I need some advice. We bought our house 3 years ago and have started having problems with our water system in the last couple months.

System Description: We have 180' well, with a deep well submersible pump. The pump keeps an elevated 3000 gal plastic storage tank full. The water flows down to a Teal, 1/2 HP pump and into a very small (5 gal) and failing bladder tank. Pressure is regulated between 40-60psi with a Funai controller. The water then flows through a Kinetico Quad/Flo 60 water softner (certified flow of 9gpm/peak flow of 15gpm). We also use a Takagi Mobius Tankless Water Heater Model T-M1 (Min flow 0.75gpm to activate - Max flow of 6 gpm at 77 degree heat rise above the inlet temp). We are a family of 5 with 3.5 bathrooms. We commonly *try* to have 3 simultaneous showers at a time. We also run sprinklers in the yard at times.

Problems: First, there has always been a capacity problem. The bladder tank is tiny - measuring no more than 2 feet high and the pump can't keep enough pressure for 3 showers (2gpm x 3 = 6 gpm flow). Also, when the water softner regenerates it diverts some of the water pressure and there is not enough remaining pressure to keep the Water Heater heating consistently. We've tried increasing the shutoff pressure in the bladder tank to 70 psi but our pump could never get there and just kept running so we reduced it back to 60psi. In recent months, the tank has begun fast cycling on and off whenever any water is used. It runs for maybe ten seconds, and then shuts down for ten seconds, and repeats until the water demand is over. Our pressure tank seems to have developed a leak as there is a small amount of water on the floor at the base. And to top it all off, our electricity usage has gone way up and we suspect it is related to the pump fast cycling.

Next Steps: We have decided to replace both the pressure tank and the pump since they are at least 15 years old and appear to be inadequate as far as capacity goes. My initial instinct was to purchase a large pressure tank (maybe something with a 30 gallon drawdown rating) and a more powerful pump so I could run 40-70psi. I've read a bunch about the Cycle Stop Valves and love the idea of having constant pressure for the showers. It seems that the recommendations for CSV suggest using smaller tanks. Would a CSV help save on electricity? I'm looking for recommendations for size, brand, where to purchase, etc. I see that there is a poll going on for CSV but there are no results yet. I've seen some negative statements on WellMate tanks. So, please bring on some advice so I can get this system ordered, and installed before the current one fails completely!

From what I've seen on this forum, there is some excellent advice available to novices like myself!

Thanks in advance,
-- John