Question about water pressure drop and how to recover?

[chopped]

Hi there. I have a question for anyone with knowledge about water pressure drops.
The situation is a main house with a well and pump system. It then feeds water to a trailer that is 1500 feet away. using either 3/4 or 1 inch black poly pipe.
The problem is low pressure at the trailer end. expecially when the main house pump is at cut in pressure.
I was considering adding this pump and tank inline at the trailer.
Flotec 1/2 HP Shallow-Well Jet Pump Combo-FP41515H - The Home Depot
No need to prime as the water would be in the inlet and then the outlet feeds the trailer.
Also I just thought if a tank ALONE would help this . like this one
Water Worker 2 Gal. Pressurized Well Tank-HT2B - The Home Depot



I couldnt find a simple online pressure drop chart to tell just how much is lost in the 1,500 foot run So was wondering if there is a formuler for this also.?
Thanks

 

[Billrog]

I have a neighbor on a well shared with 5 other homes but his house is 1,200' away with a 50' rise the others are 100' lower than the well. He just has a pressure pump in the house and has plenty of water so if you were to install the Home Depot pump it should do the trick. If you were to install a pressurized well tank and no pump the incoming pressure may not be able to fill it and 2 gal would be adequate you'd need min. 60 gal.

 

[hosspuller]

No expertise ... just thinking... Is the trailer higher or lower than the house ? Each foot of elevation will either add or subtract from the pump pressure switch. Hydraulically, the system pressure is the same at all points. Except when flowing, then friction causes a pressure drop. Will a large pressure tank with a check valve at the trailer provide enough water for each use? My thinking is when there is no use at the trailer the pump will pressurize the trailer tank. The benefit of a large pressure tank is energy savings. No additional pump required. Downside is when the pressure tank is exhausted, little flow.

 

[farmer2009]

A 120 gallon diaphragm pressure tank is only going to produce about 30 gallons of draw down on a 40/60 switch.

You want your pressure switch close to the pressure tank. For optimal performance.

I think your best bet is a pump with a small pressure tank. I. E. 20 gallons. I'd use a small jet pump setup just big enough for your needs.

 

[Redneck in training]

I would first check for restrictions such as shut off (isolating) valve, unions etc. before yu spend money and effort to increase the flow. The problem restriction might be on either side of the pipe. I used to work for apartment management company many years ago. We had special acoustic amplifier with microphone to find restrictions and leaks. Google acoustic leak detector.
Here is an example. Our was made by some Dutch company.
Fisher 223571 Little Foot Assembly for Acoustical Leak Detector from Davis Instruments

 

[square1]

Hi there. I have a question for anyone with knowledge about water pressure drops.
I couldnt find a simple online pressure drop chart to tell just how much is lost in the 1,500 foot run So was wondering if there is a formuler for this also.?
Thanks

 

[RalphVa]

In my Cameron Hydraulic data book @ 1 gpm, the head loss is 0.335 ft/100 ft in 3/4" line & 1.21 for 2 gpm. To get psi, multiply the head loss by 0.433 (and account for any height loss this way, too). For 1" pipe, head loss goes down to 0345 ft/100 ft for 2 gpm, approximately by the ratio of the square of the diameters.

I put in 1100' of 3/4" poly line years ago down my back hill after figuring out that it would lose very little pressure at 1-2 gpm and would actually gain lots of pressure due to the 100' height drop (e.g. 43 psi).

The booster pump is your best choice. The tank won't do anything other than preserving water at whatever pressure it gets.

Ralph

 

[Deere Dude]

I would begin by turning the pressure up to 50/70#. It will give you better pressure at the main house and an extra 10# at the receiving end.

I set mine at 50/70 and nothing will magically explode, in fact it makes it a lot nicer.

 

[Egon]

The simplest, as mentioned, crank up the pressures. If that does not work try a large pressure tank at the trailer. It must have an air bladder and check valve at the inlet to prevent baclflow.

Following that an in line on demand pump such as is used on recreational trailers and placed at the trailer may work.

Assumming the original well pump can meet flow demands.

 

[Valveman]

A submersible well pump can usually supply as much pressure as you need. Like Egon said, just turn up the pressure switch. If you are currently running 40/60 then turn it up to 50/70 and try that. I have lots of customers who run 60/80 or even 80/100 when the house is a long ways from the well and/or up a hill, and/or multi-story. Anything over 55/75 and you will probably need a different pressure switch. The GHG2 is my favorite for higher pressures, like up to 150 PSI.

As you said the problem is most acute when the system is close to cut-in pressure. Adding an additional or large tank will just make the system stay close to cut-in pressure for longer periods of time. The smaller the tank the less time spent close to cut-in pressure. And as usual I am going to mention a Cycle Stop Valve (CSV) as it will solve this problem. Lets say you turn the pressure switch up to 60/80. The cut-in of 60 is still 25% less pressure than when the system is close to the cut-out pressure of 80. With a small tank and a CSV, the pressure will quickly drop to the cut-in pressure. Then the CSV will hold the pressure constant at 75 PSI for as long as you are using water. Only when you turn off the shower and/or all water outlets will the CSV let the tank fill to 80 and the pump shut off. The constant 75 PSI from the CSV will be much stronger shower pressure than an average of 70 PSI, as when the pump is cycling on and off between 60 and 80. Without a CSV the pump will continue to cycle on and off, and much of the time the system will be close to the cut-in pressure, which you already know is when you get the worst/lowest pressure.

Even just adding a CSV to hold a constant 50 PSI for a normal 40/60 system will make the pressure much stronger. Many people think the pressure has been turned up. However, the pressure switch is still at 40/60. The CSV just makes the pressure stronger as it holds a constant 50 PSI, instead of an average 50 PSI, which is what you get when the system continues to cycle on and off from 40 to 60.

Sometimes we do a pump system for multiple houses where the houses are at different elevations. We just set up the CSV and pressure switch to give the house at the highest elevation the pressure it needs, then each lower house has its own pressure reducing valve to knock the pressure down to what they want at that house. For instance we would set the pressure switch for 100/120, which would give a house that is 115' higher a pressure of 50-60. Then houses that are 20' lower than the pump system would have 110 to 130 PSI, which we would reduce with a PRV down to 50-60 as needed. And of course the CSV would hold the pressure constant and not let the pump cycle on/off, no matter which house or how many houses are using water.