Rusty123
New Member
My house is on a private well. 3/4 hp submersible pump, 20 feet static head, 80 gallon pressure tank.
Lawn sprinkler system is teed off wellhead. Soon after buying the house, I noticed severe water hammer and pump cycling when sprinklers were running (neither of which occurred with indoor fixture use). I strongly considered installing a CSV to reduce the cycling (I even bought one), but first I decided to change out sprinkler inserts to increase flow. After lots of experimentation, I was able to balance sprinkler flow with pump output for all zones, which resolved the excessive cycling.
But I still get a pretty severe water hammer when the sprinklers activate and the pump starts for the first time. I suspect this is because the initial sprinkler flow causes the water to flow from the pressure tank out of the house, and the pump start causes a sudden flow reversal into the house.
I’ve thought about installing a pump start relay (in addition to the pressure switch) to force the pump to start as soon as the sprinklers activate, but I’m leery of a sprinkler zone failure causing the pump to run continuously and over-pressurize or burn up.
Any other solutions?
Lawn sprinkler system is teed off wellhead. Soon after buying the house, I noticed severe water hammer and pump cycling when sprinklers were running (neither of which occurred with indoor fixture use). I strongly considered installing a CSV to reduce the cycling (I even bought one), but first I decided to change out sprinkler inserts to increase flow. After lots of experimentation, I was able to balance sprinkler flow with pump output for all zones, which resolved the excessive cycling.
But I still get a pretty severe water hammer when the sprinklers activate and the pump starts for the first time. I suspect this is because the initial sprinkler flow causes the water to flow from the pressure tank out of the house, and the pump start causes a sudden flow reversal into the house.
I’ve thought about installing a pump start relay (in addition to the pressure switch) to force the pump to start as soon as the sprinklers activate, but I’m leery of a sprinkler zone failure causing the pump to run continuously and over-pressurize or burn up.
Any other solutions?