blshaw45
New Member
I am not a mechanical engineer nor otherwise any kind of professional regarding water wells, pumps our anything related thereto. I thus hope that some members of this forum can offer some advice on an important application, discussed below.
I represent a mountain-side residential community that has an 800-foot deep water well that will eventually be shared among about a half dozen homes (although at present only 3 homes are hooked up). The wellhead is at an elevation of about 2830 feet and there is a 1700 gallon storage tank at an elevation of about 3070 feet. A 3hp pump in the well delivers water to the tank via a buried "feed" pipeline running approximately 1200 feet uphill through the woods. The pipe enters the tank above its high-water level and water "falls" into the tank (thus precluding any siphon affect, although there are also check valves in the well's casing). There is also a smaller pump in the tank near its bottom that delivers water to a co-located pressure tank. A "supply" pipeline connects the pressure tank to the currently-participating homes, all of which are fairly close to the tank.
A new home is under construction at about the same elevation as the wellhead and within 325 feet of it. One way to provide water from the shared system to the new home would be to extend the present supply line downhill, but this would require digging a trench approximately 1400 feet in length and cutting pavement to get under a roadway.
Another option for supplying the new home is under consideration. Specifically, we think that we could install a "T" connection in the feed pipeline at the wellhead. There’d be a shut-off valve at the T and a new 325-foot pipeline would be laid from there to the new home. Since my calculations suggest that the pressure at the home would be over 100 psi due to the ~240 foot head above, there’d be a pressure reducer in the home and a backflow preventer.
The last component of such a system would be an elbow on the feed pipe where it enters the tank and an extension from the elbow to a point below the tank’s low-water level. This would allow the new home to siphon water from the tank.
I have attached diagrams that illustrate both the present system and the proposed system.
Can anyone think of a reason why this latter option will not work or should be avoided?
Thanks in advance!!
I represent a mountain-side residential community that has an 800-foot deep water well that will eventually be shared among about a half dozen homes (although at present only 3 homes are hooked up). The wellhead is at an elevation of about 2830 feet and there is a 1700 gallon storage tank at an elevation of about 3070 feet. A 3hp pump in the well delivers water to the tank via a buried "feed" pipeline running approximately 1200 feet uphill through the woods. The pipe enters the tank above its high-water level and water "falls" into the tank (thus precluding any siphon affect, although there are also check valves in the well's casing). There is also a smaller pump in the tank near its bottom that delivers water to a co-located pressure tank. A "supply" pipeline connects the pressure tank to the currently-participating homes, all of which are fairly close to the tank.
A new home is under construction at about the same elevation as the wellhead and within 325 feet of it. One way to provide water from the shared system to the new home would be to extend the present supply line downhill, but this would require digging a trench approximately 1400 feet in length and cutting pavement to get under a roadway.
Another option for supplying the new home is under consideration. Specifically, we think that we could install a "T" connection in the feed pipeline at the wellhead. There’d be a shut-off valve at the T and a new 325-foot pipeline would be laid from there to the new home. Since my calculations suggest that the pressure at the home would be over 100 psi due to the ~240 foot head above, there’d be a pressure reducer in the home and a backflow preventer.
The last component of such a system would be an elbow on the feed pipe where it enters the tank and an extension from the elbow to a point below the tank’s low-water level. This would allow the new home to siphon water from the tank.
I have attached diagrams that illustrate both the present system and the proposed system.
Can anyone think of a reason why this latter option will not work or should be avoided?
Thanks in advance!!
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