Outinthewoods
New Member
New member, hello!
Advice requested. I have a well with an above-ground 1 hp pump and a pressure tank. It has been in use for about 15 years, it works, but the system tends to fail from time to time.
Problem is that the installation was not well thought out.
1) The pump is heavy, and it is placed on a paver stone, which is on somewhat sandy soil. As a result, it settles, and it has broken one connection already, and I see bends in the PVC pipes, so I figure that another one is due to break soon.
2) The PVC pipes deteriorate in sunlight, there is a shutoff valve on which one of the "ears" has already broken off.
3) There is too much foliage around the system. I have had a pressure tank fail (allegedly) because branches trapped water on the surface of the tank and it rusted out and leaked. The replacement tank failed after three years, but the manufacturer did honor the warranty (!) and sent a replacement.
4) The pump and associated plumbing are elevated and can freeze. I do have a heat tape which I wrapped around the well to pump pipe and around the pump body, and when the forecast is for cold weather, I turn it on. It is plugged into a "thermalcube" which turns on at low temperatures, but I don't really trust it.
5) During the last storm, we had some flooding, and since the $750 pump is in a low-lying area, it drowned and died.
All in all, it is a very unsatisfactory arrangement even though it was installed by a licensed plumber/well driller.
Here is what I want to do:
1) Pour an 18" by 24" slab on a gravel base, adjacent to my steel utility building (the building is 50 by 90, it is not a tin shed from Temu). I want to mount the pump on that. It is about two feet higher than the present pump elevation. That takes care of concerns 1 and 5 above.
2) Move the pressure tank adjacent (no problem).
3) Re-plumb the exposed parts of the system to get the PVC underground about 8" or so (there's no frost line here, it is too warm), and move the shutoff valve to near the pump.
4) Using 2" IMPs (Insulated metal panels, I have some), build a small removable enclosure for the pump and associated "stuff", attach it to the steel building on one side, and put in an infrared heat lamp on a thermostat for when the temperature gets cold (might be once or twice a year).
My questions are: - I will need to run a pipe or hose from the well head and check valve to the relocated pump, which will be about ten feet away and about two feet higher. How close does the pump have to be to the well head/check valve? Should it be a straight run or can it have an elbow in it? I'd expect to put in a slope downward from the pump to the well head.
I'd also like to use some flexible couplings in case there are further settling or other misalignment problems.
If that $750 pump fails again, should I be looking at a $100 pump from Harbor Freight? (We don't drink this water, even though the health department says it is safe, it is rather unaesthetic, cloudy, and sometimes smells bad. Dear Bride (tm) drinks bottled water, I drink Diet Coke . . . does that make us yuppies?)
Am I on the right track?
Thank you and best regards,
Mike/Florida
Advice requested. I have a well with an above-ground 1 hp pump and a pressure tank. It has been in use for about 15 years, it works, but the system tends to fail from time to time.
Problem is that the installation was not well thought out.
1) The pump is heavy, and it is placed on a paver stone, which is on somewhat sandy soil. As a result, it settles, and it has broken one connection already, and I see bends in the PVC pipes, so I figure that another one is due to break soon.
2) The PVC pipes deteriorate in sunlight, there is a shutoff valve on which one of the "ears" has already broken off.
3) There is too much foliage around the system. I have had a pressure tank fail (allegedly) because branches trapped water on the surface of the tank and it rusted out and leaked. The replacement tank failed after three years, but the manufacturer did honor the warranty (!) and sent a replacement.
4) The pump and associated plumbing are elevated and can freeze. I do have a heat tape which I wrapped around the well to pump pipe and around the pump body, and when the forecast is for cold weather, I turn it on. It is plugged into a "thermalcube" which turns on at low temperatures, but I don't really trust it.
5) During the last storm, we had some flooding, and since the $750 pump is in a low-lying area, it drowned and died.
All in all, it is a very unsatisfactory arrangement even though it was installed by a licensed plumber/well driller.
Here is what I want to do:
1) Pour an 18" by 24" slab on a gravel base, adjacent to my steel utility building (the building is 50 by 90, it is not a tin shed from Temu). I want to mount the pump on that. It is about two feet higher than the present pump elevation. That takes care of concerns 1 and 5 above.
2) Move the pressure tank adjacent (no problem).
3) Re-plumb the exposed parts of the system to get the PVC underground about 8" or so (there's no frost line here, it is too warm), and move the shutoff valve to near the pump.
4) Using 2" IMPs (Insulated metal panels, I have some), build a small removable enclosure for the pump and associated "stuff", attach it to the steel building on one side, and put in an infrared heat lamp on a thermostat for when the temperature gets cold (might be once or twice a year).
My questions are: - I will need to run a pipe or hose from the well head and check valve to the relocated pump, which will be about ten feet away and about two feet higher. How close does the pump have to be to the well head/check valve? Should it be a straight run or can it have an elbow in it? I'd expect to put in a slope downward from the pump to the well head.
I'd also like to use some flexible couplings in case there are further settling or other misalignment problems.
If that $750 pump fails again, should I be looking at a $100 pump from Harbor Freight? (We don't drink this water, even though the health department says it is safe, it is rather unaesthetic, cloudy, and sometimes smells bad. Dear Bride (tm) drinks bottled water, I drink Diet Coke . . . does that make us yuppies?)
Am I on the right track?
Thank you and best regards,
Mike/Florida
