well and water ?'s

[randy41]

my well is pretty far from my house which has not been a problem. but i would like to access the water by the well if possible. could i tap into the line that runs to the house at a point right next to the well? would it be best to have a pressure tank there too? the well is one of those 6" pipes with a blue cap sticking out of the ground. the pump is about 200' down the well. it has been working very well (ha!) for 20 years except for the time the wire got wore out.

this is part of my planning for shiitake mushroom production.

 

[Egon]

You should be able to tap into the present line. Another pressure tank will not be required.

 

[Jimbrown]

It depends on where your pressure tanks are and where the back flow preventer is. It sounds like the tanks are not at the well head if so and they are in your basement or some other place most likely the backflow preventer is there also. If that is the case there will only be water at the well head when the pump is running. If the backflow preventer is indeed at the wellhead then you can tap in anywhere past it.

 

[randy41]

assuming of course that there is a backflow preventer....which i have my doubts that there is. how would i know if there is?

 

[Jimbrown]

There has to be or all of the water would flow back into the well from the pressure tanks or the pump would have to run all of the time. Most all modern systems have a manifold device where the pressure gauge and pump controller connect and it usually contains a backflow.

Look here Tank Tee Fitting Kits for Water Pressure Tanks the thing with the bump is the backflow preventer or sometimes called one way valve.

 

[Egon]

The original poster mentioned wires going down the well. This information may possibly indicate a submersible pump which would have a check valve at bottom of the tubing.

 

[_RaT_]

The original poster mentioned wires going down the well. This information may possibly indicate a submersible pump which would have a check valve at bottom of the tubing.

It would be possible to have two check valves, one at the pump and one at the pressure tank. If there is one at the pressure tank also, cutting into the line going to the house really won't work since the pressure tank will not deplete and thus kick the pump in via the pressure switch. That pump switch is almost always located with the pressure tank.

 

[randy41]

i see nothing at the pressure tank to indicate that there's a check valve. i so i'd guess that it is located at the pump. a check valve allows water to flow in one direction and not the other...right?
the pump switch is at the pressure tank. the wires from the pressure tank run to the breaker box outside. i wired this myself. when the pump died because of the wire wearing out, the guy who fixed it also checked my wiring. he didn't change anything. this was a couple of years ago.

 

[Jimbrown]

It is not normal to have a check valve at the bottom of the well. Most submersible pumps in fact have a drain hole to allow all of the water in the down pipe to drain back into the well. This is done to reduce the load on the pump when it starts. If the pump has to start against the weight of the water and tank pressure it would probably stall or you would need a larger pump. Very much like trying to start your tractor in gear with PTO engaged or a back blade on the ground.

 

[tawilson]

I don't know about that, Jim. I've got two wells, one uses a submersible and one a shallow well pump. The shallow well has a foot valve at the bottom of the pipe into the well. The submersible used to have a check valve just above the pump, and I moved it to just outside the well cap( no pitless adapter, piped out the top) so I can break a union and let the pipe into the well drain down for the winter. If it drained down every time, wouldn't you get a lot of air into the system?
As far as the original posters question, I'd stick a 20 gallon bladder tank there just for the heck of it. Might save someone from getting low water during a shower if you decide to water the mushrooms at the same time.

 

[Egon]

Some information on typical well pump set ups.

http://www.goulds.com/pdf/bpump.pdf

 

[riptides]

Why not?

I have a submersible, pressure tank next to the pump, three splits in the main line. 200 feet to the house, 100 feet to the cottage, 25 feet to the barn.

Only the house has another pressure tank. And that is because of the women and the bath tubs.

-Mike Z.

 

[J_J]

Why not?

I have a submersible, pressure tank next to the pump, three splits in the main line. 200 feet to the house, 100 feet to the cottage, 25 feet to the barn.

Only the house has another pressure tank. And that is because of the women and the bath tubs.

-Mike Z.

Randy41,

You should be able to tap into just about anywhere past the well head. You can add another draw down tank so as to not reduce water to the house when you are using the water by the well. If you will be using a sprinkler system, I would suggest a small tank to allow the pump to run the whole time the sprinkler is running. That pump is going to try and keep the pressure up, and you should have the the rated gpm at the tap off, but if the house water is also running, the gpm will be less for the house and the tap off.

 

[RayH]

You should be able to tap in. I have that exact setup. The house is about 150ft from the well and Ive got a frostless faucet half way between. No problems with it at all. As a matter of fact, it has outstanding pressure and flow at the faucet

 

[randy41]

thanks for all the responses....sounds like its pretty easy to do.

 

[rcmike]

It is not normal to have a check valve at the bottom of the well. Most submersible pumps in fact have a drain hole to allow all of the water in the down pipe to drain back into the well. This is done to reduce the load on the pump when it starts. If the pump has to start against the weight of the water and tank pressure it would probably stall or you would need a larger pump. Very much like trying to start your tractor in gear with PTO engaged or a back blade on the ground.

Huh? I have never heard of that in a residential submersible pump and I am in the well drilling business. Most (if not all) residential submersible pumps have a check valve in the top of the pump. If the water drained out it would drop the pressure and then the pump would kick back on. Actually it could cause the pump to run backwards as well. In any case that would cause the pump to wear out pretty quickly kicking on and off all the time.

You shouldn't have a problem putting a frostproof hydrant there if there is no check valve between there and the tank/pressure switch.

 

[Egon]

A hydrant could be installed on the well head. A pretty common practice.

 

[randy41]

this all sounds good.....not too far from the well is an old road bed thats in a small wooded area. i always thought it would be a good place for shiitake production.

 

[riptides]

this all sounds good.....not too far from the well is an old road bed thats in a small wooded area. i always thought it would be a good place for shiitake production.

Aren't those illegal? Or what Am I confusing them with?

-Mike Z.

 

[randy41]

you must be confusing them with something else.....next time you're in a super market look for them. or you can buy them online.