LezlieInIowa
New Member
Hi folks,
Until I came across this forum I had no clue the new-fangled constant pressure well/pump systems wear out so quickly. I have some major decisions to make in the next 2 weeks about which way to go on my new well and home, and it's a lot to digest and figure out. Any thoughts and input would be appreciated.
SITREP: I've lived rural since 1982, in NorCal and in NE IA, the last few yrs here in south central IA in a crappy apt. My new home is in far northeast IA region, an abandoned 3 acre farmstead being redeveloped now. Everything will be brand new. Just me living there, a 16 x 80 ft, 2018 show-model manufactured home going in, with my cats and some chickens. I use water conservatively. It gets down to -35 deg F at times in Winter. The well will be 180-200 ft deep, don't know high the water will be inside the well and pump-depth, but it's plentiful and the land around my new place is pretty level. The well will be about 100 ft from the home. All of "my guys" are experienced, local contractors who know each other and often worked on the same projects, most grew up in the area, and have excellent local reputations. Every contractor I've hired/lined up was recommended by multiple native locals. (It's the only reason I go to the tiny town's bar/grill when I've been up there getting things rolling - getting to know folks and get reliable, local knowledge!) If they did shoddy work, installed problematic systems, they would have been out of business long ago, or I'd be steered elsewhere.
I'm familiar with the traditional well/pump/pressure tank system from my hobby farm in NorCal, built with my own hands. My first 1900-built farm home in NE IA was funky. Well was just 56 ft deep, not even 10 ft from the house, the water was exquisite and plentiful. Had a steel, slanted, above-ground pipe from wellhead that went thru the stone cellar wall to a huge ancient pressure tank in it. There was a drain valve in the pipe inside the well casing; in theory, in Winter, the pipe would drain empty after the pump shut off, so no heated wellhouse around it was needed. Totally bogus! Every Winter we had a frozen wellhead at least twice, thawing it was a nightmare, we could go days without water if we couldn't get it thawed, and we replaced that drain valve several times each Winter. Rather, my ex-husband did, because I would have changed some things around if it'd been up to me!
I'm on my own now. I get to make the decisions. But there's a fairly tight construction budget, and my monthly utility budget is tight. I'd never heard of the constant pressure system before. My bulldozing/excavator/septic contractor told me about it when the pressure tank/heated wellhouse topic came up 3 weeks ago. In theory it's perfect for my new place. If I go with the traditional well/pump/pressure tank I have just one option: a 50 deg F heated wellhouse with the tank and above-ground pipes associated with it. That's 6 mos/yr of propane to heat it, building and insulating that wellhouse, trenching, running that gasline to it from the propane tank. There's no room inside my manufactured home for even a 30-gal pressure tank, and it's going to be on frost piers with steel skirting, so no 50 deg basement for a tank.
The well driller recommended a busy, very reputable plumbing contractor to handle the pump/tank end of things. When I spoke to him about this option today, he told me the constant pressure systems are 95% of what he puts in now, and there's enough options for smaller components, even a wall-mounted tank, that we'll be able to find a workable space for it in my new home.
Ballpark $5,500 for everything, installed, the constant pressure system is about $1 to $1.5 k more than the traditional system. That modestly-higher cost would be eaten up in propane pretty quickly for a heated wellhouse and the traditional pressure tank. But, if this new-fangled stuff goes bad as quickly and as often as you all say they do, or can, then I need to re-think my choices/options, as those repairs and replacements add up quickly, too. None of these contractors are the kind to make a snide comment about making more $ off things that wear out fast and break down a lot, so I'm not worried I'm being" sold a bill of goods" dishonestly.
What would you guys do? Or what would be your biggest concerns/issues? Thanks!
Until I came across this forum I had no clue the new-fangled constant pressure well/pump systems wear out so quickly. I have some major decisions to make in the next 2 weeks about which way to go on my new well and home, and it's a lot to digest and figure out. Any thoughts and input would be appreciated.
SITREP: I've lived rural since 1982, in NorCal and in NE IA, the last few yrs here in south central IA in a crappy apt. My new home is in far northeast IA region, an abandoned 3 acre farmstead being redeveloped now. Everything will be brand new. Just me living there, a 16 x 80 ft, 2018 show-model manufactured home going in, with my cats and some chickens. I use water conservatively. It gets down to -35 deg F at times in Winter. The well will be 180-200 ft deep, don't know high the water will be inside the well and pump-depth, but it's plentiful and the land around my new place is pretty level. The well will be about 100 ft from the home. All of "my guys" are experienced, local contractors who know each other and often worked on the same projects, most grew up in the area, and have excellent local reputations. Every contractor I've hired/lined up was recommended by multiple native locals. (It's the only reason I go to the tiny town's bar/grill when I've been up there getting things rolling - getting to know folks and get reliable, local knowledge!) If they did shoddy work, installed problematic systems, they would have been out of business long ago, or I'd be steered elsewhere.
I'm familiar with the traditional well/pump/pressure tank system from my hobby farm in NorCal, built with my own hands. My first 1900-built farm home in NE IA was funky. Well was just 56 ft deep, not even 10 ft from the house, the water was exquisite and plentiful. Had a steel, slanted, above-ground pipe from wellhead that went thru the stone cellar wall to a huge ancient pressure tank in it. There was a drain valve in the pipe inside the well casing; in theory, in Winter, the pipe would drain empty after the pump shut off, so no heated wellhouse around it was needed. Totally bogus! Every Winter we had a frozen wellhead at least twice, thawing it was a nightmare, we could go days without water if we couldn't get it thawed, and we replaced that drain valve several times each Winter. Rather, my ex-husband did, because I would have changed some things around if it'd been up to me!
I'm on my own now. I get to make the decisions. But there's a fairly tight construction budget, and my monthly utility budget is tight. I'd never heard of the constant pressure system before. My bulldozing/excavator/septic contractor told me about it when the pressure tank/heated wellhouse topic came up 3 weeks ago. In theory it's perfect for my new place. If I go with the traditional well/pump/pressure tank I have just one option: a 50 deg F heated wellhouse with the tank and above-ground pipes associated with it. That's 6 mos/yr of propane to heat it, building and insulating that wellhouse, trenching, running that gasline to it from the propane tank. There's no room inside my manufactured home for even a 30-gal pressure tank, and it's going to be on frost piers with steel skirting, so no 50 deg basement for a tank.
The well driller recommended a busy, very reputable plumbing contractor to handle the pump/tank end of things. When I spoke to him about this option today, he told me the constant pressure systems are 95% of what he puts in now, and there's enough options for smaller components, even a wall-mounted tank, that we'll be able to find a workable space for it in my new home.
Ballpark $5,500 for everything, installed, the constant pressure system is about $1 to $1.5 k more than the traditional system. That modestly-higher cost would be eaten up in propane pretty quickly for a heated wellhouse and the traditional pressure tank. But, if this new-fangled stuff goes bad as quickly and as often as you all say they do, or can, then I need to re-think my choices/options, as those repairs and replacements add up quickly, too. None of these contractors are the kind to make a snide comment about making more $ off things that wear out fast and break down a lot, so I'm not worried I'm being" sold a bill of goods" dishonestly.
What would you guys do? Or what would be your biggest concerns/issues? Thanks!
