Low Water Pressure - Well

[Reader 1]

I am new to this forum and apologize because this topic has probably been covered, but I could not find the information on my search. So...here goes. House is 20 years old, well water, and we use to have great water pressure. It has steadily gotten worse until it is really slow. We tested with and without use of the water softener, and tested the water coming in before the water tank, and it filled a big bucket within 20 seconds, after going through the water tank it took a minute and a half, and at every faucet in the house it takes 3 minutes. We have changed the pressure gauge and filters. Help! Thanks so much.

[HayZee518]

a well usually starts in the ground. you have multi stages pump, then the line goes to a holding tank with an air filled rubber bladder, then onto the softener tank and the house plumbing. check the holding tank bladder. this acts as a cushion to water inflow and gives you residual pressure when you open a faucet. the system is meant to hold 55-65 psig

[Reader 1]

Thanks for the response. My husband checked the pressure in the tank and at the faucets and it seems fine. He thinks the issue is not pressure but flow, like there is a restriction of flow in the pipes. How do we figure that out?

[HayZee518]

disconnect the outgoing line at the wellhead and operated the pump. see how fast [timed] it will fill a five or ten gallon bucket. then do the same at the house just before the storage tank. if there's a kink in the well pipe it'll show up.

[Reader 1]

We checked the time it took to fill a bucket where it comes into the house. It took 20 seconds, coming from the tank it took 1 1/2 minutes, and from the faucets it takes 3 minutes.

[paul52446m]

We checked the time it took to fill a bucket where it comes into the house. It took 20 seconds, coming from the tank it took 1 1/2 minutes, and from the faucets it takes 3 minutes.

Sounds like the line going into the tank or dirt built up in the bottom of tank.
The valve going to the tank is open all the way? I think you are right ,it is a flow problem not pressure. Paul

[HayZee518]

check the air bladder in the storage tank. there should be an air valve on top like for your car tires. add air to 40 psi and see if anything changes. if it does not, the bladder may have burst.

[HayZee518]

how deep in the casing is the pump? could be you are sucking up silt from the well. do you have an all house filter before the pressure tank?

[Speedbump]

If your pump is doing 15 gallons per minute ( I assume your using a 5 gallon bucket) your pump is doing fine. As you go further down the line in the plumbing the pipes get progressively smaller and the flow will be less, so this is somewhat normal.

You mentioned filters. I know you said you have a softener, but do you have cartridge filters too? Can you bypass the softener?