Straightflush
New Member
I have a rainwater collection system, located in an outbuilding, that provides the water for my home. The plumbing is similar to a well water system. The water tanks feed a pump and a captive air tank, then go through a 3-stage filtration, and then to the house. The water pressure at the house has been weak lately. I checked the pump and air tank and found that the air tank had such low pressure that it wouldn't register on my tire gauge and the pump had a leak at the pressure switch. When I tried to add air to the air tank, it caused my slow leak at the pressure switch to shoot a strong stream of water out. I assumed that the leak was causing the tank to lose pressure, so I replaced switch. I then pumped 40psi into the tank using a compressor, opened the supply valve from the water tanks, and turned power on to the pump. The system filled pipes with water and the leak at the pressure switch was gone. Everything seemed great but I still didn't have normal water pressure at the house. So I adjusted the pressure switch. This switch only has one adjustment screw for both in and out (furnas brand). I had to crank it up considerably in order to get good pressure at the house. This caused excessive pressure in the pipes and I burst the pvc pipe between the pump and the captive air tank. I have repaired the pipes and am allowing the pvc compound to dry overnight before pressurizing the system again. In order to avoid a repeat of today's disaster, what should I do differently? Was it a bad idea to pump air into the tank? Is the tank bad (maybe a damaged bladder)? Did I get a bad switch? This goes far beyond my basic knowledge of plumbing and any help would be appreciated.