At our cabin in Munising, the water faucets frequently spit and sputter with accumulated air in the lines. When I pour a glass of water, it is very cloudy, but clears up in a few minutes, indicating lots of air in the water, correct? Even after non use all night, I still have the problem. My water supply is a shallow well with a 110v motor. Both hot and cold are affected the same way. Any ideas on a fix? Thanks in advance for any ideas. Mark the fireman
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Does your faucet spit and sputter?
- Thread starter ripp6957
- Start date
booondocker
New member
Is this after you drain the lines and go home...only to come back and find this happening?
If you have a shallow well pump, you should be able to attach a hose right at the pump and run the heck out of it right there. This would tell the story...if it sputters and spits at the hose....your point is sucking air....if it doesn't you need to find the end of the waterlines in the cabin and open the valve up and let it run to clear the air out of the lines. Empty pipes will cloud the water when you re-use them again.
If you are sucking air from the point....you might want to sink the point deeper or put another point in to double your water sources.
Thinking on this a bit more....it could also be a bad check valve...this would allow water and air to re-enter the line to the point....which would put a slug of air in the pump at each start-up.
If you have a shallow well pump, you should be able to attach a hose right at the pump and run the heck out of it right there. This would tell the story...if it sputters and spits at the hose....your point is sucking air....if it doesn't you need to find the end of the waterlines in the cabin and open the valve up and let it run to clear the air out of the lines. Empty pipes will cloud the water when you re-use them again.
If you are sucking air from the point....you might want to sink the point deeper or put another point in to double your water sources.
Thinking on this a bit more....it could also be a bad check valve...this would allow water and air to re-enter the line to the point....which would put a slug of air in the pump at each start-up.
I had the EXACT same thing happen---I agree with Boondocker, probably the well point is plugged or you have a break in the suction line. I also have a shallow well that was in about 15 yrs (1 1/4 SS point) and mine plugged which is common with cabins that aren't used every day. With mine I measured GPM at the pump with a hose attached directly and mine was very very low flow so concluded that my pump was sucking air. I sandsucked a new 2" plastic point and got 10+ GPM of flow and my air issues went away.
I would recommend 1st checking your flowrate as close to the pump as possible. Or could you open 2 faucets and see if your pump can keep up? Mine could not. If you have low flowrate then you can narrow your problem down---either your point is plugged, the well pipe joints loosened ( not as likely) , or you are not deep enough. Where my cabin is near Grand Marais the water table has dropped due to years of low rainfall. I just put a new point in and went deeper and I never determined if my point was deep enough. For instance if you have a 3' point you should measure 6' of water in your well. I have been told twice the length of the point.
Other failure modes are the before mentioned leak in the suction line or possibly a bad pump seal causing you to suck air.
Based on what happened with mine yours sounds just like my issue. Mine started last winter sucking air and got increasingly worst during the summer when the water table drops. I could not maintain shower pressure if someone flushed the toilet at the same time. I knew I had an issue with volume so I just put in a new well and limped along with my old one untill I had the new one all ready to go. I used an old sprinkler pump to test everything out and then converted to the new well one weekend and never was without water.
Hope this helps
I would recommend 1st checking your flowrate as close to the pump as possible. Or could you open 2 faucets and see if your pump can keep up? Mine could not. If you have low flowrate then you can narrow your problem down---either your point is plugged, the well pipe joints loosened ( not as likely) , or you are not deep enough. Where my cabin is near Grand Marais the water table has dropped due to years of low rainfall. I just put a new point in and went deeper and I never determined if my point was deep enough. For instance if you have a 3' point you should measure 6' of water in your well. I have been told twice the length of the point.
Other failure modes are the before mentioned leak in the suction line or possibly a bad pump seal causing you to suck air.
Based on what happened with mine yours sounds just like my issue. Mine started last winter sucking air and got increasingly worst during the summer when the water table drops. I could not maintain shower pressure if someone flushed the toilet at the same time. I knew I had an issue with volume so I just put in a new well and limped along with my old one untill I had the new one all ready to go. I used an old sprinkler pump to test everything out and then converted to the new well one weekend and never was without water.
Hope this helps
Thanks for the reply's. Yes, this happens after we drain all the lines in the house and return a few months later. We have never stayed there more than 3 weeks at a time. I have tried flushing ALL the outlets (individually) to release any trapped air. I am able to get a prime quickly each time I arrive, so I don't think the check valve is leaking. Others tell me the problem may go away once we are living there and using the water all the time. The plugged well point idea sounds like that could be the problem, it's been in at least 7-8 yrs. I will check the flow next time we are there and go from there.
BTW, we went to Grand Marias a few weeks ago for the first time and loved the town! We can't wait to get moved up there and start exploring. Thanks for your ideas. Mark
BTW, we went to Grand Marias a few weeks ago for the first time and loved the town! We can't wait to get moved up there and start exploring. Thanks for your ideas. Mark
camphappyplace
Member
Our faucets do the same thing (coincidently our cabin is near Munising also). We don't drain them but when we've been away for two or three weeks, they'll sputter for a while once we return. Then they are fine for the rest of our stay.
groomerdave
New member
Sucking air with pump is the culprit. Either not enough water above point (little more than a foot minimum, but depends on recovery rate), or if you have a flotec or simmer pump they have been known for sucking air after a while.
Nothing like living next to the largest body of fresh water in the world and having water problems!
Think Snow! -Dave
Nothing like living next to the largest body of fresh water in the world and having water problems!
Think Snow! -Dave