cdherman
Member
I'm back. Spring will arrive in a month or two and with it will be better weather to address the well issues at my brother/parents farm in western KS.
The current messed up situation is a 12" well with modern sanitary cap, about 20" above grade, with the pressure switch and a tiny pressure tank jerry rigged into the 12" casing. There were eternal problems with freezing, short cycling, pump drawing down and sucking air etc. We have convinced ourselves that the well fundamentally has enough water in it, but a more spacious enclosure for a cycle stop sensor, larger pressure tank exterior to the casing all are needed. (we are also going to install a cycle stop valve and a flow inducer).
Here is my current plan for a frost free or nearly frost free pump house.
We dig down about 7'. Easy enough in that part of the world -- the soil there is blown in glacial loess and goes 40' until it hits limestone bedrock, on which there is a shallow but moving stream of water. Frost line there is historically around 3', less these days.
Lay in a level layer of coarse crushed rock around 10". This is to allow for potential drainage of leaks and to allow earth warmth to rise.
Build a wall on the crushed rock -- no footing since the wall will not support weight, just itself. Plan to use insulated block concrete forms, like the pic.
I was thinking about 8' x 8' outside dimensions. The bocks pretty much force you into 2' increments and the inside dimension of 6x6 would be more like 4'x4'. A little tight. THIS IS AN AREA I AM REALLY LOOKING FOR INPUT. MAYBE 6X6 IS FINE??? 6x6 would make for a smaller, lighter roof as well.
Plan is to bring the blocks up to about 6" BELOW the top of the well. Although there are no codes and no inspections there, I want to ensure that should the pit ever flood, no water enters the sanitary well -- it would flow over the sides of the walls first.
We would pour the walls, let cure obviously, probably protect on the outside with a layer of cement board (you can screw it to the high density foam insulations, and then grade the surrounding area to about 6' below the top of the walls. This would get a nice deep insulated pit.
Then I plan to construct a hip style roof cap. I've done a fair amount of wood working and such -- I have done this before where you calculate the tricky compound angles and cut 4 triangles. The cuts are compound. Done right it all fits like a puzzle together and you glue and screw. No rafters needed, since the pyramidal form is very strong, and reasonably light. Light metal roofing on outside, and 4" (or thicker if I can find it) high density foam insulation on the underside, with the joints foamed in for good tight seal.
That cap will hopefully weight enough that it won't fly off and be light enough that a decent person can tip it up and off. Being able to take the top off completely makes pulling the pump down the road so much easier. If the cap ends up too heavy, this is a big farm -- we can affix a lifting loop on the roof and lift it off with a loader.
Current electrical supply is 240v, 2 hot and ground. Sadly they did not bury three wires. I would like to put a "greenhouse plug" in the well house and a heater so that if the temp drops too low, it has a backup heat source. My family has been running the 120v heat bulb for years by wiring it one leg of 240v and the neutral is the ground wire. Not correct, but worked. I don't think the breaker back at the pole would like that with a 1500w heater however. I will try and find a 240v greenhouse plug and 240v heater.
I read somewhere about the crushed rock -- they were saying NOT to put a concrete floor or pad into a pit, as it would impede the rising warmth. Oh, and the risk of water coming in below the walls is ZERO. This is very dry country. Large rains do occur, but properly graded no water ever enters basements. My parents house has a proper sump sump -- its ran once in 45 years. When a pipe broke.
The current messed up situation is a 12" well with modern sanitary cap, about 20" above grade, with the pressure switch and a tiny pressure tank jerry rigged into the 12" casing. There were eternal problems with freezing, short cycling, pump drawing down and sucking air etc. We have convinced ourselves that the well fundamentally has enough water in it, but a more spacious enclosure for a cycle stop sensor, larger pressure tank exterior to the casing all are needed. (we are also going to install a cycle stop valve and a flow inducer).
Here is my current plan for a frost free or nearly frost free pump house.
We dig down about 7'. Easy enough in that part of the world -- the soil there is blown in glacial loess and goes 40' until it hits limestone bedrock, on which there is a shallow but moving stream of water. Frost line there is historically around 3', less these days.
Lay in a level layer of coarse crushed rock around 10". This is to allow for potential drainage of leaks and to allow earth warmth to rise.
Build a wall on the crushed rock -- no footing since the wall will not support weight, just itself. Plan to use insulated block concrete forms, like the pic.
I was thinking about 8' x 8' outside dimensions. The bocks pretty much force you into 2' increments and the inside dimension of 6x6 would be more like 4'x4'. A little tight. THIS IS AN AREA I AM REALLY LOOKING FOR INPUT. MAYBE 6X6 IS FINE??? 6x6 would make for a smaller, lighter roof as well.
Plan is to bring the blocks up to about 6" BELOW the top of the well. Although there are no codes and no inspections there, I want to ensure that should the pit ever flood, no water enters the sanitary well -- it would flow over the sides of the walls first.
We would pour the walls, let cure obviously, probably protect on the outside with a layer of cement board (you can screw it to the high density foam insulations, and then grade the surrounding area to about 6' below the top of the walls. This would get a nice deep insulated pit.
Then I plan to construct a hip style roof cap. I've done a fair amount of wood working and such -- I have done this before where you calculate the tricky compound angles and cut 4 triangles. The cuts are compound. Done right it all fits like a puzzle together and you glue and screw. No rafters needed, since the pyramidal form is very strong, and reasonably light. Light metal roofing on outside, and 4" (or thicker if I can find it) high density foam insulation on the underside, with the joints foamed in for good tight seal.
That cap will hopefully weight enough that it won't fly off and be light enough that a decent person can tip it up and off. Being able to take the top off completely makes pulling the pump down the road so much easier. If the cap ends up too heavy, this is a big farm -- we can affix a lifting loop on the roof and lift it off with a loader.
Current electrical supply is 240v, 2 hot and ground. Sadly they did not bury three wires. I would like to put a "greenhouse plug" in the well house and a heater so that if the temp drops too low, it has a backup heat source. My family has been running the 120v heat bulb for years by wiring it one leg of 240v and the neutral is the ground wire. Not correct, but worked. I don't think the breaker back at the pole would like that with a 1500w heater however. I will try and find a 240v greenhouse plug and 240v heater.
I read somewhere about the crushed rock -- they were saying NOT to put a concrete floor or pad into a pit, as it would impede the rising warmth. Oh, and the risk of water coming in below the walls is ZERO. This is very dry country. Large rains do occur, but properly graded no water ever enters basements. My parents house has a proper sump sump -- its ran once in 45 years. When a pipe broke.
