Over the past week I have experienced a loss in water pressure. I live in a rural area with a private well. I would be taking a shower, everything would be fine, and then after a few minutes, pressure would reduce to a trickle. I would turn off the shower. Wait approximately 60 seconds. Turn it back on and it would be fine for a bit and then would reduce to a trickle again.
Here is what I have tried so far:
- Drained that pressure tank and checked the air pressure. This was set to 38psi
- Replaced the old pressure switch yesterday with a 40/60 and verified that it was turning on/off at the proper psi.
I thought this had fixed it as I was able to take a complete shower last night without any loss in pressure.
This morning when I got up. I took a shower and once again the pressure was fine at the beginning but once again reduced to a trickle.
Here is what I am seeing at the pressure tank:
- Pressure gauge shows 55psi
- Turn on water at a faucet near tank.
- Pressure slowly drops as expected.
- Audible click of the pressure switch when the gauge reaches 40psi and can hear water
- Gauge drops to 15 psi with a trickle coming out of the faucet.
- Turn off water
- Gauge jumps back to 40psi and very slowly (15ish minutes) builds from 40 back to 55.
My house was built in 2002, so I assume that the well/pump as well as the pressure tank are approximately 17 years old. I am not the original owner.
Any help would be appreciated. My initial thoughts are that the well pump screen is clogged or the pump is starting to fail, but before I call someone and come out I was hoping someone on here could give me some advice so I know how much I can expect to be spending, or if there is anything more I can do myself. Thank you!