Sean Shannon
New Member
Please bear with me as I am not well versed in the way of the well... my father, who recently passed away would take care of the water needs at my parents house.
The well is a shallow well (60ft or so) with a centrifugal pump with a 6.5hp 3-phase motor and a very large vertical bladderless tank (50+ years old). The pump was always prone to cavitation which would ultimately destroy the impeller and so in an effort to minimize this, my father placed a ball valve between the pump and the tank to force some back pressure onto the pump (don't know if this is the "correct" thing to do or not). There have also been any number of times where my father assumed that the tank had become waterlogged, so he would completely drain the tank and re-fill it; there isn't any sort of air control valve on this tank.
This well feeds 2 houses as well as the irrigation of the 2.5 acres of grape vines. Irrigation doesn't typically happen until the spring/summer months and I do not believe that this is a daily occurrence during that time period.
It appears the the cut-in is 20lbs and cut-out is 40lbs. I am not sure why the pressure switch is so low, but there may have been a reason for this.
What would be the best approach to ensuring longevity of the pump as well as increase the water pressure to the two houses? I am open to any suggestions to help ensure that my mother has the water pressure necessary (toilets take forever to fill).
I will do my best to answer any questions that anyone has.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Sean
The well is a shallow well (60ft or so) with a centrifugal pump with a 6.5hp 3-phase motor and a very large vertical bladderless tank (50+ years old). The pump was always prone to cavitation which would ultimately destroy the impeller and so in an effort to minimize this, my father placed a ball valve between the pump and the tank to force some back pressure onto the pump (don't know if this is the "correct" thing to do or not). There have also been any number of times where my father assumed that the tank had become waterlogged, so he would completely drain the tank and re-fill it; there isn't any sort of air control valve on this tank.
This well feeds 2 houses as well as the irrigation of the 2.5 acres of grape vines. Irrigation doesn't typically happen until the spring/summer months and I do not believe that this is a daily occurrence during that time period.
It appears the the cut-in is 20lbs and cut-out is 40lbs. I am not sure why the pressure switch is so low, but there may have been a reason for this.
What would be the best approach to ensuring longevity of the pump as well as increase the water pressure to the two houses? I am open to any suggestions to help ensure that my mother has the water pressure necessary (toilets take forever to fill).
I will do my best to answer any questions that anyone has.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Sean