Check Valves on Water Wells

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ronhei

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I have a new water well with an 80 gallon pressure tank. I have installed a filtration system although all but 1 of 8 tested categories exceeds the existing county supplied water. I intend to place a backup water system in the well house in addition to the equipment that is now there (well house is 8 X 10 with 7' ceiling so plenty of room to work).

I'm wondering if I can connect my emergency system and run it at the same time as when the well is functioning normally (on grid). The way the emergency system works is that there is a T coming from the water supply pipe after the filtration system, that runs over to two 150 gallon water storage tanks. A T there allows water to flow into the storage tanks and both shut off when the water level rises by a "Hudson" Valve in each tank.

At the bottom of the tanks are the water exit valves which T together and the center of the T is connected to a 12V RV style demand pump. The demand pump is then connected back to the water supply pipe where it T's in just before the water exits the well house.

My question is this. Will I have to place a check valve on the water supply pipe "above" the demand pump feed or will the check valve in the well system suffice, and anytime the water pressure in the water supply to the house drops below 45psi, the emergency system would just be "supplementing" the water to the house?
 

Valveman

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You will need a check valve between the suction tee and discharge tee for the 12V demand pump or the water will just spin round and round. But I don't understand how else you are pressurizing the water coming out of the two 150 gallon tanks?
 

ronhei

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You will need a check valve between the suction tee and discharge tee for the 12V demand pump or the water will just spin round and round. But I don't understand how else you are pressurizing the water coming out of the two 150 gallon tanks?

The "house" is the destination for water coming out of the 12V. With all outlets closed, the water pressurizes against the 12V demand pump, which itself, has a check valve. Pressurizes at +- 45 psi. Runs off a 12V battery with solar charging. Designed it back in 1999 for the "rollover", just in case. Works great, in fact in March of 2000, I was walking in the back yard in Panama City and heard a tick, tick, tick, coming out of the well house. Went in and found that I had forgotten to turn off the 12V system, Dec 30, 1999. Since my well pumped water to a 300 gallon container with a float valve, the pump would not run unless there was demand in the container. In normal times, the above ground, 220V pump pressurized the house, but sourced its water from that holding tank.

There the little 12V pump that "could" had been running our house for 3 months and we never knew the difference. :)

Thank you for your advice. I'm not 100% sure that the water would go round and round since both the well pump and the demand pump water are seeking and following the flow once the outlet is opened in the house, but, I could visualize the two fighting pressure with each other. I think I'll go back to the original system and just put a shutoff valve on both sides there at the T headed for the house, and run one or the other. I really hate to add a check valve to anything because of the stress on the system and gots to be "some" reduction in gpm. Just exploring to see if I could improve the design in any way. Thanks again. Ron
 
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