Pics of my Well

I will like to share some pics of my well and at the same time ask a question. The very last shot of the blue holding tank and booster pump came with the house to supposedly compensate for lower pressure in the early days. These days the pressure is a steady 70 PSI with the pump off. The pump is been off for 2 + years now and I am not so sure the pressure tank is serving any function at this point.

My plan is to “Tee†off where indicate on 3rd pic and add the pressure tank to my well since I have it, and I have a low producing well (5 GPM). Is it as simple as my drawing indicates to add as a second bladder? I will also adjust the air in the tank to 2 PSI lower that my lowest settings on my pressure switch which is a 60/80.

I was hoping to share some more pics but I am limited to only 4.


Thanks for looking.

Yes adding another tank is that easy, and yes that place would be OK. However, pressure tanks are no good for storage with a weak well. I assume you have the pressure switch at about 60/80. At 60/80 the big tank will hold about 22 gallons and the small tank about 12 gallons. Together that is 34 gallons of drawdown. You only have this 34 gallons when the pressure is the highest and the pump is shut off. You use this 34 gallons as the pressure drops from 80 to 60. Then all you have left is what the well and pump can supply.

You have no choice as to what the pressure is when you start using water. Murphy’s law says that anytime you start using water, the pressure will be about 61 PSI. This means the tanks will only supply about 2 gallons of water before the pump must start. Once the pump starts, not only is the pump directly supplying the water being used, but it is trying to refill the tanks at the same time. Even if the well doesn’t run dry while you are using water, it has to refill the pressure tanks before the pump can shut off. The more pressure tanks you have, the more likely the well will run dry while refilling the pressure tanks.

Even if the tanks happen to be full when you start using water, the tanks have to refill before the pump will shut off. Pressure tanks are not for storing water, they are simply to keep the pump from cycling on and off to frequently. Real water storage happens before the pump. The water stored in the well is always available to you. If additional storage is needed, you need a cistern or storage tank that can be filled slowly, and with a booster pump can be used at whatever rate is required.

Here is a drawing of a storage tank set up. Notice that the pressure tank is very small, only holds 1 gallon of water. But the storage tank and booster pump can supply water at the maximum rate needed for extended periods of time.

I'll add..... And if you go a storage tank, you need to think of water quality problems/issues and cleaning and disinfecting it periodically.

The water stored in the well is the volume/amount from the pump's intake to the level of water in the well but, the pump has to be capable/able to deliver the required gpm from the max depth of water in the well. IOWs a submersible would be set like 10-20' off the bottom of the well and sized to be able to pump water from that depth or all but that depth. All water below the pump's inlet is unusable. Sad to say that most pumps are not sized to be able to do that.

Thanks Valveman and Gary for your comments.

So then it’s not worth the effort in adding the 2nd 85 gal pressure tank. That said, I am planning on adding a holding tank along with a pressure pump. I am worry that my electric bill will be out of control as I have a 3HP in the well and I will probably need a 2 HP for the holding tank to provide adequate pressure.

A 5 GPM, 3 HP well pump? How deep is this well? Something is not right here. A 3HP can pump 5 GPM from a 1,000' deep.

Yep! I think the driller was thinking my well will produce enough water to meet my irrigation needs without a holding tank and figuring on a strong pump for the 500’ well plus another 500’ to my pressure and where the water is needed.

Let me know if you have any ideas how I can make this as efficient as possible.

Thanks in advance.

OK from 500' a 3 HP can pump about 11 GPM and still give you 50 PSI in the house. The 500' distance to the house will only add a little friction loss, depending on the size of pipe you have. You need to know how much water is stored in the well before you will know if you need a storage tank and booster pump. If there is 300' of water in the well, that is like having a 500 gallon storage tank. If there is only 20' of water in the well, you will need a storage tank that can be filled slowly, and then used at whatever rate you need with a booster pump.