Well pressure

I have an in ground well pump and above ground pressure tank. They work fine except pressure and available water are a little low especially when having more than one water source on at a time. I know a holding tank and additional pump will aid in this. How do I determine the appropriate size pump and the best method for plumbing it in? The P&D company wants nearly $8k for a 3k tank and pump. It?s all level ground no pipe run greater than 3-400 ft. Thanks.

Questions: Available water, is the well running dry? Or just not adequate volume from the pump to the fixtures? Sources, high capacity usage or regular faucets? Watching the gauge, where is your current in-ground pump running pressure wise? When you turn on more than one source and your pressure falls, is the pump coming on?

A submersible pump (assuming it is what you have) is usually sized to the well capacity to replenish the casing. This is measured in gallons per minute. If this pump is pumping into a storage tank of 500 gallons at zero pressure, it can build up the reserves in that tank. A second pump that can deliver 40 gallons a minute into a 40 gallon diaphragm pressure tank will serve multiple house and yard taps. If it freezes where you are located, it will need an insulated building with some heat to prevent freezing. Check out 500 gallon plastic tanks. Jim

Are you sure that your problem is not above ground friction loss? You can't expect to feed more than one faucet at a time on anything more than 5 feet of 1/2 inch pipe. Also supplying just one faucet is iffy if you are over 25 feet of 1/2 inch.

What?s your pressure switch set at? My sisters had been up at 75 psi that was blowing piping apart in the barn but what a great shower haha. Lowered back to 40 psi and the houses old 1/2? piping really restricting the flow at the far bathroom.

Most is 1 in or 1 1/4 in. The house is 50-75 feet from the well
and is fed on 1 in.

Had the same problem. Is the pressure in your volume tank at least 30. Pressure switch set on 30-50 psi. We had to put a valve in the line to keep pressure on 30 with a open line. Then makes no difference how many faucets are turned on. Our low pressure shut off was 20 psi. If you raise your pressure to 40-60 air tank to 40.

Is this a new problem?

The pressure was not great before the fire but the pump house burned and the pump fell in. I had it fished and reset. With everything off, running the shower is ok but less than before. The pump guy said a tank and pump would help but their estimate was very high. In our area a 3k tank is going around $1200 (poly) and a pump around $300. I understand paying employees but nearly $8k seems out there a bit. I have seen these set ups before but simply don't remember the layout. I'm confident I could do the work.

Could be just low pressure.

Could also be a restriction, especially since the system was repaired after the fire. Something could have gotten in the line. Is any of the plumbing galvanized pipe? Notorious for building rust deposits especially at joints and valves.

If you have good pressure at the tank (50-60 PSI) and low pressure/volume in the house, while still having good pressure at the tank, look for a restriction.

Did the pump get burned?

Impeller in pump could have got melted if there was a fire.

Never mind if submersible

First question: Pressure. Stay below 60PSI for the most part. Although pipes are rated at burst > 180, or in some cases over 200, the working pressure for residential is typically 45-60. Older house, older plumbing stay around 45PSI.

Second question: Volume. You can measure your usage with a cheap water meter(not ANSI approved, just a cheapy).

https://www.flows.com/economy-plastic-water-meter-wm-pc-series/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwMC6zomK1wIVzrjACh1QaArXEAYYBCABEgIM8vD_BwE

Or you can try to estimate. Most people under-estimate their water usage per month. For city folk I usually do 70Gal per day per person, for country folk maybe 50Gal/day/person.

Next, how long will it take to recharge the storage tank is dependent on your deliver rate from the well. This will give you an idea of how big a storage tank you need. My swag is 3000 gal is way, way, way over what you need. I would say get a poly vertical 200Gal storage tank, and a 45PSI pump with 1" or 1.5" suction side, and you'll be fine for 90% of your usage. If there are more than 3 people in the house, you can go up to a 240Gal poly tank, and just be a bit careful.

I have done several off-grid jobs where we use a well pump delivering 2.7GPM, 200Gal storage tank, 3/4" suction side pump at 45PSI with an automatic shutoff and it's fine for 3 people as long as they don't like a daily bath, and we wait until morning to run the clothes washer.

YMMV

I have a yard hydrant brand not known and it is at the house. Pressure inside the house is fine but the hydrant appears not to be opening fully as the water coming from hydrant is not nearly sufficient-house it is fine. Do I need to adjust the set screw to open the inlet fully and if so how is it done? Right now I have more pressure from the hydrant at the well 200 ft away running through a garden hose than I do from the hydrant at the house.

(quoted from post at 10:35:33 10/25/17) I have a yard hydrant brand not known and it is at the house. Pressure inside the house is fine but the hydrant appears not to be opening fully as the water coming from hydrant is not nearly sufficient-house it is fine. Do I need to adjust the set screw to open the inlet fully and if so how is it done? Right now I have more pressure from the hydrant at the well 200 ft away running through a garden hose than I do from the hydrant at the house.

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Yes it is possible that the handle linkage has slipped on the rod that goes down in the pipe to where the valve is. To check it, open it so that the water flows, loosen the set screw, then carefully move the handle down so that the set screw point is moving down the rod, without the rod moving. When it gets to the point where the handle starts to move the rod, stop and tighten the set screw. Any distance downward will translate into more lift when you open it.

Try adjusting the hydrant, if that doesn't work replace the hydrant.

At first I thought it was a total flow issue, but now it sounds like just a hydrant problem.

I have a hydrant at the front of one of my poultry barns, over the years it's got slower and slower till now it only runs at half stream.
Don't know if I'll get it replaced this year or wait till next spring.

When they fixed your water system did they put as big of a pressure tank back in as what you previously had, the bigger the better.

We have 2 wells, one suppling the poultry barns and a couple of cattle waterers, that pump free flow fills a 40,000 gallon concrete reservoir with 2 pumps suppling the buildings and waterers.
The other supplies water to 5 homes and a couple of cattle waterers. We each have 1200-1500 gallon concrete reservoirs and pumps at our houses that the home well keeps filled, this helps to prevent low flow issues when more than one is using water at the same time.
The pressure tank for the home well is 44 gallons the one for the poultry barns is 119 gallon, the tank for my house pump is 20 gallon.

I have a yard hydrant brand not known and it is at the house. Pressure inside the house is fine but the hydrant appears not to be opening fully as the water coming from hydrant is not nearly sufficient-house it is fine. Do I need to adjust the set screw to open the inlet fully and if so how is it done? Right now I have more pressure from the hydrant at the well 200 ft away running through a garden hose than I do from the hydrant at the house.

Thanks will try that when get through at the cancer center and out patient surgery this week.