Practical engineering or Water tank broken my ass
Today I experiencced a new problem for my day. When I turned on the water, the water ran like a top, then about 18 seconds later the water pressure dropped to nothing, sat for another 10 seconds, then ran back at full speed. So what is the matter?
Well, I have never seen this problem before. The only private well I had was at my parent's house, and we never had this issue that I can recall. However, I am a chemical engineer so plumbing is one of my l33t skillz. So I have a short cycling pump when the system is in full demand. Sounds like my tranquilizer is shot and we have line surge. So where the hell is the tranquilizer?
Pull open the internet and plug in troubleshooting well problems. Oh look, the water tank has a pressure diaphram in it. I found the tranquilizer. It says there is an air nipple on the top and the tank is probably flooded due to a ruptured diaphram. So that's what those little black bits were in the filter. The internet says get a new tank because they are a sealed unit. Most people did this and it worked.
You poor, naive suckers.
You see, about every engineer fresh out of school knows you need one of these tranquilizers and usually specifies them. Anyone who has done a practical install knows you can just add a stand pipe. A stand pipe is a vertical piece of pipe that is capped dry with an insoluble gas, then flooded when the pipe is filled with fluid. The gas is then compressed by the liquid, and forms a system like a shock absorber. This will deal with line surge from the pump, creating a steady flow with virtually no oscillation. Everyone still following this? No? Okay, the lay version is this:
The pressure tank, a shock absorber for the pump, is shot and pump is now bouncing on and off like a 3 year old on a bed. As we all know, the 3 year old bouncing on the bed wears out the springs and eventually the bed or the 3 year old will break. The same is true for the pump; without the pressure tank it will bounce on and off until it breaks. Got it now? Good.
So back to the solution. I need to fill the tank back up with pressure. Oh look, a fitting on the top takes a standard tire inflation pump. Brilliant. So, I drained pressure from the tank and blew the tank out with air until it was empty of water. I then close the line and turn back on the pump. Tank and line fill with water until the pressure comes back on and voila. We have a full tank with 50 psi, which is just under the cut on pressure for the pump system.
Look, four years of college saved me from buying a new tank.
So those of you keeping score at home may have noticed that little note about insoluble fluid and are screaming at the screen saying "Air is soluble in water, you dimwit!" Sure it is. I will most likely have to refill it with air over time. The CO2 will eventaully stabilize to whatever pH the water is, and some oxygen will diffuse into the water. But this should hold for at least 6 months, which is about how often I have to go out and change the filter. So the new 6 month preventative maintenance plan is check the tank air and change the filter every 6 months. Nitrogen is far less soluble, and I may use that in the long run if I can find a tank of it. Till then, this works.
Now all I need to do is make a shocking system for the well. I think the well casing could use a little chlorine.
Now if only fixing problems at work were this easy.
Well, I have never seen this problem before. The only private well I had was at my parent's house, and we never had this issue that I can recall. However, I am a chemical engineer so plumbing is one of my l33t skillz. So I have a short cycling pump when the system is in full demand. Sounds like my tranquilizer is shot and we have line surge. So where the hell is the tranquilizer?
Pull open the internet and plug in troubleshooting well problems. Oh look, the water tank has a pressure diaphram in it. I found the tranquilizer. It says there is an air nipple on the top and the tank is probably flooded due to a ruptured diaphram. So that's what those little black bits were in the filter. The internet says get a new tank because they are a sealed unit. Most people did this and it worked.
You poor, naive suckers.
You see, about every engineer fresh out of school knows you need one of these tranquilizers and usually specifies them. Anyone who has done a practical install knows you can just add a stand pipe. A stand pipe is a vertical piece of pipe that is capped dry with an insoluble gas, then flooded when the pipe is filled with fluid. The gas is then compressed by the liquid, and forms a system like a shock absorber. This will deal with line surge from the pump, creating a steady flow with virtually no oscillation. Everyone still following this? No? Okay, the lay version is this:
The pressure tank, a shock absorber for the pump, is shot and pump is now bouncing on and off like a 3 year old on a bed. As we all know, the 3 year old bouncing on the bed wears out the springs and eventually the bed or the 3 year old will break. The same is true for the pump; without the pressure tank it will bounce on and off until it breaks. Got it now? Good.
So back to the solution. I need to fill the tank back up with pressure. Oh look, a fitting on the top takes a standard tire inflation pump. Brilliant. So, I drained pressure from the tank and blew the tank out with air until it was empty of water. I then close the line and turn back on the pump. Tank and line fill with water until the pressure comes back on and voila. We have a full tank with 50 psi, which is just under the cut on pressure for the pump system.
Look, four years of college saved me from buying a new tank.
So those of you keeping score at home may have noticed that little note about insoluble fluid and are screaming at the screen saying "Air is soluble in water, you dimwit!" Sure it is. I will most likely have to refill it with air over time. The CO2 will eventaully stabilize to whatever pH the water is, and some oxygen will diffuse into the water. But this should hold for at least 6 months, which is about how often I have to go out and change the filter. So the new 6 month preventative maintenance plan is check the tank air and change the filter every 6 months. Nitrogen is far less soluble, and I may use that in the long run if I can find a tank of it. Till then, this works.
Now all I need to do is make a shocking system for the well. I think the well casing could use a little chlorine.
Now if only fixing problems at work were this easy.