Water Softeners and Air Filtration Systems - Different stories; which is correct?

My wife and I noticed less water pressure in our house recently. Our clothes washer is taking a lot longer to fill up with cold water than it used to. I cleaned out the filter screen in the supply hose for the washer but it really just flows slowly. When we fill the washer with warm water it fills much faster.

A "high dollar" plumber pushed on the top of my (20 gal bladder style) pressure tank and said it is water logged. He said I should replace the tank and the 30/50 switch.

A neighbor who does plumbing thinks my pressure tank and 30/50 switch are fine but my well does not pump enough or I have a leaking line either between the well head and the house or between the pump and the well head. The water comes in at 37 feet and the six inch casing goes 320 feet deep. Water flows into the well at 1.5 gallons per minute. The well head piping (flexible PVC) is 1 1/2 inches diameter.

The neighbor put a pressure gauge on at the well head and found about 39psi. The neighbor thinks I need to replace my pump or repair leak(s) in the piping somewhere. (The prospect of digging up 125 of line or pulling up 310 feet of piping with the pump is horrifying!!! Especially in freezing weather.)

The pressure tank is 16-18 feet lower than the well head and 125 feet downhill under my house in a crawl space.

The pressure in the tank never gets higher than 38-39psi. We turned the power off to the pump and opened a faucet. The pressure quickly drops while a few gallons pour out until the pressure comes to about 20psi or just below (18psi?) then the pressure switch cuts on to turn on the well pump. So my neighbor powered on the well pump and the pressure tank filled up to about 38-39psi but the 30/50 switch NEVER TRIPS THE PUMP OFF. The pump stays pumping (2-wire 240V drawing 5.4-5.65 amps) and the pressure tank fills up showing the pressure never moving beyond 39psi.

As I described above, my wife and I noticed a lessening in the water pressure; clothes washer takes longer to fill with cold water, the water does not splash as high when we open a faucet to fill a glass, etc. But it is not a huge difference; just noticeable. We never seem to run out of water for our normal household needs. I have on several occasions run the well dry when I ran the water from a garden hose for 3 hours or more to fill a grandchild's swimming pool, or fill a small frog pond (12' X 8 ' x 12" deep) and forgot to turn the faucet off.

I am afraid everything is actually working properly and the plumber and my neighbor may not be completely up to speed. My original question was/is, can we increase the pressure to fill the washer faster? Fill a bathtub faster? Blast the dirt off in a shower harder? Save money? (I calculate the pump draws 1320 watts 24 X 7 X 365 = $80/month for electricity!) If I replace the 20 gallong pressure tank with a 53 gallon one or add a 53 gallon tank to my existing 20 gallon tank, will THAT allow the pump to shut off occasionally and save me money?

Thank you in advance for any help and reading all of this.

The pressure switch will only shut the pump off if the pressure reaches the cutoff point, which in this case is 50 psi.
My immediate thought is that the pump is either worn out, or, there is a leak in the drop pipe down in the well.
The tank can be checked by turning the pump off, draining the tank, and then checking pressure at the Schraeder valve. If there is no precharge pressure, the air has either escaped or the bladder is bad. Try putting air in the tank and see if it holds (28 psi).
Forget the plumber and call in a well/pump person. Even if the tank is waterlogged, the pump should still reach the 50 psi cutout. Some plumbers don't seem to understand that.
Ron

I agree completely with Pumpman, but would add to turn off any valve AT THE TANK going into your house to eliminate any leaks. Your problem will be the distance from the well to the tank. If you have a lot of buried pipe then you are hiding a lot of potential leaks. I always put a tank at the well head. Even if it results in two tanks on the system.

My well is 320 feet deep. That means if I wanted to pull up my pump I'd have to haul up 310 feet of line full of water? Even empty, the line would be super heavy? Is it too big a job for a neighbor and myself to pull up the pump while checking the water line between the well head and the pump? Would a pump man have some kind of hoist or lift to retrieve the pump from that deep? And, therefore, charge me thousands of dollars to replace a failing pump? I think the hardware cost of a similar pump is between
$350-$450.

How difficult is it to pull the pump out while checking the line? Can two amateurs do it?

Thanks again

Because the well is 320 feet deep it doesn't mean the pump goes that far down.

Regardless of how deep the pump is it would be far safer to hire someone.
Even if it did cost a lot of money for a pro to replace you are not paying him for the act of removing the dead pump and threading on the old one.
You will be paying for his knowledge of how to do it properly.
You would only have to drop the pump while pulling it or have it stuck half way up to appreciate what they offer.

I am not an advocate for well service people but there are a few things that could go wrong and would be very difficult to fix if you did not know what you are doing.

One other thing you might check.
There should be a check valve on the submersible pump.
If you had a guage near the well head and shut off the supply at the house, the pressure quickly dropping could indicate a leak in the pipe or a failed check valve.
If the pressure held you might be looking at a failing pump or maybe a collapsed or shifted well casing

But it is not a huge difference; just noticeable. We never seem to run out of water for our normal household needs. I have on several occasions run the well dry when I ran the water from a garden hose for 3 hours or more to fill a grandchild's swimming pool, or fill a small frog pond (12' X 8 ' x 12" deep) and forgot to turn the faucet off.

Im with them .You dont say how old this pump is. But Id say the pump is worn out. Dont try and pull it yourself . It just dont pay. You need a fair size rig to pull 310 ft of pipe and pump .