Hello, I am new to the forum. I am trying to figure out a problem that I am having. I am on a private well that is about 600 ft deep. I have been on the well for 3 years now with no problems. I recently installed an irrigation system that ties into the main water line between my house and the well. The installers used a T pex connection to tie into the line. From there they installed a booster pump for the irrigation because my well only produces about 6gpm. They used a 1.5HP pump for the booster. I have a 1HP pump in my well. I installed a sharkbite check valve in between the T Connection that the irrigation people installed and my house to stop back flow of water when the booster pump kicks on to run my irrigation. The main water line is 3/4 pex and that is the size of the check valve that I put in-line. My problem is that after I run my irrigation system overnight which also is only 5 zones and has a 40 min delay in between zones that I set to help the water level rebuild itself, the next morning when I turn on a faucet or flush a toilet, there is a brief moment when there will either be some air coming out of my faucet or there will be air resonance in my water line to my toilet and as soon as it occurs and finishes, the rest of the day I have no issues. On top of that, it does not happen on a regular basis as well, it happened a few times last week. Then went a week with nothing and now it has done it the last two mornings. I replaced my fluidmaster 400 in my one bathroom that has the noise with a new fluidmaster perfomax version and I also drained the whole system last night to try and get out any air and this morning I still had the problem. Any ideas of what I should do next? Thanks

just a thought,

Overnight when the irrigation system is running any chance it is depleting the pool of water in the well and is sucking air into the water lines? The 40 minute delay between zones may be allowing the water pool to rebuild at first, but on the last 1 or 2 zones they may run for more minutes than there is water in the pool, because it may take longer to rebuild the pool level as it gets near the end of your irrigation cycle for the night. The next day when you go to use water you find air that was sucked in the night before.

How did to arrive at the 40 min delay? Have you tried increasing it to see if that eliminates the air problem?



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Hello, I thought that might be an issue because the well is a slow recovering well, but for the past 3 years I have had to hand water everything and I would use tripod sprinklers to do so. I would run those tripod sprinklers in succession one after another for 3 hours at a time with no breaks in between and would never have an issue like I'm having now. Now I only run a 5 zone system with 5 heads in each zone 15 min at a time and I put the 40 min buffer in between each zone just in case. I figured since I have never had an issue prior with watering for such a long duration before I should not have one now. This issue never occurred until this sprinkler system went in leading me to believe that there is something wrong in the system, but I could be totally wrong. I originally started out with a 30 min delay in each zone. I since then moved it to 35 then 40 and each time had the same problem. Thanks

Another thought - maybe one or more of the irrigation lines gets air in it after the irrigation cycle has completed. When the irrigation pump shuts off the remaining water in one or more of the irrigation lines may drain out, there is sometimes a small anti-freeze drain hole in the sprinkler head, I've seen them on the kind that sits flush with the ground and pops up when operating. Anyway, if the water does leak out of the irrigation pipe after the watering is finished then air can enter the pipe. That air may find its way to the Tee connection with the house line and go into your home piping when the well pump switches on to push water into your house. You could experiment, just run one irrigation zone, then see if air gets into the house piping. That might tell you which zone was allowing the air to enter.

Another thought - when the irrigation booster pump is running it will try to pull water from your home water piping, the check valve you added may not be perfectly sealing. If some water does get pulled from your home pipes when the booster pump is running then air may be getting sucked into your home piping from a leaky faucet, icemaker water line, washing machine, etc. I'm not sure how perfect those sharkbite check valves seal.

Something else, where the main irrigation water supply pipe connects to your house water line (at that Tee connection?) you could try adding an electric (or manually operated) water valve to the irrigation pipe. That valve would close and isolate the irrigation system from the home water piping except when the irrigation pump was running. This might be a good thing to add, it would help to isolate your irrigation system from the home water piping.

Is there any worry about having the 2 systems connected like they are? Can groundwater contamination cross over from your irrigation system into the water line going to your house? Normally all the water flows outward to the irrigation pipes, but if something happened on your house side water piping that caused a loss of pressure (like well pump or water storage tank failing) could water (residual water still inside the irrigation pipes, or rain water that enters the irrigation pipe) flow from the irrigation lines into the house water piping thru that Tee connection and get into the water line that runs from the well pump to the house? It is not a good idea for groundwater to be able to get into the potable water system. Usually there is an anti-siphon fixture installed in the irrigation line to prevent this.

When the irrigation system is running and you use water in the house for a shower, washing hands or flushing toilet does that work ok, or is the water pressure to the house or irrigation system drastically reduced?



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Well the irrigation heads are self draining. That is the way they are designed. So the water will drain out of them when they are finished watering. That is why I wanted to know if I should put a back flow valve after the T in between the main line and the irrigation pump to try and block that air. If so what kind of check valve should I use. Should I use the same type of sharkbite valve again since again it is 3/4 pex running through there? The sharkbite says it's rated at 200 psi which I would consider strong enough to do what it has to do but is there a better valve to put there instead? I did not run my system overnight and this morning or course had no air in the pipes when I went to turn on a faucet or run the toilet so I know for a fact it is somewhere in that sprinkler system. Let me know what you think about adding the check valve on the irrigation line after the T. That would also eliminate any chance of water cross contaminating as well I would presume. Thanks

You added another pump to the system, which is drawing the well down much faster. If you were to watch the system while it was running, you would probably see them start to flow air instead of water. In addition, you have connected between the well and the storage tank, which just compounds the problem.



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The system will run fully with no problem or loss in pressure. I have ran it several times while watching it. Without even having a 40 min delay in between each zone with no problems. I can understand what you are saying but if I use to water 3 hours straight with no issue and now I'm only running 5 15 minute intervals and put a 40 min break in each zone I can not see how that causes the problem. I could be wrong, but I have witnessed it run with no issues. Thanks

Since the irrigation lines are self-draining air may be getting back thru them and thru the boost pump to the Tee connection. From there it gets in your house water line. But that's just a guess.

Also, did the company that installed the irrigation system recommend an anti-siphon device to protect your home water from getting contaminated? I thought that was pretty much a universal practice when water sprinklers are connected to the same water source as your home.

I think you need a shutoff valve on the irrigation system, on the pipe where the irrigation line connects to the water line that runs to your house. Only open it when you do the irrigation, shutoff all other times. That would keep your home water safe and might fix the air problem in your house piping.

Do you know the specs on the well , such as static water level , pump depth , GPM ?

I know the well is 600 feet deep. As far as the static or depth of the pump I can find out but I do not know off hand.the well is also 6" diameter and has a 1 HP pump on it. It runs off a pressure switch set at 65/30



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They did not recommend an anti sphion device nor for some reason say I did not need a check valve on that line either because the pump only flows one way. I thought that was kind of odd to not want to put in a back up device if the pump were to ever fail. I do have a shut off valve right after the T connection just in case I want to shut off the system. I was thinking right after that shut off valve is where I was going to put a check valve of some sort. I am thinking more and more that is the issue is there is no check valve on that irrigation line inbetween my main line T connection and the irrigation pump itself.



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You could run a trial-

Set your alarm, then after the irrigation cycle has completed go out and close that shutoff valve on the irrigation line right after the Tee connection. Then see if you do or do not have air in your house piping the next morning. If you don't then you know you need to add something to the irrigation line, an electric water valve would be very handy and you already have power out there for the boost pump. A check valve might work ok, and it would be easier to install and less costly but I'm not sure it would block air trying to come thru from the irrigation lines. Those check valves are made to work with water, so it would seem if they are watertight they would be airtight, but I don't know. Water has greater density per sq inch than air.

Author: Golfdci681 (NC)
They did not recommend an anti sphion device nor for some reason say I did not need a check valve on that line either because the pump only flows one way. I thought that was kind of odd to not want to put in a back up device if the pump were to ever fail.

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Well, the pumped water only flows one way when everything works like it should. That's like connecting house wiring directly to the power transformer entrance cable, no need for circuit breakers since you'll never have an electric overload. If you had a separate well just for the irrigation system it would be different, but your drinking water line connects to that irrigation line at the Tee, and if I'm picturing your system correctly the boost pump is all that's keeping the 2 systems apart. That's iffy.

Anything can fail and if you have a lot of rain water it could finds its way thru your sprinkler heads and run backwards thru the irrigation piping to the tee connection and then be in your home's water. Is that possible? I'm not trying to be an alarmist, just want to make sure you know the possibilities. Sometimes we need to plan for failures that pose a serious health risk to ourselves and our family.



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Don't worry, I am right there with you. That is why I thought it was odd and which is why I am going to put in the check valve of some sort. I am just trying to figure out the best option. I am going to set an alarm though. I like that idea. Thanks



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