question on 3/4 submersible and tank .

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Johnny Turner

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I got my 1550 gal tank and have it setup also have pside-kick kit coming in soon .I was wondering should I just drop that submersible into the tank with pvc and let it lie horizontal on the bottom and will it stay put or will it just rip the pvc to pieces and take off?Should I anchor with some weight or will it be good just hanging with pvc? Also I have the water from that spring gravity feed over the hill with a 3/4 polyflex pipe I timed its gpm at 7 from the pipe and I assume that the spring right now is running around 15 gpm because taking out 7 gal a min doesn`t phase the water level at all at the spring.
 

Valveman

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The pump won't go anywhere. If you make a flow inducer sleeve out of a piece of 4" plastic, thin wall pipe, it will keep the pump a little off the bottom when laying on its side.
 

Reach4

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I don't think he intends for it to be bacteria free. I think he wants it pathogen free and even E coli free. What would you suggest?

IIRC, I think his longer term plan was to maybe put that same pump down a well at some point. Unfortunately he put this on a new post where it was hard to see the prior details of his plan.
 

Johnny Turner

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Centering bolts are not needed.

I done got the sdr 35 pipe and well seal for the inducer sleeve I was just worried that the pump might put to much force on the pvc and cuase some issues. Also I don`t plan on drinking this water but maybe cook with it.How can I keep the bacteria out of it ?I have 2 kids and I wouldn`t want them to become sick .So any help would be appreciated.I thought I could just put bleach in it how much would be needed for 1550 gallons of water ?And would this work I would have to add freash water to the system if I don`t get rain fall the spring will eventually stop so I have to keep the tank topped off when this starts to happen .
 

Craigpump

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Forget the bleach, you will be hard pressed to keep the proper chlorine level and contact time will be an issue.

A better way to go is to use a UV light that will sterilize/kill the bacteria, however it won't kill Giardia or Crytosporidium. The UV light will require service on an annual basis that includes replacement of the bulb and quartz sleeve.

@ Reach, E Coli is fecal bacteria.
 

Reach4

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http://thepoolcalculator.com/ is a nice calculator to compute how much bleach to add to a volume of water to go from a current PPM to a new PPM. Like a well, bleach can be used to disinfect the cistern and pipes initially or periodically, and it could be used at much lower levels continually. I would go for an initial shock at 50 to 100 PPM. After the appropriate time, dump that water outside, and mostly not down into the septic tank. You would want to do that when the spring has a lot of water, of course. The UV might be an alternative or a supplement to sanitizing the cistern-- I don't know.

Craigpump, no ****. :) Most is not pathogenic. If a bird, squirrel or rabbit takes a dump near the spring, it is very unlikely to make anybody sick-- even if drinking the water. In a well an E coli bacterium showing up in a test would be a lot more concerning because it would tend to point toward human waste leakage, but his spring is in the woods away from septic tanks and such.
 

Craigpump

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Reach, go back and reread your post, it seemed that you were unaware that EColi is indeed a bacteria.

All warm blooded animals have E Coli in their waste, a dead animal decomposing in a well or a spring can indeed introduce fecal bacteria or E Coli into the water. All it takes to contaminate a spring is for rain to wash some crap into the spring.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't take that risk with my family, especially since younger people are more susceptible to the hazards of E Coli.
 

Johnny Turner

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Ok so now I`m kind of worried here I don`t want to screw this up and make my family sick .I don`t plan on drinking the water but use it to wash dishes and take showers and cook in.That calculator has me confused I must say I will have to take some time to figure it out .And when you say shock the system with bleach do you not leave bleach in the system ?Also I checked for the uv light but haven`t found one yet could you point me to one suitable for treating 1500 gallons of water ?
 

Reach4

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Reach, go back and reread your post, it seemed that you were unaware that EColi is indeed a bacteria.
Many, if not most, water pathogens are also bacteria. So my intended distinction was bacteria-free (no IRB, SRB or other bacteria that would spring from the ground). Most E coli is not a pathogen, but as you pointed out, is often an indicator of fecal contamination, so he would very probably want to be E coli free too. But if he got a CFU of E coli right from the spring, I don't think that would say that the spring water was not safe to drink. But he does not plan to drink the spring water anyway. The bulk of the bacteria coming from underground in a spring are going to be ones adapted to temperatures cooler than body temperatures.

How about a 1 micron filter on the incoming water? That should keep the E coli out, and that is a whole lot cheaper than your $500 UV system.

I do like my chili con carne with meat. :rolleyes:
 
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Reach4

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Ok so now I`m kind of worried here I don`t want to screw this up and make my family sick .I don`t plan on drinking the water but use it to wash dishes and take showers and cook in.That calculator has me confused I must say I will have to take some time to figure it out .And when you say shock the system with bleach do you not leave bleach in the system ?Also I checked for the uv light but haven`t found one yet could you point me to one suitable for treating 1500 gallons of water ?
I think the main reason to shock the cistern and pipes from the spring would be more to kill things that you might have deposited during construction. It may not even be needed. There are harmless bacteria all over.

The UV thing craigpump suggested would be in line with the pipe entering the house, and would not try to disinfect the cistern. It sounds like overkill to me, especially since you plan to not drink the water. Millions of people drink well water with no UV system, and don't get infected from the bacteria. A cistern is not a well, but yours is really quite a bit like a well.

I am just an amateur with a well and no UV sterilizer. I do drink the water.
 

Craigpump

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Sounds like overkill?

I guess you don't read about the people that get sick and die from E Coli....

The reason people don't get E Coli from wells is because wells are properly constructed with steel or PVC casing set into bedrock. The wells have water tight, vermin proof well caps and people have their water tested at regular intervals to be sure the water is potable (safe to drink). The few times I have seen EColi in wells is because the casing rotted, the wells were old pit wells with bad well seals or there have been animals dead or alive in the wells.

What we are talking about here is not the same as a well. It is a freaking hole in the ground with water seeping out it. It has no protection from surface contamination. There is no way to know whether there is any subsurface connection to a sink hole that might have a dead cow or deer in it. And truth be told, if he had the water tested today and it was bacteria free, that is no guarantee that 3 months down the road it wouldn't still be bacteria free.

True many people in third world countries drink shit water, but they have built up an immunity to it over the years. That's why the elderly and children are especially prone to getting sick from, E Coli, they don't have the resistance.

UV lights are rated for gallons of water per minute based on the amount of water per minute you are using. For example you don't want a UV light rated for 10 gpm if you are going to be using 20 gpm because there won't be enough exposure time.
 

Valveman

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I have been to lots of fishing cabins on lakes that just use a pump out in the lake for water to the cabins. I wouldn’t drink it, cook with it, or brush my teeth with it, and I close my eyes in the shower. It is wet and will wash the soap off, but you have to be careful with untreated surface water of any kind.
 
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