I have a 2 pipe well pump hooked up to a largish size pressure tank. The tank has begun to leak. This is not my domestic water but just an old well that is still hooked up to the outside hose bibs. When installed 50 years ago it was the domestic water for the house.
What I was hoping that a Doper could answer is what gotchas I need to look out for.
Are the tanks pretty much universal?
Do I even need a tank or can I just run a straight pipe as most of the time the well is not in use?
Is there another option I am overlooking?
Are there things I need to watch out for I have not mentioned?
if you don’t use a pressure tank then the spray may be uneven. this would make it difficult to spray or run a sprinkler. if you want to squirt a long stream or use an oscillating or rotating sprinkler you will need pressure, a lot of pressure. a 2 to 6 gallon pressure tank might work for other uses, for a yard watering i would think a 20 or 25 gallon would be the smallest useful size.
modern tanks have an air chamber which work better than the old one chamber tank you now have.
Most manufactures only put out expansion tanks these days(bladder tanks) a few still make the conventional tanks. The conventional tanks IMO are all junk now. I use well-x-trol tanks. There are other brands that are comparable but my history with them has been very good so I have no reason to change.
A smaller tank is fine. Unless you come back and tell me your pump an abnormally large. 1/2-1HP are normal sizes. The tank you linked is far to small for any well water system. 20 gallon is the lowest I would consider. Keep in mind the size is the total volume of the tank. A 20 gallon tank only holds 5-7 gallons of water.
My guess is your current tank is 5feet tall and a few feet in diameter. 80 gallon tanks were common for that time frame.
You can. There are ways to do so. I do not recommend doing so in conjunction with your deep well jet pump. A pressure tank is a much safer option.
Preferable when you change the tank you do not need to take pressure off the pump. Systems of that type ideally have a valve between the pump and the pressure tank(I take the handles off such valves for safety reasons) That valve is there for the sole purpose of system services such as changing the tank.
If you have to take pressure off the pump with older systems you risk a few unfortunate consequences some which involve pulling and replacing parts in the well.
When replacing a tank I usually replace the relief valve, draw off, pressure switch and pressure gauge.
So a bigger tank will be needed even for my light use.
If I had to change the pump, (which will eventually happen) how would I maintain pressure? I assume that is impossible and figured I would have to reprime the pump with the city water.
I don’t do much watering, I am fortunate that I don’t need to and that I keep my grass, clover and weeds on the longer side to prevent burn out. The hose is more for occasional watering of freshly planted plants and cleaning.
The current tank is probably about 4’ tall and a 2’ diameter. What would the 6 gallon tank be for out of interest?
Yes you’d have to take pressure off the system. All going well you’d simply prime the new system and all would be well.
When you depressurize older systems however scale/rust from inside the piping, pump or fittings can flake off. In the well is a jet. It is a venturi. The tiny hole is can easily be plugged by such scale. Another failure is at the bottom of the pipe is a foot valve. It is a basic check valve. Sometimes if you interrupt their routine such as taking the pressure off they stop seating correctly and will allow water to leak back through. This results in air in the system and can make it imposable to prime the pump.
If you do need to replace the pump in the future I would look seriously at a submersible pump. It would be more work to change the system over but submersible pumps are far superior to any jet system. It is a rare case that I still use a jet pump.
Potentially. Take a few pictures if you want and I can tell you a lot more about what you have.
[/QUOTE]
As I said earlier I wouldn’t go smaller. If you want to test your limits do a flow test off the system. find out how many gallons per minute the pump pumps. You want the reservoir for the tank to be at least one minute of the pump pumping.
ie if the gpm is 5 you’d want a tank with a 5 gallon reservoir. The tanks you’ve linked to don’t have a full data sheet so you either have to find that info or guesstimate the reservoir is 1/3 the tanks listed size. You size tanks to pumps like this so ideally when the pump turns on it never runs for less then one minute.
The larger the pressure tank the longer the cycle for the pump. Pumps are best running for long periods of time. If a pump needs to turn on and off frequently it diminishes it’s life expectancy.
Sadly it sounds like I am at the point where I might as abandon the well. My low usage makes it more sensible to cap the well and connect the outside system to the city water. It should be a simple job.
I expect the old pump to die sometime in the next few years.B y the time I buy the tank and then the new pump I figure I am looking at no less than $400 and probably over $500 in material. My outside water usage is pretty low so city water seems like a better choice and gives me much better pressure.
your state would likely have a procedure and standards for abandoning the well. besides legal issues you don’t want to have a incorrectly abandoned well contaminate your other well.
putting a 15 gallon pressure tank on and using it may be the cheapest and easiest situation.
I don’t have another well. The house is on city water. The well I do have only runs when I turn it on and on average that is 20-30 times a year. The well itself is actually under the basement and not outside and the pump and tank is in the basement.
When the house was built it was on well but we think it went to city water in the 80s. The owners at the time made the decision to keep the outside water on the well. So I think we’ll be fine just not using it.
You should be able to pull the pipes out with a little help (assuming poly pipe {black and flexible}) and cap it yourself. You might have to do a little looking for a solid cap with no opening for conduit or pipe, but they are available.