Advice on Plumbing 2500-gal Water Storage Tank into Existing Well System

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Reach4

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My neighbor tells me that the first owner of this home was involved in its specification and construction, and that he had some unusual things done with the plumbing. For one thing, he reportedly had the outside faucets plumbed on a circuit prior to the water softener (makes sense; no point in using softened water to irrigate plants)
That is almost universal. Ideally you might have both, because softened water would be nice for filling any sprayers and to use for some washing. But for watering, you want to use unsoftened water.
and plumbed the water softener only for kitchen hot water because he wanted to drink virgin well water from the kitchen tap (a little odd).
It is not unusual to run the unsoftened water to the cold in the kitchen. Some alternatively run the unsoftened water to a separate tap. I do think this unsoftened water to the kitchen should be from after any other filtering.
 

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Yeah a backflow preventer usually loses about 10 PSI, and you already have low pressure. If your pump will do it you can turn the CSV up to 60 PSI and move the pressure switch up to 50/70. That will get more pressure through the restrictions you have and do better at the faucets.
 

FoxRedLab

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In the course of plumbing the pump and tank guts in the outbuilding, I installed an outside faucet on the wall of it (in addition to the one directly adjacent to the jet pump inside the building). That outside faucet line tees from the line between the jet pump and the 20" filter. I have not yet tested it to see whether I lose house pressure when it is running.
I tested the new outside faucet by running a several-gallon-per-minute flow into the landscape pond while I took a shower. I noticed no loss of pressure in the shower. When I later turned off the outside faucet, the pump pressured the system back to 60 psi and shut off as expected.

So, I remain mystified as to why I lose house pressure when any of the outside faucets attached to the house are opened.
 

FoxRedLab

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So the new outside faucet works and the old ones do not? Is there anyway to find out where the old faucets are teed into the line?
All the outside faucets will deliver water flow, but only the new one seems to do so without robbing pressure from water fixtures inside the house. The new faucet is installed on the outbuilding that houses the storage tank and jet pump, and comes off a tee between the Pside-Kick and the old pressure tank. It's safe to say that the house outside faucets come off a tee after the old pressure tank, but it may take a shovel and/or a jackhammer to determine exactly where. I'll start nosing around.
 

Shawn Mann

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I installed a 115v 1/2 hp jet pump with pressure switch to my new 4600 litre poly tank. I diverted the well pump to fill the storage tank. The well pump is no longer running after my 40gallon pressure tank drops to 30 psi. The Redlion jet pump was place next to the pressure tank to assure best operating ( a greater distance can cause the pressure switch to rapidly click). So the house is pressurized and the well pump is not. Big savings on hydro and wear and tear. My question: if I chose to replace my deep 324 ft well pump, currently a franklin 1hp 3 wire 230v with control box, I wanted to find a pump that could pump 3-5 gpm on 115v for Solar. Since I'm not using this well pump to pressure the house, it only has to fill the top 300 or so gallons using a pump up flot switch non mercury!!! Pump? W/control box? Solar ?
 

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Grundfos or Lorentz have good solar pumps but they are not cheap. If you have grid power available you will never save enough energy with solar to pay off the solar pump.
 

Shawn Mann

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What about lowering a smaller submersible well pump partially down the well 180-240 ft. I only intend to fill a cistern or storage tank, so there is no pressurization required.

I know 220v will always be the most efficient, but a dole valve could lower the out put to 1-2 gallons per minute and fill the top 200 gallons with a pump up float switch.

Trying to balanced power and output to minimize the cost. Most 115v 2 wire pumps run over 10 amps.
 

Shawn Mann

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How deep is it to water in your 324' well?
The pump is at 270 the pitless is four ft down.

I spliced the electrical and zap straped the lines. The previous installer used electrician tape every 16 ft

I used a h2o tank drain spout as my Dole ™ Valve
 

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Reach4

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What about lowering a smaller submersible well pump partially down the well 180-240 ft. I only intend to fill a cistern or storage tank, so there is no pressurization required.
Since you ran out of water in your test, it does not sound as if you should set the pump higher than it is. A pump that pumped slower would be better.
I know 220v will always be the most efficient, but a dole valve could lower the out put to 1-2 gallons per minute and fill the top 200 gallons with a pump up float switch.
There is a lot more to selecting a pump than voltage. For typical pumps, the motor spins at about the same speed (roughly 3500 RPM whether they are "115" or "230". The motors of the pumps can have different horsepower (HP). A 1/2 HP motor produces the same power whether it is "115" or "230". The 230 versions have lower losses in the wires leading to the pump because they will draw half of the amps. They can have different numbers of stages. For your job, you should probably want a 1/2 or 3/4 HP pump with enough stages. You will want more stages than for a pump designed to work at 80 feet.

Looking at the Franklin J class, for example, a 5 GPM pump would have 13 stages with 1/2 HP, 18 for 3/4, and 22 for 1 HP. For filling your tank without exhausting your well, and for saving electricity, I think the 1/2 HP 5 GPM pump works for you. The attached file shows what the pump produces at various depths measured from the input to the tank down to the surface of the well water. It does not matter significantly how far down the pump is, as long as the pump is below the water surface.

You will want to look at the 0 PSI or the 10 PSI line since you are not using this pump to provide pressure to the house. Note that the pump pumps water slower as the level of the water drops. That is good.
 

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