Pumping water up from 32 feet

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Roy Vickers

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G'day,
I am an Australian living in Indonesia where we are just coming to the end of our dry season (August we had no rain at all.)
Our only water source is a well (32 feet deep x 3 feet diameter) under our kitchen floor. The highest outlet would be the shower head, so the maximum lift would be about 38 feet.
The pump is situated in the kitchen no more than 6 feet away from the well head and it is connected by 1 inch piping with a non return valve protected head.
It has been working fine for two years (even though I have read that the maximum depth for our situation is between 25 to 29 feet), but now, after performing some pipe maintenance, it won't lift at all.
However, we are now down to about six feet of water - although it was still working before we started maintenance.
My questions are:
1. Would a bigger pump make any difference?
2. Does the volume of water in the well affect the pump's efficiency?
3. Should I look at buying a submersible pump and, if so, what specifications should I look for.

I would be so grateful for any help. In the meantime, picture me as a 6'4" bloke trying to bath in a bucket!
 

Reach4

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A submersible pump would be quieter, and it would not have problems with priming. What is the distance to water and what is the distance to the bottom of the well?

1. regarding working? No.
2. No. It can affect cooling.
3. How much water do you need? Tell us about your pressure tank. I would tend to think that a 1/2 HP 15 or so GPM pump would be good in a typical use with such a shallow well. You don't want a pump designed for a 100 ft deep well.
 

Roy Vickers

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A submersible pump would be quieter, and it would not have problems with priming. What is the distance to water and what is the distance to the bottom of the well?

1. regarding working? No.
2. No. It can affect cooling.
3. How much water do you need? Tell us about your pressure tank. I would tend to think that a 1/2 HP 15 or so GPM pump would be good in a typical use with such a shallow well. You don't want a pump designed for a 100 ft deep well.

Thank you for replying. The well bottom is 32' down so the level of the water at the moment is about 26'. In the wet season, because I have 4 x 50 litre rainwater tanks feeding the well, there is no problem. I've even installed a 3" overflow pipe just in case. During this time the well is never below 90% full and poses no problems.
Because the water is now so low, the maintenance of which I spoke was to increase the depth of the pipe by about 2' so as to try to avoid the pump sucking air.
I guess that there are 2 distinct motions here.
1. Lifting the water to the pump level.
2. Pushing the water to the tap levels.
We have a single story house with 2 bathrooms and a kitchen mainly using the water.
However, with the present set up, we can't use both showers at the same time, and if we use the garden hose (which is the lowest point) we can use neither.
I can no longer read the markings on the pump, but it's about 12" high, 9" long and 6" wide. I realise that this is a bit nebulous, but it's all I have. The pump is three years old.
 

Roy Vickers

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With only 6 feet of water, I would mount the sub on its side, inside a sleeve so that if the level drops, it doesn't suck air so soon.

I have a digital meter that tells me the depth of the water at the press of a button, so I always know if it's getting low. Do I understand that a submersible pump will deliver more pressure than what I have now?
 

Reach4

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Currently I think you have a single pipe shallow well pump that is up in the living space. It can only suck about 25 to 28 feet to the pump. By pushing, you can have as much pressure as you need.

With a submersible pump, you would normally have a pressure tank with a diaphram to retain water.

How dirty is the bottom of the well? Is it concrete? I am wondering if this is really a cistern that only stores rainwater.

For your submersible pump, you would want a shroud AKA flow inducer. https://terrylove.com/forums/index....-pump-in-cistern-mounting-installation.23621/

If the bottom is not concrete, I would leave the pump vertical, and suspend it off of the bottom. I would still consider the flow inducer.
 
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LLigetfa

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A submersible is twice as efficient as a jet pump, never needs priming, and can deliver much more pressure than you need.
 

Craigpump

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We convert a lot of jet systems to submersibles and never once has anyone called and asked for their old jet pump back.
 

Roy Vickers

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Thank you all for your advice and please indulge me if I reply collectively.
The well is, indeed, a bore because the water table solely delivered the water when we bought the house. However, the previous local inhabitants only had two taps and an Asian toilet, so the capacity was more than adequate.
We, of course, use much more water than do the locals, so I added the rain water tanks as an additional water supply. Last year, the well never went lower than 60% even in the driest period. But, this year, I have added a fish pond and used a lot of water experimenting.

Yet, we haven't yet run dry as we still have 20% water left. But, that is below what appears to be below the critical pump for jet pump (now I know what it's called)
I don't know if the bottom of the well is concrete or not, but I doubt it. I had a look at the non-return fitting yesterday and it did need a little cleaning. I'm thinking now that I should replace it to ensure that it is working efficiently. If it isn't, logic tells me that therein may lie a problem! I also wondered if I replaced the 1" well pipe with, say ¾". Would this effectively change anything?

A neighbour tells me that, during the dry season, he suspends his pump halfway down the well shaft so that the equation of getting the water to the pump and from the pump to the taps, is more efficient.
This would be a very messy temporary solution with pipe relocation - if indeed the idea has any merit.

I am unclear what both a 'shroud' or 'flow inducer' and 'pressure tank with diaphragm' are. I saw the picture supposedly of a submersible pump strapped to, maybe, 2 PVC tubes, but I'm not sure as I have yet to see a submersible pump. Now, I will go search for some images.
It's not easy, is it?
 

LLigetfa

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If your jet pump is convertible, then you can run a second line and put the jet down in the well. Hanging a jet pump part way down the well is way too ghetto for me.
 

Reach4

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You have a shallow well jet pump probably. There are deep well jet pumps in which 2 pipes go into the well. One delivers water under pressure, and the other returns more water.

Your pump would probably move enough water that it would stay cool without a shroud. Your pump can just hang vertically from the pipe a little off of the bottom.

That idea of suspending your current pump part way down the bore would work.
 

Roy Vickers

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With most grateful thanks to you all, I have now planted a rose tree in my bath-time bucket.
I have purchased and installed (with a little help) a submersible pump with automatic cut-off and I couldn't be happier. All I need now is water, although the 6 feet I still have have left I can now use.
Most certainly, I could not have completed it so successfully without the help and advice of you all.
I am humbled.
ROY
.
 
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