Underground metal well cover/house

Greg Mueller

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Datil, NM
I'm trying to find out information about these. They are for extreme temperature areas.
They are like a piece of culvert standing on end with a domed top with a hatch in it. They have no bottom. They are about 6' in diameter and probably the same height.
The idea is to put your pressure tank/etc in this underground structure in cold weather areas. Since the earth stays at about 50° the stuff won't freeze. I've seen them around Datil (NM), but I'm not there to look now

My mom is having troubles with critters digging into her well house and knocking the heater over, not to mention the cost of 'lectricity for the heater. When it gets down below the teens she loses her water

Anybody know a make/model/manufacturer ?

Thanks
 
pipe heat tape would be much cheaper and heat only the pipes enough to keep them from freezing, and since the pump house is now NOT warm, critters wont be so interested. insulate over the tape.
 
We've tried a few things.
Mostly it is the pressure tank that ices up, but the lines, of course, freeze too.
It's not uncommon to see them down there

The first time I saw one I thought a UFO had landed
 
There are always tradeoffs. The problems I have with those kind of vaults is condensation dripping on everything making copper turn green, drainage, and cost. I tore down an old well house that was always full of critters. I put in a pitless adapter and moved my little tank and pressure switch inside the house. Everything at the well is buried and I put one of those fake rocks over the top of the casing. Life is good.
 
I called the local water well place (Williams Windmills in Lemitar) and it turns out they made those underground vaultish things.
Not too much humidity in Datil. 16-18 inches of rain per year (all on the same day) and 15-20% humidity typically (unless it rains)
 
We used the corrigated drainage type vaults in NM and they worked fine except that the well must still be outside the vault, they are very close to enter and service and you usually had to remove the lid and enter the vault to service anything.

I like the Pside-Kick since it entered the picture a few years ago. Now the small tank and controls can be installed in or under the house, in a closet or in the garage. Now there's no need to heat or bury anything, it's easy to service, extends the life of the pumping systen, eliminates most water hammer, gives a constant pressure and it's easy to service. Oh Yeh, The Pside-Kick requires very little space, costs a lot less and animals and bugs aren't likely to bother it.
 
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