Cottage Q&A
QUESTION
Last August, the jet pump on my water system (which feeds into a bladder-type pressure tank) would come on when a tap was opened and stop when the tap was turned off. I tried to solve the problem by draining the tank, but without effect. What should I have done? How can I prevent this from happening again?
J. Smith, Diamond Lake, Ont.
ANSWER
It sounds like you have a problem inside your pressure tank, the part of your system that holds the water and maintains its pressure. It contains a rubber bladder (or diaphragm), filled with water under pressure which squeezes out of the tank when you open a tap. As the water drains, a gauge – similar to one on a bicycle pump – continually monitors whether pressure in the tank has dropped below a set level. Once it does, the pump starts and water refills the bladder.
When your pump immediately switches on and off while turning on a tap or flushing the toilet, your pressure tank is waterlogged. A tear or hole in the bladder caused by use and age has almost certainly allowed water to seep into the air chamber inside the tank, displacing some or all of the air. When there’s no air to push on the water, the pump works overtime to compensate by bringing water in to restore the pressure, which is why your pump turns on every time you open a tap. These frequent starts and stops – known as “short cycling” – can burn out your motor and damage your pressure switch. Draining your tank won’t help. Brian Kelly, of Kelly’s Pumps in North Bay, says that while bladders can be replaced in a few, higher-end tanks, the best solution for the basic systems found in most cottages is to simply replace the pressure tank. A small six-gallon tank starts at around $50.
Steve Brearton
Published in the April/May ’07 issue of Cottage Life.
