how can I get the holding tank to work with the well?

We have always had a slow well. We have looked into fracking and would end up having to dig a new well since a huge shed is over our existing well.

We had a plumber come out and he put in another pressure tank, which we thought was a water holding tank, so duh, nothing really worked well - I know, some plumbers do not know wells!!!!

so we decided to get water holding tanks - the well guy took out the pressure tanks and installed two 165 g holding tanks and a new pump thingy is at the tanks. We thought, cool we are in water hog heaven!!!!

The well filled up one tank to approx. 1.5 feet. that was it. I was expecting it to fill both tanks all the way. So we ordered water, and filled up the tanks, but now we are only using the water we bought, our well is not kicking in. I just shut off the second water holding tank so we could see how low the first one goes before the well kicks in. Perhaps we have really gotten the wrong thing, I do not want to be buying water all the time. so what do I do about water management?

can someone please explain this to me? I have an email into my well guy, but it is the weekend and no response yet.

did I do the right thing by shutting off use of the second tank - I am thinking that is our luxury party tank for when folks come over and need to flush and such.

What did the well guy do? Install a cistern (atmospheric tank) for the well to fill and install another pump to pull from it to a pressure tank?

If so, you will need some sort of motor protection for the submersible so it won't run dry and burn up. You obviously have a low flow well and the pump is over pumping it.

If your pump won't come on at all, you may have already nuked it. But I would like to think the well guy thought of that scenario in advance of leaving the job.

bob...

I think I figured it out

He installed a little mini pump - looks like a german pressure pump/tank and two holding tanks. I think this guy knows what he is doing. Looks like until we hit a certain level we just use all the water in our holding tanks.

I have been hanging with the pumps all morning, Turns out that I finally found the level that the water in the tank gets to before the well pump turns on. so it looks like I can use our second tank just to hold extra water, for if we have a high water use, ie. party.

That way we don't have to keep buying water all the time, or telling the kids to go outside and Pee. luckily we live in a wooded area, not a busy subdivision.

Does my logic sound logical?

I'm not sure your plumber served you well.

Why two holding tanks? Limited size into the basement door? Otherwise one big one is less expensive.

The "little mini pump/tank" is probably an expensive disaster. You had a pressure tank. All you needed then was a 1/2 HP shallow well jet pump (about $165 at HD or less than $250 elsewhere) to pump from your new 165 gallon tanks to your existing pressure tank.

I would tell him that the "little mini pump/tank" is unsatisfactory and you want your old tank and your money back.

I assume that your 165 gallon tanks are plastic tanks that don't hold pressure. If you got pressure tanks then you paid a lot more than you needed to pay. And if they are operated as pressure tanks, they may not be running full of water so you aren't using their full capacity. Together, they should give you about 300 gallons of reliable strorage.

Your two 165 gallon tanks should be connected together at the bottom and there should be a connection from those tanks to the inlet of your pressure pump (the jet pump or the "little mini pump"). Those tanks should both be operated full whenever water is available from the well.

There should be a float switch in one of your connected 165 gallon tanks to control the pump in the well. It should turn on when the water drops about 6 inches below full, and turn off when full. The level switch replaces the pressure switch that controlled your well pump. If your tanks are inside, there should be an overflow pipe to get rid of the water if the control circuit fails.

You need a control to keep your well from being pumped dry. That applies to any system, given your limited well capacity.

Hi Bob, I think we have just what you described.

the plumber was the nutcase who installed 2 pressure tanks, our well guy fixed that goof up and they put in two holding tanks due to limited door size. We probably could have worked it with one, but it has been years of running out of water so I think we are ok.

things are working as you say, but I may have him adjust the level the pump comes on to, it actually turns on about 12" from the top of tank.

The "little mini pump/tank" is probably a constant pressure pump using a cycle stop valve or similar set up. And if it is, it's a very good choice and allows the pump to run while you use water instead of shutting off and turning on constantly. That provides constant pressure. And buying a larger pressure tank to prevent that is more expensive and takes up more space and wears out the pump motor sooner, by the constant on/off cycliing, while running up the electric bill. All the while the well would still have to produce a much higher volume to replace the larger volume of water the new pressure tank requires... So the plumber with the two pressure tanks was making the situation worse and...

Wanting or requiring the well pump to come on later, after drawing down your new storage tanks more than the 12", makes the well have to produce more water at one time. And a low producing well is not capable of doing that PLUS.... you've just spent a bunch of money time and effort to prevent the dry well condition and protect your well pump. So don't undo the cure by asking the well for more water per pump run.

I hate to mention another (very probable) problem.... has anyone, specifically the well guy, mentioned anything about future water quality problems with 2 165 gal atmospheric storage tanks?

You have read my mind.....

About the water quality. Guess I went overboard on that second tank......

I was initially thinking of hoarding the second tank, but in reality, how long can we hold the water in the second tank? or should we be putting something in it?

It is chlorinated city water in there.

and thanks for all the info on the setup.

If the inlet and outlet are the same pipe, there is a risk of biological growth in a tank. If the inlet is at the top and the outlet is at the bottom, the risk is diminished.

Adding one tablespoon (15 milliliters) of 5% sodium hypochlorite bleach (household bleach) to each tank about once a week is a pretty good way to control it.

If you are getting water from a shallow well or spring, you might want to do a little more. However, I doubt that a spring would be a reliable supply in Alaska (except along the southeast coast).

Some people are paranoid about chlorine, and it can be overdone, but millions of people are supplied by municipal water systems that use chlorine for disinfectant.

Wow thanks

You guys are the greatest. Thank you for all your help and information.

Do let me know if you have any knitting questions.