Skytland
New Member
I'm looking for advice on the design of pump system to supply water to our house which is located at elevation on a mountain.
The best solution would be our own private well, but drilling a well is not feasible due to the unknown cost and also because we are on a large granite mountain. Therefore, we have worked with our neighbors to tap into an existing community well which is located below us. We have been experimenting for months, laying PVC up and down the mountain through poison ivy, and iterating until we got the water to at least trickle. We currently have about 30 PSI of water flowing through a 1" PVC pipe at the lowest point at our property line (Point B) but there is not enough pressure to push the water to the house (Point C). Our current solution has a 1.5HP pump located at Point B and a pressure tank at Point C that is working decently well, however, the water is not constantly supplied. For example, if you turn the water on it'll flow for about one minute, until we exhaust the pressure in the line, at which point the water stops until the pump at the Point B kicks on. This can take 2 - 15 minutes, depending on how many people below us are using water. It's a temporary solution, so we are looking to improve the situation.
Here is an diagram.
Description of Current System:
Point A: Elevation 1720ft, Community Well House
- Well house has two pressure tanks with 60/80 switches.
Point B: Elevation 1794ft, Start of Property Line
- 30PSI flowing in 1" PVC pipe. We've installed a 1.5 HP Pump from there to push water up to the house.
Point C: Elevation 1985ft, House
- We have a small pressure tank that pushes water into the house. Water flows, but not continuously. Will turn off after 2 minutes of use (so not ideal for showers) and come back on after the pump kicks on and repressurizes the line (which takes 2-15 minutes). Once the pump kicks on, the water flow is continuous.
Proposed Future System:
We think the best solution is the following
1. Keep the 1.5HP Pump at Point B to pressurize the water and help lift it to Point C.
2. Add a 300 gallon holding tank that would be filled by the pump below it and include a float valve to shutoff the pump when full. This tank would be enclosed in a heated cinder block pump house that we are going to build, along with the pump and pressure tank described below.
3. Add a 1 HP pump to push the water from the holding tank to the pressure tank.
4. Keep the existing pressure tank to push the water into the house.
Advice Requested:
Here are my questions:
1. Is this a reasonable/sufficient configuration or does anyone have a better solution?
2. Is there anything else we should add to this system to improve it, such as a pressure switches, sensors, etc?
3. Do you have any recommendations on what float value should be used in the holding tank? In another thread someone suggested a Philmac High Flow Float Valve.
Thank you for your help!
The best solution would be our own private well, but drilling a well is not feasible due to the unknown cost and also because we are on a large granite mountain. Therefore, we have worked with our neighbors to tap into an existing community well which is located below us. We have been experimenting for months, laying PVC up and down the mountain through poison ivy, and iterating until we got the water to at least trickle. We currently have about 30 PSI of water flowing through a 1" PVC pipe at the lowest point at our property line (Point B) but there is not enough pressure to push the water to the house (Point C). Our current solution has a 1.5HP pump located at Point B and a pressure tank at Point C that is working decently well, however, the water is not constantly supplied. For example, if you turn the water on it'll flow for about one minute, until we exhaust the pressure in the line, at which point the water stops until the pump at the Point B kicks on. This can take 2 - 15 minutes, depending on how many people below us are using water. It's a temporary solution, so we are looking to improve the situation.
Here is an diagram.
Description of Current System:
Point A: Elevation 1720ft, Community Well House
- Well house has two pressure tanks with 60/80 switches.
Point B: Elevation 1794ft, Start of Property Line
- 30PSI flowing in 1" PVC pipe. We've installed a 1.5 HP Pump from there to push water up to the house.
Point C: Elevation 1985ft, House
- We have a small pressure tank that pushes water into the house. Water flows, but not continuously. Will turn off after 2 minutes of use (so not ideal for showers) and come back on after the pump kicks on and repressurizes the line (which takes 2-15 minutes). Once the pump kicks on, the water flow is continuous.
Proposed Future System:
We think the best solution is the following
1. Keep the 1.5HP Pump at Point B to pressurize the water and help lift it to Point C.
2. Add a 300 gallon holding tank that would be filled by the pump below it and include a float valve to shutoff the pump when full. This tank would be enclosed in a heated cinder block pump house that we are going to build, along with the pump and pressure tank described below.
3. Add a 1 HP pump to push the water from the holding tank to the pressure tank.
4. Keep the existing pressure tank to push the water into the house.
Advice Requested:
Here are my questions:
1. Is this a reasonable/sufficient configuration or does anyone have a better solution?
2. Is there anything else we should add to this system to improve it, such as a pressure switches, sensors, etc?
3. Do you have any recommendations on what float value should be used in the holding tank? In another thread someone suggested a Philmac High Flow Float Valve.
Thank you for your help!
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