Water holding tank for those on a well?

71T Targa · 06:05 PM

It's hard to believe that I could have a lack of water in the PNWet, but I do.

We're on a shared well and are having a hard time keeping up with the demand. I wish I could blame the neighbor but it's just two 'older' people and they are rarely home. It's my 6-7 kids with their constant baths, showers, and bottle washing that's killing us. I need to add some secondary water storage or we're going to go crazy.

I'll be getting input from a pro too, but wanted to get an idea of what I was getting myself in to from others who've been there, and done that. Current well seems to be limited at about 9 gallons a minute before we start to hit the reserve.

Anyone have a secondary holding tank on your well? What is your current pump output and what does the tank hold? I was thinking 2-300 gallons would make a big difference.

Thoughts and suggestions?

flatbutt · 05-09-2019, 06:09 PM

I live alone and have a small, 40 gal tank. I don't remember pump output.

rfuerst911sc · 05-09-2019, 06:14 PM

For a storage tank I would look into food grade plastic tanks , generally you see these on Craigslist and they have a metal cage around them . Around here a 250 - 350 tank like this is less than 100.00 . I would consult with a well guy for hookup , there may be other parts needed to make it all work .

Dantilla · 05-09-2019, 06:19 PM

How much storage do you currently have?

My well pumps into a 3000 gallon cistern. Second pump keeps pressure up to the house.

71T Targa · 05-09-2019, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dantilla

How much storage do you currently have?

My well pumps into a 3000 gallon cistern. Second pump keeps pressure up to the house.

Only the water heater (50Gal) and whatever the pressure tank holds. Maybe another 40?

71T Targa · 05-09-2019, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

For a storage tank I would look into food grade plastic tanks , generally you see these on Craigslist and they have a metal cage around them . Around here a 250 - 350 tank like this is less than 100.00 . I would consult with a well guy for hookup , there may be other parts needed to make it all work .

I've been looking at those, but they always seem to have been filled with 'questionable' materials at some point. I'll go new unless I know for sure it has only had potable water in it.

ckissick · 05-09-2019, 06:31 PM

Around here it's typical to use a 5000-gallon tank, but that size is necessary for fire sprinklers. You could go smaller. 9 gpm is pretty good. I'd go bigger than 300 gallons.

Poly Processing is the go-to company. Check out their website:

https://www.polyprocessing.com/tank-specifications/our-tank-offerings/vertical-tanks/

speeder · speeder's Garage

Wait...you have 6-7 kids? Haven't counted them lately?

devodave · devodave's Garage

We went though this years ago when we moved into our farm house. The wife, who is a hydrogeologist, should have known there was a problem when there were 7 wells on the property😁 Never did act on this, but best design was to put the well pump on a timer, based on measured recharging of the well casing. This would have discharged into the holding tank, a food grade tank of at least 500 gallons. Then another pump in this tank to your supply. That way, you are constantly filling the holding tank, even if there is no demand, as long as there is water in the well. Controls can be included to shut down well pump if well is dry or holding tank is full. You can also treat the well water in the holding tank if needed. Problem comes with getting the holding tank into the home (basement). You can always connect two smaller tanks together.

71T Targa · 05-09-2019, 06:38 PM

Great info!

Another line of thought, if I add one on my end will it help my neighbor too? Or would we need to look at it separately? The pump head just sits in the bushes between our houses with no pump house or anything like that.

71T Targa · 05-09-2019, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speeder

Wait...you have 6-7 kids? Haven't counted them lately?

College is out for the summer here...

We have 11, there are usually 6-7 at home.

devodave · devodave's Garage

Sorry, got focused on solution and not your setup. Not sure how the piping setup is, but each user would have to electrically power the pump unless there is a common pressure tank and main that splits off for the two homes. If that is the case, the two of you may want to build a pump house to house the holding tank(s) and any treatment equipment, etc. Each residence would most likely require its own supply pump in holding tank(s) and a pressure tank/switch to supply each residence when needed.

71T Targa · 05-09-2019, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by devodave

Sorry, got focused on solution and not your setup. Not sure how the piping setup is, but each user would have to electrically power the pump unless there is a common pressure tank and main that splits off for the two homes. If that is the case, the two of you may want to build a pump house to house the holding tank(s) and any treatment equipment, etc. Each residence would most likely require its own supply pump in holding tank(s) and a pressure tank/switch to supply each residence when needed.

Current setup has each house with their own pressure tank and when either goes below the set pressure it triggers the well pump to kick in.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

My sister has one of those poly tanks and the well runs off solar. Has a switch in the tank that turns the pump on when it goes below a certain level.

MBAtarga · 05-09-2019, 08:08 PM

Talk to your neighbors and explain the benefits of a holding tank to them. Then let them fund 1/2 the purchase and you get the benefit.

icemann427 · 09:33 PM

The average water use per day per person is 150 gallons. As such, between you and your neighbor you need 1,650 gallons per day without taking into consideration irrigation and other ancillary water uses. Most of that daily water use comes in the evening when everyone is home and activities from cooking, washing clothes, washing bodies, and other things are occurring. As such, you need a water holding tank, boost pump, and bladder tanks that will adequately supply that evening surge.

In the past, I used to develop and sell residential lots where there were normally nine lots serviced by the one water well that I contracted out to be built. I did this many many times and I would always overbuild the water systems as I never wanted my buyers to ever have water supply/quality issues. For the nine lots, I would include a 10,000 gallon underground storage tank; two boost pumps; three bladder tanks; 2.5" supply pipes; and an in ground well pump hp more than adequate to bring the water up the requisite underground distance.

It may be an overbuild, but you may think about adding a 2,000 gallon storage tank, one boost pump, and move your current bladder tanks to the well site so they work in unison (this would help you more than your neighbor). Not knowing the distance of the water runs and the size of your piping, I'm not sure if the current diameter of your piping is adequate or not, but if the run is not too long, maybe you might consider larger piping if you are using a 1" line.

Evans, Marv · 05-09-2019, 09:36 PM

Icemann gives some good advice. I live in dry old SoCal and have it much better than you. My well produced (according to the well company) 40 gpm. However some around here have wells that only produce 4 gpm. We have to have 10K gal. water tanks w/ fire hydrants, so the fire dept. can use the water in case of fire. Those who have wells that are low production refill their tanks over the long term. There is only me & my wife, and we use around 70 to 90 gal./day unless we do something special that requires more. So with your clan, I can imagine your demand is lots more. In my opinion, you need at least a 1K gal. and probably better off with a 5K gal. tank. Our system pumps out 600 gal. and the pump kicks on to refill the tank. One thing to consider is the stress you're putting on your pump by making it turn on and off so many times. They are made to last but yours might not last nearly as long as it could. It's much better for it to pump several hundred gallons at a time to refill the tank reservoir than turning on and off for every 90 or so gallons. I know it would be a multi thousand dollar event to replace mine. I know the pump cost two to three thousand dollars when the system was put in.

LakeCleElum · 05-09-2019, 09:48 PM

Best advice you will get. Call Kelly:. www.kellyspumps.com

icemann427 · 05-09-2019, 09:56 PM

Thinking about what Marv said, made me rethink the size of the storage tank due to your limited pump speed of 9 gallons/minute. I'm used to 30+ gallons/minute. With your limited draw, I would, indeed, increase the holding tank from 2k to at least 3k...More, if you can afford it.

unclebilly · unclebilly's Garage

We have a 1500 gallon storage tank that our well pumps into. We use a 3/4 hp jet pump to feed the house from the tank. Our well is 3 GPM but the storage tank makes well maintenance etc. possible.