Hi: I'm in Florida, on town water, and my shallow well for lawn irrigation has failed so am getting quotes for a deep well.. The well will be about 100' deep, will have a 1hp pump, with total lawn area about 9000sf. One quote says there'll be a 62 gallon expansion tank, another says an 18 gallon tank, and a third doesn't mention any tank at all. Wondered the pros and cons of large tank, small tank, or no tank? Thank you
deep well tank size
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No pressure tank needed at all if you run the pump off the pump start relay in the sprinkler timer. But you will not be able to open a faucet to use garden hoses or things like that.
With a pressure tank and pressure switch the pump will come on when a faucet is opened and/or when the sprinkler timer turns on a zone. Water is fully automatic no matter what you do. However, the pump will fill the pressure tank and shut off, the hoses/sprinklers will drain the tank and the pump will come back on, over and over and over as long as you are using water. This is called "cycling" and is really bad for the pump as well as the sprinkler pattern as the pressure will be continually rising and falling.
The smaller the pressure tank, the more times the pump will cycle and the quicker the pressure will go from low to high and back.
The larger the pressure tank, the less the pump will cycle and the longer the system will be at maximum and minimum pressures.
Adding a Cycle Stop Valve prior to the pressure tank and any taps will stop the cycling as its name implies. The CSV can be used with large pressure tanks or small. But a small pressure tank is normally all that is needed as the CSV makes water go right past the tank, straight to the hose/sprinkler, at the exact same rate as is being used at the time, so there is no water to fill the tank and cause the pump to cycle on and off.
There are a lot of other choices on the market these days when it comes to controlling pumps. Some are very sophisticated, complicated, computerized, and expensive, which usually also means problematic. There is nothing more simple, long lasting, and reliable than a regular diaphragm pressure tank and a pressure switch. The only problem with the pressure tank system is the cycling on and off of the pump. A simple solution to this problem is adding a Cycle Stop Valve, which makes the dependable pressure tank system even more reliable and deliver strong constant pressure to the taps better than any expensive and troublesome pump controls you might encounter.
With a pressure tank and pressure switch the pump will come on when a faucet is opened and/or when the sprinkler timer turns on a zone. Water is fully automatic no matter what you do. However, the pump will fill the pressure tank and shut off, the hoses/sprinklers will drain the tank and the pump will come back on, over and over and over as long as you are using water. This is called "cycling" and is really bad for the pump as well as the sprinkler pattern as the pressure will be continually rising and falling.
The smaller the pressure tank, the more times the pump will cycle and the quicker the pressure will go from low to high and back.
The larger the pressure tank, the less the pump will cycle and the longer the system will be at maximum and minimum pressures.
Adding a Cycle Stop Valve prior to the pressure tank and any taps will stop the cycling as its name implies. The CSV can be used with large pressure tanks or small. But a small pressure tank is normally all that is needed as the CSV makes water go right past the tank, straight to the hose/sprinkler, at the exact same rate as is being used at the time, so there is no water to fill the tank and cause the pump to cycle on and off.
There are a lot of other choices on the market these days when it comes to controlling pumps. Some are very sophisticated, complicated, computerized, and expensive, which usually also means problematic. There is nothing more simple, long lasting, and reliable than a regular diaphragm pressure tank and a pressure switch. The only problem with the pressure tank system is the cycling on and off of the pump. A simple solution to this problem is adding a Cycle Stop Valve, which makes the dependable pressure tank system even more reliable and deliver strong constant pressure to the taps better than any expensive and troublesome pump controls you might encounter.
