run a new water line or dig a new well?

[RedTailHawk]

I have a cabin with a well water system. I have a barn that I'm going to add in a workshop, game cleaning station, etc. However the barn is a good distance from the cabin so porting water to it manually gets old real fast. I want to install a faucet in the barn, and I'm considering a couple options:

1) tap into existing well that feeds cabin and run a line straight to the barn
2) tap into water from cabin and run a line to the barn
3) dig a new well closer to the cabin

Besides cost differences of running a line vs digging a well, here are some of the disadvantages of each option.
1) can you put 2 pumps into 1 well?
2) though it will tap into the water that has been softened and aerated, not sure if that is necessary for cleaning my ATVs, processing game (i.e. venison), or washing oil spills off the barn floor. Also, going from cabin to the barn goes very close to the septic field.
3) not sure if there is a good spot close to the barn.

Another point that affects options 1 and 3. The ground water does have a lot of iron, so taking the filtered water from the cabin may not be a bad idea for cleaning game meat as I'm processing it in the barn.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[davesl708]

You can put two pumps in a well but do you need it? Will the demand for water in the barn interfere with the cabin's demand?
If the barn is low demand then I would tap the cabin line and not add a second pump.

 

[ch1ch2]

PVC is cheap.
Run a line.

 

[RedTailHawk]

if I run straight from the well, how will the barn trigger the well pump? I believe the pressure tank under the cabin currently controls the well pump.

 

[Soundguy]

option one is what?80 yards of pipe? then you can get un-softened watrer to the barn from the well.

that's what I'd do. 240' of pipe is nuttin.

On my farm i come straight off of my well, and run over 100' and then hit a T that goes 100' off to each direction, with stub lines to faucets from there.

took just over half a day with 2 helpers starting at first light using a walk behind trencher that rented for 85$. i and a helper laid all the lines out and glued them while the other guy walked behind the trencher ging about 36" down. we left the T union unglued and rolled the 3 long lines in and made our connections, I pressurised it with air while we wend to drop the trencher off by noon to get the half day rate. had lunch, came back, air was steady, so we burried her and attached water at the well end. by 2:30 had all lines cleared and troughs hooked up and went home.

you can likely do the same assuming no roots or rocks cause problems.

 

[handtools]

if I run straight from the well, how will the barn trigger the well pump? I believe the pressure tank under the cabin currently controls the well pump.

It doesn't matter where you tap the line, the pressure switch will keep the whole system pressurized.

 

[Billrog]

Run a line from the cabin to the barn with a shut off on it. That way if there's a failure to the barn the cabin always has water.

 

[oldpilgrim]

Originally Posted by RedTailHawk
if I run straight from the well, how will the barn trigger the well pump?

It wont. You can't just tap into the line from the well to the cabin, without another pressure tank and a second switch to activate the pump. You need to run from the cabin where it is pressurized when it comes from the well. You need the house pressure tank to push the water to the barn.

 

[CobyRupert]

It doesn't matter where you tap the line, the pressure switch will keep the whole system pressurized.

I believe it's the pressure tank that keeps the whole system pressurized. This involve a backflow preventer/check valve so the pressure doesn't just push the water back into the well. But like you suggest, any tap doesn't necessarily need to be downstream of the pressure tank, only downstream of the backflow preventer/check valve.
Question is: Is your check valve built into the well pump or located near your pressure tank?

 

[CobyRupert]

Run a line from the cabin to the barn with a shut off on it. That way if there's a failure to the barn the cabin always has water.

:thumbsup:

Shut-offs and an ability to isolate segments are key!!
Don't ask me how I know.

 

[Soundguy]

I believe it's the pressure tank that keeps the whole system pressurized. This involve a backflow preventer/check valve so the pressure doesn't just push the water back into the well. But like you suggest, any tap doesn't necessarily need to be downstream of the pressure tank, only downstream of the backflow preventer/check valve.
Question is: Is your check valve built into the well pump or located near your pressure tank?

Correct.. and all you need is to tap after the backflow. On my well, the backflow is right where the line goes underground leaving the pump.

the OP just needs to determine where the BP valve is.

 

[Soundguy]

It wont. You can't just tap into the line from the well to the cabin, without another pressure tank and a second switch to activate the pump. You need to run from the cabin where it is pressurized when it comes from the well. You need the house pressure tank to push the water to the barn.

sure he can.. he just has to be after the backpressure valve. depends on where it is. if it is at the cabin, he could just put a new one right at the well , and remove the one at the cabin, to avoid buying a new pressure tank.

 

[zzvyb6]

My barn is 300' from the house and is supplied by the house well. Works fine but keep in mind:

1) Any elevation changes affect the pressure at the receiving end. You might neeed a pressure regulator if the shed is downhill.

2) The water moving along the run has a lot of momentum. Make sure you have a surge protector. Otherwise, you may have a pipe or connection burst from the pressure pulse.

3) Make sure you can shut off the water indoors at the house source to the shed. If there is a leak, freeze, cracked pipe or an underground problem, you will be without water at the house, too, until you repair it.

4) If the water table is only 20 - 30 ft down, you could pound a 2" well at the shed and use a lift pump to get the water you need.

5) if you trench a water line from the house, throw a phone line, ethernet and an extra 220v electrical supply in case you need it someday because of who knows what.

I'm going to be adding the second well to my outfit because I don't wat to dig up the supply A THIRD TIME to fix a rock puncture.

 

[fishheadbob]

Six wells worth of hard earned experience here.
It depends. How is the recovery rate on your existing well? Can it handle the additional use that you'll be putting on it. If you are using it fine now; after whatever you call heavy use is there still lots of water in the well, or is down to a low level ? Some wells are great and can pump almost all day and keep on producing, others are dogs.
There are no guarantees that a new well will give sufficient water, and a new well usually costs a lot. Cheapest way would be to run some PVC pipe from your existing pressure tank to the barn. PVC comes in up to 300 foot lengths, actually more, and certainly in shorter lengths, it is not expensive in the overall cost of things, and uses plastic fittings rather than brass. A frost free hydrant will work nicely in an unheated barn when it's plumbed below the frost line. Trenchers rent reasonably and are easy to use. I love the suggestion to run a 220 line and whatever else you might need later while the trench is open.
If you put a 2nd pump in the existing well you will need a second pressure tank.

 

[Soundguy]

if he runs from the cabin he's running softened water to the barn....

 

[oldpilgrim]

if he runs from the cabin he's running softened water to the barn....

...........depends on where he taps into the house plumbing.

 

[DJ54]

Surely the softener is after the pressure tank. T in the line, between the pressure tank, and softener, with a shut of valve there. Personally, I prefer a brass ball valve.

I use the black poly well pipe here. And to prevent rock punctures with the fragmented sand rock we have here, I run a 3/4" line through a 1-1/4" line as a conduit. We learned that lesson many years ago, after a rock punctured a line, 2 years after installing it. The second line was installed in 1967, and no problems with it yet.

If ever there is a problem with the pressurized line, whether it would split, to whatever causing a leak. Simply dig up at each end, disconnect, and pull the old line out, and shove a new one though, to reconnect. If there are some serious arcs going from point A to point B, 1-1/2" line would make it easier to push it through.

Plastic well pipe comes in different pressure strengths. I use the 160 for the pressure line, although the system is max. 50 psi. The 1-1/4" conduit has the 100 psi rating, and less expensive.

It might be tough to find the length you need at a big box store, other than in 500' rolls. I needed to make a 190' run from the well pit to the new horse barn. I finally found 200' lengths of the sizes I needed at a geothermal heat contractor, and was actually less than the price per foot at the big box stores.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Regarding softened and filtered water, I don't see why you couldn't tap in a line after the pressure tank and before the filter and softener.

 

[mkr7734]

It wont. You can't just tap into the line from the well to the cabin, without another pressure tank and a second switch to activate the pump. You need to run from the cabin where it is pressurized when it comes from the well. You need the house pressure tank to push the water to the barn.

Agree,
If it was me I would do it like the plumber did ours. In the cabin tap in between the pressure tank and your softener. This way you will not be treating the water to the barn. Install a ball valve then run a line to the barn. If the barn is always heated you can install a iron filter in the barn for that. Maybe put a outside hydrant outside the barn to while your at it. Always nice to have water outside to.

 

[bumperm]

If you "T" into the existing line near the well and run the pipe to the barn, the barn water outlet will still provide pressure drop to cycle the well pump. If the pump is off, and the pressure tank at the cabin has water in it (as it normally would), then the pressure tank at the house will back feed water to the barn. When the low set point is reached, it will start the well pump.

Static water pressure at the barn will be affected by altitude and setting at the pressure switch at the cabin. When the water is turned on, flow and pressure will also be affected by pipe size and length.

If one needed a more adequate supply, flow and dynamic pressure, then installing a pressure tank at the barn would be an option. As long as there is no check valve between the two pressure tanks (cabin and barn) they will be in parallel, increasing time between well pump cycling with water use at either cabin or barn. This would also help mitigate lower well output if that were a problem.