What causes water to sputter mixed with air when you turn on the water faucett?

Question

I have well water. Pump was replaced a few years ago and it has a new holding tank. A sink hole is starting to form about 10 feet from the well.

Answer 1

First the sink hole. It could be from settling of soil where a trench for a water line was buried. very common where soil is heavy clay. It could also be from an improperly sealed well. As in the space just outside the casing wasn't filled with proper grouting material. Perhaps there IS a leak in the water line. It could also be unrelated to the well. How long there has human habitation on the property? Mabey an old dug well? Perhaps an old shed was bulldozed over on the spot.

Now for the air in the water. Some pumping systems are designed to introduce air into the stream of water. This is done to keep regular pressure tanks from getting waterlogged. When I say regular, I mean a tank that has no bladder or diaphram positively seperating the water from the air. Is the new tank a captive air design that replaced a regular tank? If so then the device or devices charging air into the system need to be disabled. Captive air tanks were invented to do away with all air volumn controls and their particular problems.

On a jet pump the device is hooked with a small diameter tube to a vacumn port on the pump with the device normaly mounted on the side of the tank although it wouldn't have to be. It could be mounted any where down stream from the pump and upstream from the tank.

The way submersible pump systems introduce air into the water stream is by using two check valves on the drop pipe with a small length of pipe able to drain every time the pump shuts off. when the pump comes on the the air in the small section is forced into the water system.

What I'm saying is: Is your system compatible with your new tank? Assuming it is and you have a jet pump you could have a bad seal at the pump shaft. If it's a "shallow well jet pump you could have a leak between the pump and 30' below ground. A submersible could be pumping a little air if the pumping water level is near the pump inlet. You could also get a little air if there is a check valve anywhere above the water level and a leak developes thereby creating vacumn and sucking air in. Frankly you should never put a check valve in this position so you can never have vacumn on a buried water line (casing included). who knows what you may suck in.

It would be interesting to know if air is coming directly off the pump while it is running. Perhaps there is a hose bib before the tank that you could hook a hose to and submerg in a bucket of water and see if bubbles rise.

Answer 2

The sink hole is an indication that you have a leak.

As far as the sputtering, I get that at times too from my well pump / country home. Usually comes from the kitchen faucet here and after something 'downstream' (in the bathroom or laundry room) has been running and then the kitchen faucet turned on. This happens because when the other water was used downstream, the line to the kitchen 'bled-back' just a bit.

If you could increase your pressure or keep a constant pressure in the line(s) where your sputtering is occurring, it probably would go away. But, rather than worrying about your sputtering, you should be looking into why the sinkhole has developed.

Answer 3

Perhaps your well is going dry. That would explain the sink hole and sputtering. There isn't any water to hold the dirt up anymore and the sputtering is a lack of water.

Answer 4

You have air in your water line. Try leaving the water faucet on fora few minutes, the faucet farthest fromyour water supply. Leave it run till it stops sputtering. If that doesnt correct the problem you may have a leak thats sucking air into the lines.

Answer 5

air in line

Answer 6

air in lines

Answer 7

dont have a clue sorry