Banjo Bud
Active Member
Brand new member here. I am in the midst of planning a shallow well instalation and have a few questions. First, I have been researching where to put a check valve and some say at the bottom of the suction pipe (foot valve) and others say 2' from the pump. My well is about 10' deep and 80' from the house. I would love to not have a foot valve and only a check valve near the pump but I am wondering how I would fill the suction pipe with water in order to prime the system without a foot valve. I have a Goulds J5SH pump. Do I even need to fill the suction pipe or will the pump pull water if I only fill the pump with water through the prime port on top? I imagine a check valve near the pump holds water in the suction pipe in the same way holding your thumb over a straw holds water in the straw. Is that correct? But still, how do you get the suction pipe filled initially without a foot valve? Another question I have is about limiting flow from the pump into my pressure tank. My well only puts out 5 GPM so I want to limit the output of the pump to that amount also. Would I put a ball valve on the suction line or the output line to do this? And is a ball valve the best way to do this?