Add jockey pump to county water connection

[Everett DeHart]

We have county water however we're on top of, one of if not the tallest hills in the county. Our water pressure is about 12-15 PSI. I was thinking of adding a shallow well pump and storage tank, check valve is already in place courtesy of the county. As we occasionally lose water pressure, plan on changing the pressure switch to "low pressure cutoff" to save the pump if there's no water. When water returns it should push through the pump and tank and alert us to reset the pressure switch.

I've installed several shallow and deep well jet pumps and submersibles, never connected one to take suction from a pressurized source though.

Am I missing anything?

Thanks for your time,

Ev

 

[Valveman]

If you only have 12-15 PSI now, when you start sucking on that line the pressure could go negative, which isn't good. You are probably going to need a storage tank to fill with a float valve from the county water. Then a booster pump will have all the water it needs to work with.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Everett DeHart]

Thanks for the response. Hmmm, going negative on the suction side wasn't something I'd considered. Definitely not going to add a supply tank and float switch to the cost. If I did anything would add a throttle valve on the discharge between the pump and tank to avoid this as it would be much cheaper. Also, in my "thought process" I don't consider a shallow well jet pump as particularly efficient, not a PD device so didn't consider pulling negative pressure on the suction side. Going further with my thinking, 12 PSI X 27.7" of water column would be 332.4" of water or 27.7 feet. Since shallow well pumps can "pull" water to a depth of around 25 feet (Sea level) I didn't think that when it wasn't pulling, but being supplied there would be an issue. Also, the suction side is 3/4" coming into the house, fed from a 4" "main down at the road. Horizontal distance about 200', elevation increase about 60'.

I'm in no way being argumentative, appreciate your response, just sharing my thoughts and how I got here. I enjoy using forums to bounce my "half-fast" ideas around and hearing from folks smarter than me.

Thanks again,

Ev

 

[Reach4]

Thanks for the response. Hmmm, going negative on the suction side wasn't something I'd considered. Definitely not going to add a supply tank and float switch to the cost. If I did anything would add a throttle valve on the discharge between the pump and tank to avoid this as it would be much cheaper.

I was thinking you would use a non-electrical float valve for the fill.

"Pump down" float switch to inhibit the pressure pump if the tank gets empty.

I would get some low range chlorine test paper... you may have to add chlorine.

 

[Valveman]

Going negative on the suction won't hurt a jet pump. But it could draw in contamination from other peoples faucets, or even collapse the pipe on the suction side. With a CSV and a small tank the pump will only be drawing the same amount as is being used. This can keep a pump from pumping more water than the incoming line can supply, and keep the pressure from going negative.

 

[Everett DeHart]

Taking suction from a 4" main, "other peoples faucets" are 1/4" mile up the road and about 3/8 mile down the road, all "users" are connnected via a check valve to protect the county water supply. Chlorine? County water already chlorinated, etc. The intent here is to add a tank and jockey pump to kick the house supply up to 20-40 or 30-50PSI.

 

[Reach4]

Chlorine levels drop with time and what they have to deal with. Your tank will add time and probably something that the chlorine will need to react to in doing its job.

Your tank will be what? 100 gallons?

 

[Valveman]

He doesn't want to use a storage tank. A 4" line doesn't have any stored water available for the pump. Check valves at the neighbors will just push the negative problem further up the line to the next place. Hook up the pump and try it. But if you are pulling the pressure down the neighbors check valves will keep you from getting air or contamination, but the neighbors won't be happy when they open their faucets and have no pressure.

 

[Everett DeHart]

I was thinking a shallow well pump with a separate bladder tank, but just looked at prices of bladder tanks. OWCH, been away from this stuff for awhile I guess. I did notice that most shallow well pump+tank combo's now seem to be 1-5 gallon tanks which seems small. I just remembered that the farm I grew up on had a shallow well pump with a 8 gallon tank and worked for years. Just checked last month's water bill and we used 2700 gallons which is about average. 2700/30 is about 90 gallons per day usage. So, maybe a 20 gallon bladder tank would be adequate.

Hmmm, looking like $150 for a Flo-tech pump, $150 for a tank, another $100 or so for a pressure switch, pipe, etc. So, probably looking at $500 when all is said and done to have decent water pressure. Flo-tech pump was chosen only because it had the highest number of good ratings online, didn't really research in-depth, ditto on the tank.

My wife is used to it taking longer to fill the clothes washer, dish washer, etc. The big irritant is stepping into the shower and having a light spray as opposed to a brisk stream of water. So, $500 for a decent shower? There would be additional cost for electricity to run the pump, no advice on that as I'm a retired E.E.

Thanks for all the responses.

Ev

 

[Valveman]

The small tanks are fine as long as you have a Cycle Stop Valve or something to keep the pump from cycling on/off. A constant 50 PSI in the shower is also much stronger than when the pump is continually cycling between 40 and 60. A steady draw of small GPM's from the incoming line is much less likely to pull the pressure down than when the pump is cycling and drawing max flow rate then zero flow rate over and over.

 

[Everett DeHart]

OK. Things have changed since I was working with these. Going to look into a smaller tank and a CSV.

Many, many, thanks

Ev