Multiple Buildings/ One Well

[Studhauler]

Hello

I have several buildings and two homes on my property. I would like to have them connected to the same well. I will be putting in new underground waterlines this fall so I have time to do research to do this the right way. I am looking for help here or links on the web or a good book on how to do this. I am very capable and very mechanically inclined so doing the work myself will not be an issue once I have the proper information. We have no plumbing inspectors in my area of northern Minnesota.

Right now I have one well running one house and another well running the second (rental) house. I am going to leave the houses supplied by their separate wells until one fails then connect the two. I want the pluming in-place incase the failure is in the winter. I am assuming that both will have significant flow to supply tow homes. The rental home well is a 4 inch with a submersible pump ,depth unknown but assume less than 50 feet it was drilled in the 1970s. My home is a 3 inch with a submersible pump 35 feet deep, drilled about 1985. If one well does not have enough GPM I will drill a new one when the day comes.

I will leave the new water line to the rental home capped in the root-cellar until it is needed. I will use that well to run just that house until it fails. I am already trenching a line over to the rental house so that is why the water line is going in now.

We have the two homes, a detached garage that needs water and someday a 4 horse barn and a small green house (if the wife can stop from pissing me off.) I also want to put in two frost proof yard hydrants. Yard watering is done by a lake pump and separate pluming system. The two houses are about 100 yards apart and the garage is about 150 yards from my house. My well is about 50 feet the other side of my house.

I was thinking of having the whole system underground and use curb stops to shut off the different building, but as I drew a picture of it, it came to me I could use the Greenhouse/ garden shed as a pump house also. It wouldn't have the pump in it but I could put the vales and pressure tank in there so all the fitting would be above ground.

Your thoughts please.

How large of presser tank will I need?
Will I need more than one pressure tank?
What size water line should I use for the different runs?
What am I missing? (allot I'm sure)

Thanks,
Cody

 

[pekasus]

Step # 1...become a plumber

This is not your typical DIY project. It involves a lot of design. Seeing that you are in MN, you have to make sure you install the water lines below the frost lines. Make sure if you do anything above ground, it is in a temperature controlled enclosure, and should have a drainback system in case you are turning of the heat for any period.

There is a lot of stuff to look out for, and for a project this size, it really would be worth your while to find a local plumber to do at least some consulting. For a project this complex, you'll want someone who knows what to look for onsite with you.

Good luck!

 

[speedbump]

You should research friction loss charts to be sure your running large enough pipe to do the job and for any additions down the road.

One tank is all you need. If you go with a Constant pressure valves you won't need a very large tank at all. Without the valve, bigger is always better. Two brands are good, the rest in my opinion are junk. Well X Trol and Flexcon are tops.

 

[Studhauler]

Really??? I need to put the water lines below the frost line???? So I can't just burry it 6" so I don't hit it with the mower? I suppose I can't put shut off valve in the garage next to the dog bowl in that freezes either? Does the fact that I even know what a curb stop is, suggest that I might know more than your average DYIer?

 

[Studhauler]

Speedbump, Thank you!

Thanks for suggesting a friction loss chart, I knew that fluid dynamics would come into effect, but didn't know there would be charts for it. What are your thought on burying the pressure tank (below the frost line) vs in the (heated) crawl space?

Thanks,
Cody

 

[speedbump]

I was never a fan of buring tanks. You can't get to them to check air pressure and when they go bad, your back digging a hole to replace it.

 

[pekasus]

Here is a link to a table that will help you estimate sizing based on your needs Sizing Water Supply Lines though it only shows loss up to 200 ft.

What you need to do before sizing the supply line is make a list of everything that you might want to be supplied by that line; 2 houses, garage, greenhouse, etc. Then make a list of all the water consuming fixtures that will be in each place. From that, you can look up water supply fixture units in the code, or you can use the engineeringtoolbox if you don't want to buy the code book. Once you have the use and the length of the run, like speedbump said, calculate the friction loss. Even if you don't follow through with all the additions, it is better to plan for them then to have to run 150 yards of supply line a second time.

 

[Valveman]

Be careful of which “constant pressure valve” you use. Or you will be asking questions like this person.

“When I have a small demand for water the CPV creeps up to 60 lbs which my pressure switch is set at and it shuts off. Is this normal? I thought that any call for water the CPV would adjust down and keep the pump running?” Homeowner


Then you will get an answer like this one.

“That CPV has about a 2.5gpm flow, so if your not using at least this much water, it can creep up and shut off.” CPV supplier


Creeping up and shutting off while you are using 2.5 GPM is not a good thing. A good CPV will work all the way down to 1 GPM without cycling the pump on and off. Copies of the original CPV use 2.5 GPM because they can’t make it work at 1 GPM without “the little hole” getting clogged up. There is a big difference between the original CPV and the knockoffs. You certainly need a CPV, but check them out carefully so you don’t end up with the same problems as the guy quoted above.

 

[Driller1]

I was never a fan of buring tanks. You can't get to them to check air pressure and when they go bad, your back digging a hole to replace it.

The kind we use can be done by hand.

Just dig a little, take off the top and put in a new bladder.

 

[speedbump]

What brand is that?

 

[Studhauler]

The kind we use can be done by hand.

Just dig a little, take off the top and put in a new bladder.

That will not work in Minnesota, the top of the tank has to be underground at least 6 feet to be below the frostline. I am not digging down 6 feet with a shovel.

My wife said she wants a greenhouse, so she gets a greenhouse! I will put all my pipe ends, valves, and pressure tank in one corner of the greenhouse. Then after it is all plumbed up, I will build two removable walls inside. If I have to do major repairs, the temp walls can come down. In the middle of winter I can keep just that corner heated. I will also have hot water heat in the cement floor, from an outdoor wood stove.

Thank for all the advice,

Cody

 

[Driller1]

That will not work in Minnesota, the top of the tank has to be underground at least 6 feet to be below the frostline. I am not digging down 6 feet with a shovel.

My wife said she wants a greenhouse, so she gets a greenhouse! I will put all my pipe ends, valves, and pressure tank in one corner of the greenhouse. Then after it is all plumbed up, I will build two removable walls inside. If I have to do major repairs, the temp walls can come down. In the middle of winter I can keep just that corner heated. I will also have hot water heat in the cement floor, from an outdoor wood stove.

Thank for all the advice,

Cody

I am in Michigan.

It can't be that much colder there.

 

[Driller1]

That will not work in Minnesota, the top of the tank has to be underground at least 6 feet to be below the frostline. I am not digging down 6 feet with a shovel.

My wife said she wants a greenhouse, so she gets a greenhouse! I will put all my pipe ends, valves, and pressure tank in one corner of the greenhouse. Then after it is all plumbed up, I will build two removable walls inside. If I have to do major repairs, the temp walls can come down. In the middle of winter I can keep just that corner heated. I will also have hot water heat in the cement floor, from an outdoor wood stove.

Thank for all the advice,

Cody

This is how it looks.

 

[Driller1]

Look on the top of the well.

That is an AW8A control.

That is how the pump and tank communicate.



This is how it look then done.

Not the same job but, you can see it.

 

[Driller1]

What brand is that?

Flex-Lite-Flexcon FL7

 

[Driller1]

This is the other part of the AW8A with the pitless part.

 

[speedbump]

I don't get it. What is the AW8? Or where is it? How do you keep the tubing from freezing? I'm sure the air in the tubing will seep out through a fitting sooner or later and water will take it's place allowing it to freeze. What am I missing?

 

[Driller1]

I don't get it. What is the AW8? Or where is it? How do you keep the tubing from freezing? I'm sure the air in the tubing will seep out through a fitting sooner or later and water will take it's place allowing it to freeze. What am I missing?

An AW8A is the control to the tank.

There is some kind of oil in the tube.....it will not freeze.

 

[speedbump]

So the AW8 gadget has some kind of plunger device down at the pitless T that pushes the oil up and down to turn off/on the switch? This device has to seperate the oil from the water somewhere in that piece of pipe sticking up from the T. Right?

 

[Driller1]

So the AW8 gadget has some kind of plunger device down at the pitless T that pushes the oil up and down to turn off/on the switch? This device has to seperate the oil from the water somewhere in that piece of pipe sticking up from the T. Right?

You got it!!!!