Water Tank

[Pirate]

I am on city water. I have a tiny 7 gallon pressure tank on the line. Will adding a large (120 gal) pressure tank provide me with 100 gallons (or so) of water if the city water is off? The tank would be in the basement. Looking for just a little back up for when the water goes out, which seems to be often.

 

[Jimbrown]

Short answer no. It depends on if it is a bladder tank or an air captive tank. You need to read up on pressure tanks. Here is a 125 gallon bladder tank. It actually holds 18 gallons of useful water.

Flotec FP7125-08 Water Tank Pre Charged - Walmart.com

 

[teejk]

I am on city water. I have a tiny 7 gallon pressure tank on the line. Will adding a large (120 gal) pressure tank provide me with 100 gallons (or so) of water if the city water is off? The tank would be in the basement. Looking for just a little back up for when the water goes out, which seems to be often.

City water goes out? I thought that was gravity. But beyond that, if the tank is filled I wonder how much water you can get without incoming pressure...even on a private well system the tank requires that I think...will be interesting to see somebody that knows (I don't!).

 

[dragoneggs]

I am on city water. I have a tiny 7 gallon pressure tank on the line. Will adding a large (120 gal) pressure tank provide me with 100 gallons (or so) of water if the city water is off? The tank would be in the basement. Looking for just a little back up for when the water goes out, which seems to be often.

Wow... I would have thought city water would be pretty reliable. I never experienced that when I used to be on city water for my first 40 years. I sure do like being on my own well and paying only for the pump electricity and no water bills.

 

[Pirate]

We are at the end of the water system and live way up on a hill. When everything is working right, we have great pressure. However, any minor leak down at the road, we notice it right away. The feeder line down our road is 2" and seems to have leaks all the time. Now when my neighbor or I call and tell them we have low pressure, they don't even bother to test us at the road, they automatically just start looking for leaks somewhere. Just thought it would be nice to have a backup of 50 gals or so but don't want it separate from the system so the water stays fresh. Thought about my own well but my average monthly bill is around $35, it's good clean water, and a well was quoted around 8-10K, minimum.

 

[joefromga]

Put it in the attic and you don't need pressure.

 

[teejk]

Put it in the attic and you don't need pressure.

The old high rises in NYC still use the roof-top water tanks...gravity provides the pressure!

 

[teejk]

We are at the end of the water system and live way up on a hill. When everything is working right, we have great pressure. However, any minor leak down at the road, we notice it right away. The feeder line down our road is 2" and seems to have leaks all the time. Now when my neighbor or I call and tell them we have low pressure, they don't even bother to test us at the road, they automatically just start looking for leaks somewhere. Just thought it would be nice to have a backup of 50 gals or so but don't want it separate from the system so the water stays fresh. Thought about my own well but my average monthly bill is around $35, it's good clean water, and a well was quoted around 8-10K, minimum.

Interesting...wonder if there is a "booster" pump that would kick in when the city pressure goes out. Well cost...probably about right if you are on a hill (we only drilled to 55 ft here and I think all in it was $6k...goes up quick depending on how much casing you need to get to bedrock plus a lot of permits and stuff and other costs now.

 

[RobertBrown]

The old high rises in NYC still use the roof-top water tanks...gravity provides the pressure!

.433 PSI PER FOOT

 

[teejk]

.433 PSI PER FOOT

A lot of factors involved there but the principle works. Guess the "in" is at the top and the "out" is on the bottom to ensure the water stays fresh.

 

[Pirate]

So, maybe a big pressure tank but no bladder or keep bladder empty. Would need to be tied into city water to keep full. To get out, I would need to use a pump to pump from tank into rest of house, probably with an rv pump. I suppose with some creative plumbing I could do something like this. Now, I just need to find a tank that can be presurized to 70psi and hold about 150 gallons or so.

 

[Zerk]

Could you think of the city as the well, and put pressure tank in your basement right after the meter? The tank needs to be pressurized. Water would be fresh. I would put bypass valve and pipe around it in case the tank ever failed. 150 gallon tank is pretty big. The style precharged tanks are 20-40 for a house. The old style 80 gallon. But they must make bigger ones businesses on wells.

The problem with a stand alone tank with a pump is the water is not being turned over. Though you could use it for toilet and bathing. Could cook or drink it, may want to boil it. I am not sure how to store potable water. Maybe just some tablets of chlorine. A simple holding tank may be cheaper, even with the pump.

Keep in mind all you need to do is put water in the toilet tank to flush it. When I go to my camp in the winter, sometimes I don't turn the well on, and just bring water for the toilet in some kind of cheap jug, and then drinkng water for coffee. That is all you need to be cizilized. So quick and dirty is just a big tank with a spicket and pale.

 

[Pirate]

A real big pressure tank is what I initially thought. Why not a huge one? 150gal or so? It has to hold at least that amount of water, right?

 

[Zerk]

I think if you hook a big pressure tank up, and treat the city water as well, it would turn over.

Non presurized tnak with electric pump will have stagnate water. Is that a big deal? I dunno. The first option would work with out electricity.

I was on city water until I was around 25, never remember having an outage. I would be writing letters and be really whiney to the city.

 

[jaotguy]

just drop a "shallow well tank pump" system in line with the city water and a check valve between the city water and the new pump intake ... set the pump cut out pressure at 5 PSI LOWER than the standard CITY pressure ..... if city pressure drops , the pump kicks in and fills the tank then shuts off ... you have water till the house pressure drops ( you use any water ) , then the pump kicks in again .... if the city water pressure is higher than the house pump is set at , the city does the pumping ....

 

[2ndhalf]

I think your getting close.. but keep in mind the problem is a GPM problem and a well pump in-line would still only be able to pump what ever GPM it has to pump. I think you would need a 100 gallon, non-pressurized tank in your basement that your shallow well pump pumps out of. The city water would keep that tank filled. Put a bypass in so that if you lose power you can bypass that tank in the basement and still get city water. This will work... I used a 250 gallon tank and a shallow well pump outside my basement until my city water lines were hooked up. you can buy those tanks at TSC or you can go on CL. Whatever you use it will have to be able to handle city water pressure or you will have to use some sort of float system that could shut off your city water when the tank gets full.

That little 7 gallon pressure tank on your city water line is only to help with water hammer to absorb some of the pressure spikes of the city water.

 

[2ndhalf]

just drop a "shallow well tank pump" system in line with the city water and a check valve between the city water and the new pump intake ... set the pump cut out pressure at 5 PSI LOWER than the standard CITY pressure ..... if city pressure drops , the pump kicks in and fills the tank then shuts off ... you have water till the house pressure drops ( you use any water ) , then the pump kicks in again .... if the city water pressure is higher than the house pump is set at , the city does the pumping ....

I think this would work if you had a large pressure tank as your supply to the pump so that the pump doesn't get starved for water. City Water > 50 gallon pressure tank > Check valve > Shallow well pump. Put in a bypass so you have water when the power is out.

 

[Code54]

A real big pressure tank is what I initially thought. Why not a huge one? 150gal or so? It has to hold at least that amount of water, right?

Se are in a VERY similar position as you - small main to the house, and we are then about ½ from the meter. We are going o add a large pressure tank to help with the overall pressure and flow. I also cleaned my pressure valve filter recently and pick up more flow.

This is the tank I am looking at (119 gallon) Water Worker 119 Gal. Pressurized Well Tank-HT119B - The Home Depot
Planning on adding it it in right after the water enters the house and use it to help maintain better pressure if several faucets are being used.