water to the pump
It is a jet pump and will have a smaller line back to the foot valve for that purpose
next wil jet pumps if there is too much flow to the outlet , the pressure required to help lift the water to the pump is reduced and the volume is also reduced
you indicate 4 sprinkler heads per zone but how many zones are operating at one time
check the expected delivered volume for the new pump against delivered volume of the old pump as a starter to find the reason for the poor performance of the new pump
check also the rpms of each pump as that also has a bearing on volume produced
There is a screened check valve that should be attached to the pick up / suction side of the pump on the very end of the plumbing in the bottom of the well. If you have shut off the water output going to the home / what ever and the pump still drops pressure to zero as soon as it shuts off the shallow well foot valve is stuck open / has failed.
Some systems use both a foot valve and an in-line check valve to prevent the symptom you currently have.
If this valve has failed... there is nothing to prevent the contents of the pressure tank from dumping back into the shallow well.
I doubt you have a shut off on the pump suction side but if you do once the pump shuts off close this valve. I would bet your pressure tank holds the pressure. If you do not have a shut off valve... just feel for a rush of water in the suction pipe AFTER the pump reaches pressure and shuts off. If your feeling water flow with the pump off and the tank at pressure / loosing pressure the foot valve is bad.
It is possible that sediment has clogged the opening that supplies the sensing pressure to the switch. Shut down the pump, open a valve to drop pressure completely, remove the tube where it enters the pump body and stick a small wire just into the hole, once that is clear, see if you get water to come out when the pump is activated. Next, you can see if the entire sensing tube is clear by disconnecting the end on the pressure switch and ensuring flow there. Lastly, make sure there is nothing plugging the inlet at the pressure switch. This has a rubber diaphragm in it, so do not stick anything up inside, just ensure that there is no rust/corrosion in the inlet area.
I had similar problems it ended up being the shallow well it self. It did not have enough gallons per minute of flow to keep enough water flowing to allow pump to function properly. Some well drilling companies can clean out well or vanes to allow well to flow properly. Otherwise you will most likely need to drill a newer deeper well.
If you look at the pump cabilities the max life is either 2.3 or 2.4 meters. I.e 7.88 Feet max lift. I looked up even the 5000 Liter per hour pump and it only has a lift of 2 meters. 10 feet is 3.048 meters. It seems your height requirement lift of 10 fee is greater than the lift capability of the pump. You can... install a second pump with a hidden reservoir at the 5 ft lift mark behind the water fall to get the desired flow. Or change to a submersible 1/2 hp well pump as most will give you 10 to 12 GPM flow rate and will elimate the 10 ft lift problem. A shallow well pump could be installed above the water (encased / hidden and provide you with 23 feet of lift.
The problem you have is the 10 ft lift distance is more than your current pump can provide.
Inspect the jet thru the suction pipe or the removable plug if the pipe isn't inline with the center of the impeller. The jet is very small, and easy to get something stuck in there. Then prime and leave the pressure pipe closest to the outlet slightly loose to let air out. Once you get good pressure you can tighten the pipe. Sometimes you have to prime more than once to get all the air out of the well pipe.
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