Pump for Cistern

I am building a small home on the island of Roatan, Honduras. Plumbing help is nearly impossible to find.

We have a 10,000 gallon water storage tank with a depth of 8'. The location of the cistern is about 70' from our pump house and the pump house is directly under the house. The estimated rise from the bottom of the cistern to the pump house is approximately 20', where I assume we would have our pressure tank, and the rise from the pump house to the service areas is another 15' making a total of 35' rise.

Can any one help me out on the type of pump I should use, size of pump, size of pressure tank, and any other information that can help me determine the proper system to use.

You will have a hard time sucking water from that far away and from 20' depth. I would recommend a 10 GPM, 1/2 HP submersible pump in the cistern. Then I would recommend a minimum of a 40 gallon size pressure tank, or a CSV and a 4.4 gallon size tank.

Thank you valveman for your expert opinion! Are you allowed to give recommendations of actual pumps and pressure tanks? If so, I would really appreciate your input. Thank you........

Any 10 GPM, 1/2 HP submersible will work. There are dozens to choose from. Then all you need is a Pside-Kick like the one in the picture to the left. This will have the 4.4 gallon tank, CSV, pressure switch, and everything else you need for control of the submersible pump.

Since we would be using the submersible pump in an 8' deep cistern does the pump just hang in the water a few inches off the bottom or does it require some type of casing? Thanks for your help...

You will need a flow inducer sleeve, or shroud. Then you can just lay the pump on the bottom, or hang it a few inches above bottom. Probably best if you make a cradle to keep the pump from laying right on the bottom.