Every morning we wake up, walk clumsily to the bathroom, turn the faucet on and here we have it: a smooth stream of running water. It usually doesn’t amaze us because we probably never think about what’s going on behind the scenes, but really, how does water get to our faucets when we need it to?
If you happen to live in the urban city, chances are your residence has a well pressure tank, and since you deserve the best of everything, you should have the best well pressure tank.
Table of Contents
Our Favorite Picks
If you’re here just for the bottom line and want to skip all the fuss, this section has everything you’ll need.
Amtrol WX-350 Well Pressure Tank
Amtrol’s WX-350 is certainly the definition of efficiency. This is because it has a high compression power, while having a reasonably minimum size.
Rather than requiring you to buy many smaller pressure tanks at potentially higher overall running costs in the long run, all you need is a mighty WX-350.
What We Like
- Completely corrosion resistant
- Welded stainless steel air valve (prevents loss of air pressure)
- Working pressure of 150 psi
- Top dome section is reinforced with high-quality mill steel for extra strength
- Holds up to 119 gallons of water
- 7-year limited warranty
What We Don’t Like
- Very expensive
WaterWorker HT-32B Vertical Pressure Well Tank
The WaterWorker HT-32B is probably the best compromise you’ll find on the market. It’s a pre-charged tank, which means that for every pumping cycle, it has a greater amount of available pump-able water than a rather traditional galvanized tank of the same size.
What We Like
- No risk of water-clogging due to pre-charging
- Easy to handle due to compactness
- Holds up to 32 gallons of water
- Affordable
What We Don’t Like
- The tank is not insulated and so will need externally applied insulation
- The tank is refurbished
Amtrol WX-202XL Well Pressure Tank
It’s also a pre-charged tank and so comes with the same pre-charging benefits as the HT-32B.
What We Like
- No risk of water-clogging due to pre-charging
- Working pressure of 125 psi
- 7-year warranty
What We Don’t Like
- Holds only up to 26 gallons of water while being questionably costly
- Can only be mounted vertically
Amtrol WX-202 Well Pressure Tank
This pressure tank is a smaller version of the WX-202XL. Even though it has a smaller capacity, it has the same working pressure at a more affordable price.
This makes it suitable for small-scale utilities, where a smaller pressure tank would be more cost-effective than an unnecessarily larger one.
What We Like
- No risk of water-clogging due to pre-charging
- Working pressure of 125 psi
- 7-year warranty
- Reasonably affordable
What We Don’t Like
- Can only be mounted vertically
- Relatively heavy for such a small capacity
What You Need To Know
If you’re not in a hurry and want to know all about well pressure tanks before you make a buying decision, then sit back and enjoy the ride. Below, we’ve gathered the most important stuff all in one place.
How Does A Well Pressure Tank Work?
After construction of your residence was completed, along with its infrastructure (which included digging a well), water from your city’s main pipelines branched its way till it reached your well.
In order for the water to travel from the well all the way to your bathroom and kitchen faucets, something has to drive and push the water.
A water pump is used along with the pressure tank to drive water from the well to the pressure tank. When water enters the tank, an air compressor compresses the water. Once a faucet is open, water rushes out due to the high pressure it’s been kept under.
When the pressure inside the tank drops below a certain threshold, the pump is then activated again to draw more water from the well and into the tank.
This process keeps repeating automatically by the use of a sensor system known as a pressure switch. The switch’s job is to always adjust the amount of water available in the tank.
But Why Do You Even Need A Pressure Tank?
So you might be thinking: “If the pump is capable of drawing water from the well to the tank, why can’t it just draw water from the well all the way to my faucet? Why do I need to invest in a pressure tank?”
Okay, good point. It’s true that a pump is well capable of delivering water all the way to your faucets, but it isn’t the most efficient way to do it. Here’s why.
Without a pressure tank, a pump would need to deliver water through a much longer distance. Instead of driving water from the well to the tank, it would drive it all the way up to your faucet. This means that you would need to buy a bigger, noisier and more expensive pump.
Additionally, the pump would need to work more frequently, instead of only when the pressure in the tank drops.
The pump would literally work every time anyone turns on a water faucet, which is a problem known as cycling and could easily cause the pump motor to burn out.
How Big Of A Tank Do I Need?
Now that you know how a well pressure tank works and why you need it, you’re probably wondering how to choose the right one for you. This step is called ‘sizing’ and there’s a rule of thumb for it to save you all the hassle.
Firstly, you’ll need to count the number of taps (water exits) in your household (or place where you wish to install the tank). These should include everything like: water faucets, shower fixtures, water sinks, irrigation valves, and so on.
Secondly, you multiply the total number of taps by 3. The resulting number is the size of the tank that fits your case (in gallons). It’s also sometimes a good idea to get yourself a tank with a slightly larger size. This is to avoid the effects of any potential inconsistencies in terms of your faucet sizes and out flow-rates.
Our Recommendations
Amtrol
Amtrol was founded in 1946, and has been the world’s pioneer in manufacturing and producing pre-pressurized tanks since then. It has then grown to specialize in all kinds of water system solutions. In 2017, Amtrol was acquired by Worthington Industries.
WaterWorker
WaterWorker has been around for quite a few years. It offers solutions for water systems, plumbing, and heating.
FAQs
1. How long do well pressure tanks last?
Well pressure tanks usually last for 10-15 years. High-quality ones can even last up to 20 years.
2. How do I know if my pressure tank has gone bad?
If you open up one faucet and then open up another, and the water pressure (how strongly the water seems to be coming out) dies down a bit, then that’s you know your tank is no longer able to store and pressurize water.
3. What’s a normal water pressure in my household if I’m using a well pressure tank?
The normal range of water pressure is between 40 and 60 psi. It varies according to your consumption load and the quality of the tank though.
Let’s Wrap This Up…
Well, this is the end of the road. Bottom line is, if you’re looking for an efficient mighty water system, then the Amtrol WX-350 is definitely the best well pressure tank for you.
Finally, if you’re on a budget, nothing will give you a better compromise than the HT-32B.
| Product | Best: |
| Amtrol WX-350 | Overall |
| WaterWorker HT-32B | Budget |
| Amtrol WX-202XL | Runner-Up |
| Amtrol WX-202 | Second Runner-Up |
Now that you have all the knowledge you’ll need: what a well pressure tank is, how it works, what would happen it isn’t there, the best products and the best brands, you’re now all set.
We’d finally recommend you also do your own research before buying the pressure tank that best fits you because prices change all the time. In many cases, when new products show up in the market, older ones (yet very efficient ones) become available at much lower prices, so be mindful of that as well.
It’s safe to say that now you can finally go out there and get yourself the pressure tank that will be the best choice for your home.