Any plumbers here?

[Nutdotnet]

It isn't my place, but since the owner (who's also my roommate) is a lazy b**** I want to see if I can figure out what's going on.

Our townhouse in on well-water (there's three townhouses side by side).
Our water is REALLY dirty thus we use filters to have clean water for the house.
Occasionally our filters will need replacing resulting in low water pressure; we just replaced these.
But, we are still experiencing VERY low pressure, heck, we don't have any water right now.
Our water pressure is low before every being run to the filters (the filter housings have pressure gauges attached to them)

So...I'm thinking we have a blockage or SOMETHING. Our neighbors are not experiencing pressure issues. Just us. Is there any way I can try to figure out what's going on or is my roommate going to need to call a plumber?

 

[FoBoT]

you need to get the well checked. if the water is dirty AND you have low pressure, there is probably a problem with the well. maybe just the pump, but the well itself might need to be re-, uh, re, re-welled or whatever you call it

 

[JujuFish]

I'm not a plumber. Call Mario Mario.

 

[Chompman]

Originally posted by: JujuFish
I'm not a plumber. Call Mario Mario.

Just don't watch his movies.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
you need to get the well checked. if the water is dirty AND you have low pressure, there is probably a problem with the well. maybe just the pump, but the well itself might need to be re-, uh, re, re-welled or whatever you call it

Thanks for the reply.

The well water has always been dirty. Always has been and always will be. Our HOA supplies us with filters when we need them...which is about every 3-4 weeks. Even then our water isn't "clean clean" just good enough.

There's a total of 7 buildings with 3-4 townhouses in each one; we're all on the same well. Like I said, our next door neighbor (same building) has fine water pressure (we just asked). One thing I do not know is HOW our water flows. If it flows to my home first and then the other two in this building or the other way around.

 

[IGBT]

..what generates the pressure? A above ground tank from the well..pump..pressure bladder tank? I've seen pressure tanks loose their charge and require recharging or replacement.

 

[shilala]

<---Plumber/Pipefitter
It's impossible to diagnose the problem without an explanation of the equipment involved.
What you've said so far in computer terms is "My puter isn't working, can someone tell me how to fix it?"
A wild-assed guess?
There's a blockage. You already guessed that.
If you can test the pressure on the line coming into the house (before any filters) you'll be able to determine if the problem is inside the house or outside.
It's important to find out who's problem that becomes. If the HOA is responsible for purveying the water, then it's likely their responsibilty if the problem lies with the transmission lines.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: shilala
<---Plumber/Pipefitter
It's impossible to diagnose the problem without an explanation of the equipment involved.
What you've said so far in computer terms is "My puter isn't working, can someone tell me how to fix it?"
A wild-assed guess?
There's a blockage. You already guessed that.
If you can test the pressure on the line coming into the house (before any filters) you'll be able to determine if the problem is inside the house or outside.
It's important to find out who's problem that becomes. If the HOA is responsible for purveying the water, then it's likely their responsibilty if the problem lies with the transmission lines.

Hey thanks!

Well, I posted what I know, I'm not a plumber so I apologize if I sound dumb.

Others have ok pressure.
As far as I know we're the only townhouse that doesn't.
If we don't turn on the water the pressure builds back up BUT quickly goes back down to nothing.
When turning on a fixture it will spurt out air and then the pressure goes to crap.
I can check the pressure AT the filters...don't know about anywhere else.

 

[shilala]

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet

Originally posted by: shilala
<---Plumber/Pipefitter
It's impossible to diagnose the problem without an explanation of the equipment involved.
What you've said so far in computer terms is "My puter isn't working, can someone tell me how to fix it?"
A wild-assed guess?
There's a blockage. You already guessed that.
If you can test the pressure on the line coming into the house (before any filters) you'll be able to determine if the problem is inside the house or outside.
It's important to find out who's problem that becomes. If the HOA is responsible for purveying the water, then it's likely their responsibilty if the problem lies with the transmission lines.

Hey thanks!

Well, I posted what I know, I'm not a plumber so I apologize if I sound dumb.

Others have ok pressure.
As far as I know we're the only townhouse that doesn't.
If we don't turn on the water the pressure builds back up BUT quickly goes back down to nothing.
When turning on a fixture it will spurt out air and then the pressure goes to crap.
I can check the pressure AT the filters...don't know about anywhere else.

I'd swing by and take a look at it for ya, but you're a bit far away from me.
It's a restriction (blockage) or if you've got a jet pump and a receiving tank, the tank bladder has broken or the tank has become waterlogged.
You mentioned air sputing out. That could indicate that you have a jet pump and loose connections behind the pump.
It might be a simple fix, but without knowing what's there, or without the ability to convey what's there, you're doomed to calling a plumber.
Sorry I couldn't be more help!!!

 

[Nutdotnet]

Not that this will help much, but here's a lame-o diagram that I drew up. This is all there is underneath our house.

Water Lines

 

[shilala]

I checked out the lame-o-gram, but I'm not sure I understood it. The waterline comes in the house, there's a shutoff valve, then the filters?

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: shilala
I checked out the lame-o-gram, but I'm not sure I understood it. The waterline comes in the house, there's a shutoff valve, then the filters?

Lame-o-gram...haha

Ok..

Main Line -> pipe with shut-off valve -> line w/ filters -> our house fixtures.

 

[Howard]

Somebody might have blocked yours off so they could have higher pressure. This is if there's a common pump?

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: Howard
Somebody might have blocked yours off so they could have higher pressure. This is if there's a common pump?

Haha...I'd shoot em!

I don't know what the heck is going on. If we don't mess with it for a little while the pressure builds back up, but goes back down again after a short period.

 

[Toastedlightly]

Make sure all of your valves are open...

 

[shilala]

Originally posted by: Toastedlightly
Make sure all of your valves are open...

...Especially the main one in the lame-o-gram.
If you shut the main valve off and remove the filters, you may find that the incoming port to your filter is jam packed full of spunky goodness.
To clear it out, leave the filters and their housings off of the filter head.
Go and open your main valve. Let the water run flat out and it should flush whatever is in the line ahead of the filter.
It's going to make a mess. You didn't mention if "under the house" consisted of a crawl space or a basement. I'm guessing Alaska=no basement=no big deal to get the crawlspace wet.
If the water is coming in super slow even with the filters out of their places, you may need to remove the head that holds the filters and examing it for blockage.
If you don't find anything, you can do another flush with the entire filter system removed.
Let me know how that works out.

 

[jyates]

Are you sure your pipes or filters aren't stopped up and that's
slowing down the water?

If your water is dirty it sounds like the tile or casing is allowing run off surface
water into your well to me.