Stand Alone Water Tank & Pump:

Is a pressure tank required?

  • No

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Don't know

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    1
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mrnoitall

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Just bought a 2500 gallon water tank and a CLTS5 1/2HP Country Line Cast Iron Jet Pump.

There is no well or water main from city nearby. We get our water delivered by a water transport company.

My reason for posting this is to check my plumbing installation.

Tank has a 2" bottom outlet and a 1-1/2" outlet by lid; I plugged the 1-1/2" outlet since the transporter will fill from lid opening.

Jet Pump has a pressure switch, 1-1/4" suction inlet, and a 1" outlet.

Location of the tank is about 180' from the building because the water truck would get stuck in the soft sand. I was contemplating either running electrical and plumbing or just plumbing. I chose just running plumbing. The slope is about 1" drop per 1' run.

My Plumbing:
From tank bottom outlet: I have a 2" Elbow 90 degrees into a ball valve and two tees: one tee acts as a drain and is plugged; the second acts as a gravity fed faucet. After the tees, ran 60 feet of 2" PVC schedule 40 pipes.

At the end of the 2" pipe installed a 2" to 1-1/4" reducer and ran another 60 feet of 1-1/4" PVC schedule 40 pipes. At the end, since I am burying the pipe, I added two 45 degree elbows to bring the pipe level with the jet pump inlet. The pump is now about 60' from the building.

The jet pump outlet: I plan to install 2 elbows 90 degree into a ball valve, then into the ground to another 90 degree elbow, and then a 1" check valve. I have 20' of 1" PVC schedule 40 pipe; in the middle, 10' from pump, I plan to install a tee with faucet raised above ground. At the end of the 20', I plan to add a threaded plug so I can add another pipe in the future. Currently there will be 1 faucet installed with this setup but plan to connect the supply line to the building at a later date. The faucet will supply water to a motorhome.

To power the jet pump I am using 14awg 3 wire extension cord and replacement plug connected to a 20 amp service outlet ran from the building's electrical panel box.

Now, my questions:
Will I need a pressure tank or can I use the pipes alone?
With everything I stated, did I provide enough information?
Will there be issues with the 2" PVC run of 60' going into the 1-1/4" for another 60': grand total of 120' to pump?
Was it wise to reduce 2" to 1-1/4" at 60' or should have I ran it to the pump then reduced?
Will this setup last at least 6 months?
Will the landscape slope and gravity on water inside tank provide sufficient push to help pump pull water 120'?

I plan to move the tank closer once I can find a way to harden the soft sand. I plan to rent a bob cat or keep driving over it and see if I can pack the sand into a harder surface for water truck and motorhome. As of right now, I plan to use this setup for the next 6 months before renting the bob cat. I am aware it is better to have pump closer to the water tank but the cost of running electrical and plumbing was not feasible this time.

The location is the High Deserts of California; its a gigantic sand box for cats! A death trap for heavy vehicles over 10k lbs.

Thank you in advance.
 

Valveman

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You will certainly need a pressure tank. Water lines cannot store any water because water is not compressible and there is no air in the lines like in a tank. The old way was to use a tank with as much draw down as the pump can produce in one minute. As in a 15 GPM pump needs a 60 gallon tank that has a 15 gallon draw down. And that is just a minimum tank size.

Or you can use a Cycle Stop Valve and a little 4.5 gallon tank, which I just explained again on the question next to yours.

You should be alright drawing water that far with the size of pipe you have.
 

mrnoitall

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You will certainly need a pressure tank. Water lines cannot store any water because water is not compressible and there is no air in the lines like in a tank.

Can you explain more or reword, it is a little confusing.

After posting this then talking with a co-worker; my memory kicked in and I remember why the tank is useful.
I know that having a pressure tank to store water the pump will not have to turn on as often. Without a pressure tank; turning a faucet on then off to wet your shaver ten times causes the pump to turn on each time for a few seconds which shortens its lifespan. My coworker used the shaver as an example to explain why it is good to have a pressure tank. The pumps are designed to run for long periods of time instead of on/off.

I remember replacing several pumps and installing brand new bladder tanks to fix the issue.

The old way was to use a tank with as much draw down as the pump can produce in one minute. As in a 15 GPM pump needs a 60 gallon tank that has a 15 gallon draw down. And that is just a minimum tank size.

Are you talking about non bladder or air-over-water tanks? Never worked with these before; only familiar with bladders. I remember having to refill fire extinguishers with water and compressed air; I wonder if these were bladder tanks.

You should be alright drawing water that far with the size of pipe you have.

This was my main concern... coworker stated I should have ran 2" to the pump and then reduced. I don't know the exact math; but I remember my mentor explaining to me why the water companies install large pipes at the beginning and reduce over time before going into each house. Similar to the air ducts in buildings. It has to do with pressure and balancing the flow equally across all faucets or vents (in the case of air ducts). After thinking about this I am not supplying to multiple houses.

Its been over 20 years since I worked with stand alone water tanks and pumps. So if my memory serves me wrong please correct me.
 

mrnoitall

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http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...ith-7-gallon-pre-charged-pressure-tank-1-2-hp is one of their pumps that comes with a small pressure tank attached. That 7 gallon tank is undersized, however.

I was looking at that model and decided to buy without tank. My first choice was the pump used in the motorhome but once I realized the tank was going to be over 100' away I decided to go bigger.

Did a test run of the plumbing. Gravity plus slope equals a 5 foot spray of water from faucet without pump. Tested pump and it worked great!
 
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