Help with well and pump set-up

[jasvid]

I am having a well drilled next week. The well installer says in my area, things are very consistent and I should expect my well to be around 470' deep with static water at 375' with refresh rate of 10+ GPM.

I want to plan what to do after the well, but I have a unique situation and could use some guidance. I am off grid and have two cabins, but they are without foundation and on skids and I live in a cold -weather location (wisconsin).

Currently, I just have 120v power (but plenty of it). I could set up a 230v inverter as well, but would prefer to have the well be able to use 120v, so I was planning to use a Grundfos 6-SQF-3 pump for maximum flexibility.

At a minimum, I want to well to run the well to a couple of outdoor frost-proof hydrants and expand from there (eventually will build proper house with foundation). Do I need a pressure tank for this set up? I don't have a conditioned place for a pressure tank currently. I want to build what I need now, but also plan for the future needs best I can, but don't really know where to start...

I plan to DIY as much as I can. Any help appreciated...

 

[Reach4]

Currently, I just have 120v power (but plenty of it). I could set up a 230v inverter as well, but would prefer to have the well be able to use 120v, so I was planning to use a Grundfos 6-SQF-3 pump for maximum flexibility.

To go from 120 VAC to 240 VAC for a "230 V" pump, you would use a boost transformer.

In the unlikely case that you had 120 VDC available, then you could use the expensive Flex pump or a big inverter.

Do I need a pressure tank for this set up? I don't have a conditioned place for a pressure tank currently. I want to build what I need now, but also plan for the future needs best I can, but don't really know where to start...

If you have a pressure switch, you need a pressure tank at your pressure switch. If you just manually turn the pump on and off, make sure there is an open valve when you turn the switch on.

You can use a pressure tank made for underground and bury it (often in sand). The problem is that the available pressure switches today must be protected from freezing. There were freeze-proof pressure switches, which conveyed the pressure via antifreeze, but AFAIK they are no longer sold.

For temporary, just turn the power off and on.

A 7 GPM 1.5 HP or a 10 GPM 2 HP pump would be appropriate for a house IMO. Two cabins should be fine sharing the same I would think. The Goulds 10GS20 is such a pump. It has a Centripro motor. IIRC, some have aluminum windings and some have copper. Copper is better. The motor model identifies which it is with a dash number -- 1 might be copper, but I may be wrong on that.

 

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[Valveman]

3 GPM is not much to supply one cabin, much less two. You might look at something like the 10SQ15-370 (1.5HP, 240V) that will do 8 GPM or so. Yes, at least a 44 gallon size pressure tank is pretty important for that size pump, especially for off grid. But a pressure tank only holds 25% water. With such a deep well you might prefer a small storage tank with additional booster pump and controls. A storage or cistern tank holds 100% water.

If you have room for say a 200 gallon vertical storage tank, two smaller pumps could be used. A 10SQ05-160 with a PK1A kit using a 4.5 gallon size pressure tank could easily supply strong constant pressure to both cabins using 1/2HP on 115V. Then a 5SQ07-320 could supply water from the well to the cistern tank using only 3/4HP on 115V.

 

[jasvid]

To go from 120 VAC to 240 VAC for a "230 V" pump, you would use a boost transformer.

In the unlikely case that you had 120 VDC available, then you could use the expensive Flex pump or a big inverter.


If you have a pressure switch, you need a pressure tank at your pressure switch. If you just manually turn the pump on and off, make sure there is an open valve when you turn the switch on.

You can use a pressure tank made for underground and bury it (often in sand). The problem is that the available pressure switches today must be protected from freezing. There were freeze-proof pressure switches, which conveyed the pressure via antifreeze, but AFAIK they are no longer sold.

For temporary, just turn the power off and on.

A 7 GPM 1.5 HP or a 10 GPM 2 HP pump would be appropriate for a house IMO. Two cabins should be fine sharing the same I would think. The Goulds 10GS20 is such a pump. It has a Centripro motor. IIRC, some have aluminum windings and some have copper. Copper is better. The motor model identifies which it is with a dash number -- 1 might be copper, but I may be wrong on that.

I appreciate the info. The cabins are small (400 square foot)I didn't know about a boost transformer. I have 9000 watts of120VAC out of my inverters available currently. Good to know I could just turn power on and off for temporary faucet...

 

[jasvid]

3 GPM is not much to supply one cabin, much less two. You might look at something like the 10SQ15-370 (1.5HP, 240V) that will do 8 GPM or so. Yes, at least a 44 gallon size pressure tank is pretty important for that size pump, especially for off grid. But a pressure tank only holds 25% water. With such a deep well you might prefer a small storage tank with additional booster pump and controls. A storage or cistern tank holds 100% water.

If you have room for say a 200 gallon vertical storage tank, two smaller pumps could be used. A 10SQ05-160 with a PK1A kit using a 4.5 gallon size pressure tank could easily supply strong constant pressure to both cabins using 1/2HP on 115V. Then a 5SQ07-320 could supply water from the well to the cistern tank using only 3/4HP on 115V.

View attachment 105079

Thanks for all the info. When I look up the pump curve on the 6-SQF-3, and I look for 400' head, it looks like this pump does around 5.6 GPM. Am I mis-interpreting the pump curve or just not understanding something?

This tank at the top idea might be a pretty good set up for me in the long term. I guess since I live where it freezes pretty good, I would need the 200 gallon tank to be buried?

When I look up the specs for the Grundfos 5SQ08-320, it looks like it only runs on 230v rather than 115V?

 

[Fitter30]

First have to figure out length type of material and pipe size to come up with the head. Your going to have around 5k for the pump. If there's a problem with it and you purchased it instead of the well company your going to be paying for if it needs to be pulled. 1/2 hp 115 v #6 wire 230v # 12. This company has a lot of downloadable info on it. 425' 2.5 gpm thats a.well head

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