Hello,
I am in the midst of a renovation in central Virginia and we are planning on replacing the plumbing from the well to the house (we are actually tying into a different existing well that was previously only used for cattle waterers - better supply and quality). I am not completely confident in the advice we are getting from contractor/subs, so I would love to either get confirmation of our approach (and what is a fair cost), or an alternative suggestion. It was initially recommended that we install a new variable speed/constant pressure pump. After some reading, I am pretty sure I do not want the added complexity/cost of a VFD system, and have requested that they instead install a Cycle-Stop Valve or just a standard pressure tank. I believe the existing pump may be undersized, so it will likely need replacing.
Here is the pre-existing condition:
Location: Central Virginia
Well depth: 305ft
Pump depth: 280ft
Static Water Level depth: 40ft
Ground Floor House Level: ~10ft above well
Pump: Franklin Schafer 3/4 HP, 10 gal/min
Well production: 15gal/min but this is unconfirmed as it is an old well. We do believe (based on an 8 hour flow test) there is a reasonable underground reservoir (~300-400 gal)
New Water line length: ~750ft of new trenched lines (some of this is to tie the waterers into the old house well).
Water Quality: ph is fine, slightly hard (old well is acidic and hard so requires conditioning)
My questions:
Any advice is greatly appreciated. I was quoted over $10k which seemed high to me given I drilled a new well for less than that, but what I am really concerned about is spending a bunch of money and having an unreliable or expensive to maintain system.
Many thanks in advance!
I am in the midst of a renovation in central Virginia and we are planning on replacing the plumbing from the well to the house (we are actually tying into a different existing well that was previously only used for cattle waterers - better supply and quality). I am not completely confident in the advice we are getting from contractor/subs, so I would love to either get confirmation of our approach (and what is a fair cost), or an alternative suggestion. It was initially recommended that we install a new variable speed/constant pressure pump. After some reading, I am pretty sure I do not want the added complexity/cost of a VFD system, and have requested that they instead install a Cycle-Stop Valve or just a standard pressure tank. I believe the existing pump may be undersized, so it will likely need replacing.
Here is the pre-existing condition:
Location: Central Virginia
Well depth: 305ft
Pump depth: 280ft
Static Water Level depth: 40ft
Ground Floor House Level: ~10ft above well
Pump: Franklin Schafer 3/4 HP, 10 gal/min
Well production: 15gal/min but this is unconfirmed as it is an old well. We do believe (based on an 8 hour flow test) there is a reasonable underground reservoir (~300-400 gal)
New Water line length: ~750ft of new trenched lines (some of this is to tie the waterers into the old house well).
Water Quality: ph is fine, slightly hard (old well is acidic and hard so requires conditioning)
My questions:
- What manufacturer/model/size is recommended for the well pump?
- Is a Cycle-stop valve appropriate for this? What settings would you recommend? We would like decent pressure but do not want to overwork the well.
- What size pressure tank is recommended?
- Should we install a pump monitor/dry well protector (e.g. Franklin Pumptec) - if so is there a recommendation?
- Should I also try to tie in the older house well now or just wait and see if we desire more pressure later? According to the cycle-stop site you can use two cycle-stop valves to tie together two wells.
Any advice is greatly appreciated. I was quoted over $10k which seemed high to me given I drilled a new well for less than that, but what I am really concerned about is spending a bunch of money and having an unreliable or expensive to maintain system.
Many thanks in advance!
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