Pressure tank Q

Hello everyone,

I am going to be installing a pressure tank on my well pump. The well water is used to water my lawn and livestock not the house so there is no current line running into the house. Since I live in a place where water lines need to be buried lower than 6 feet because of freezing it seems very unlogical to put the pressure tank in the house because of difficulty in getting water lines inside but I will have to install the pressure tank underground.

My question to you is what is the best underground pressure tank and pressure switch that will give me many good years of use. I hear these underground pressure tanks go out on you after some time. I would like it to last 20 years at least if not more. Could you recommend to me a pressure tank for this. Thanks

Willl said:

Could you recommend to me a pressure tank for this.

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No.

The nature of bladders is that they can fail. And if they freeze they can be damaged immediately. So when that pumphouse heater goes out in the middle of the coldest part of winter, or the power goes off, you may have to replace it.

The wise thing to do is to make it easy to replace.

The underground pressure tank is going to be below frost line. It shouldn't freeze then.

I believe that there are better ones than others. Personally, how long have you seen them last.

I just talked to a guy about putting a pressure tank in and based on my house etc. he said that putting it underground is the only feasible route to take. Thanks

I'm going to make some assumptions as a basis for suggesting an answer.

Where are the livestock going to be? I doubt that you are going to get 6 ft of frost in the barn.

If you aren't going to use the well in the winter then the tank can be above ground. It is easy to empty a bladder tank.

You can run a small copper tube to the tank to check air pressure and recharge the tank under ground.

You are going to need to get the water to the barn to water the livestock in the winter. Since the livestock will be drinking the water instead of chomping on ice, it is likely that the water will not be frozen in the barn.

Put the tank in the barn, buried or covered up or protected so it doesn't freeze.

Hi,

I have hydrants placed around my property that drain themselves of water in the copper tubes when you close them. The water will be used during the winter. What we use right now is an on/off switch on the pump which can be quite tedious at times. The water trough has one of those water heaters in them.

You can run a small copper tube to the tank to check air pressure and recharge the tank under ground.

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If I put the tank underground which seems highly likely right know should I tell him to do this or is this common practice.

I wouldn't mind putting the thing underground at all it is just that he told me I should expect a 10-12 year life of the tank and that really surprised me. I thought perhaps he was just using tanks that might be alittle bit inferior quality. I am surprised that cannot make these things last in the 20+ year range. But maybe the cannot. Thanks

I would put the tank in an insulated vault (a lined hole) that has an insulated entryway. When the tank fails you disconnect the tank at a union and haul it out.

The vault is a high-humidity location. A fiberglass tank will eliminate rust as a failure mode.

Tell the installer that you need a means to check and maintain the pressure on the air-side of the bladder.

Well, I do have access to a 1/2" copper tube that runs from below ground to level ground that can be pressurized. The reason why this water line doesn't freeze is because it is run in the middle of a large galvanized pipe and has heat tape on it. Unfortunately this copper tube is located about 150 feet away from the pump, 100 feet away from the heated house. I suppose I could put the pressure tank on this line put then I would need a way to keep the pressure tank warm during the winter becuase there isn't any heated sheds around. Next I would have to run the electrical wire from the pump to the pressure switch. That would be about 150 feet of electrical wire because of the distance it is from the pump. If there was an easy way from preventing the pressure tank from freezing solid during the winter I would go for it but the only thing I can think of is building a small shed for the tank and putting a electrical heater in there but I think that might not be too economical. Underground tank might be the best way to go. Thanks