I am trying to get a well house up to speed that was poorly designed and maintained. The well pump now feeds a 1700 gal underground storage tank. A booster pump (looks about 3hp to me, no nameplate with specs).... it pumps water from the underground tank into 4 pressurized bladder tanks... standard tanks u see everywhere.. maybe 100 gallons max., pressure is set to 60 psi on switch.
Problem is, the system does not get used much, and the booster pump constantly looses prime. I tried a feed hose from the pressurized tank loop into the pumps head and suction pipe, but its "hit or miss", sometimes I prime it, other times, the flow from the garden hose that feeds into the pumps inlet, prob. has insufficient volume vs. the 1.25" PVC piping it trying to fill... Also, the check valve at the bottom of the pipe (about 1 ft from the underground tank bottom) does not seat properly...too much dirt comes up from the well pump, into the storage tank.... I have the underground tank open and empy now, and need to make some decisions on where to go from here...
1) Do many of you put filters on the well pump feed to the storage tank to reduce dirt build up in the storage tank?
2) My first inclination to solve this nuisance pump-prime problem, bite the bullet, ($) and install a submersible pump (well pump) in the underground tank, then, it will always be primed. Hopefully I will only loose maybe 12" of bottom water, which is acceptable in this tank. I can put a large PVC pipe with large holes drilled into it, to keep the pump upright. My thought is, if I take this route, I will never be at the mercy of a priming system, or failed check valves on the bottom of the suction pipe... not fun digging down to this tank, and getting to the check valve in the future...If this makes sense, maybe someone can make a suggestion on the right type of submersible pump... the booster pump is 230V at about 15 amps when I did a quick check. Bottom of tank is maybe 12 ft under ground level. The underground tank is only 5 ft from the storage tank loops, outside the well house.
Since the underground tank has a float, and now maybe a submersible pump, I feel uneasy about covering what we just dug. I would think having quick access to the tank is a good idea. I was thinking of installing a 4ft wide metal pipe (culvert?) over the tank lid and PVC ports. Up to ground level, and place some type of "manhole cover" on it... Is there "access" products like this on the market...if so, maybe someone can provide a link. I can fill the access port with insulation to prevent from freezing. any thoughts would be appreciated on this....I sure see lots of advantages over above ground tanks...
TYIA
Problem is, the system does not get used much, and the booster pump constantly looses prime. I tried a feed hose from the pressurized tank loop into the pumps head and suction pipe, but its "hit or miss", sometimes I prime it, other times, the flow from the garden hose that feeds into the pumps inlet, prob. has insufficient volume vs. the 1.25" PVC piping it trying to fill... Also, the check valve at the bottom of the pipe (about 1 ft from the underground tank bottom) does not seat properly...too much dirt comes up from the well pump, into the storage tank.... I have the underground tank open and empy now, and need to make some decisions on where to go from here...
1) Do many of you put filters on the well pump feed to the storage tank to reduce dirt build up in the storage tank?
2) My first inclination to solve this nuisance pump-prime problem, bite the bullet, ($) and install a submersible pump (well pump) in the underground tank, then, it will always be primed. Hopefully I will only loose maybe 12" of bottom water, which is acceptable in this tank. I can put a large PVC pipe with large holes drilled into it, to keep the pump upright. My thought is, if I take this route, I will never be at the mercy of a priming system, or failed check valves on the bottom of the suction pipe... not fun digging down to this tank, and getting to the check valve in the future...If this makes sense, maybe someone can make a suggestion on the right type of submersible pump... the booster pump is 230V at about 15 amps when I did a quick check. Bottom of tank is maybe 12 ft under ground level. The underground tank is only 5 ft from the storage tank loops, outside the well house.
Since the underground tank has a float, and now maybe a submersible pump, I feel uneasy about covering what we just dug. I would think having quick access to the tank is a good idea. I was thinking of installing a 4ft wide metal pipe (culvert?) over the tank lid and PVC ports. Up to ground level, and place some type of "manhole cover" on it... Is there "access" products like this on the market...if so, maybe someone can provide a link. I can fill the access port with insulation to prevent from freezing. any thoughts would be appreciated on this....I sure see lots of advantages over above ground tanks...
TYIA
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