How To Plumb Well Water Lines for 2 Homes

[CurlyDave]

I handled a very long run from the well to my house by putting a pressure tank and the well pump controller in a small "well house" at the well.

There is a second pressure tank in the main house, with a check valve that prevents backflow.

There are also intermediate tap points that provide irrigation water before the run gets to the house, and the amount of irrigation water is much larger than the house consumption. This has worked for years with no problems.

 

[Pettrix]

The future main house will be a few feet higher in elevation (maybe 5 feet).

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

I wouldn't worry about a 5' elevation difference, but if it turns out to be a problem, you can always add a pressure booster.

There are a number of ways you can do this, but the thing to keep in mind is, you want ONE controller. You can have as many pressure tanks as you want (in theory) as long as the pump can handle all of them.

And think about maintenance and think about potential problems. You want to make sure you can isolate both buildings (that means valves) and you want to make sure a burst pipe in one place doesn't drain the whole system (that means check valves). You also don't want a flushed toilet in one house to mean a cold shower in the other.

Maintenance is the reason I don't like a pump house located near the well head. You'll have to run power there, and you'll have to do maintenance there. I'd rather have it in a comfortable basement with lots of room. But... it IS a very workable solution.


Another approach is to forget the pressure tank. Pump to a storage tank, and then have separate pressure boosters to supply each building. This isn't as common a setup, but it has a number of advantages. For one, much less load on the pump. It also eliminates any problem with elevation differences, and one building affecting the pressure in the other building.

These folks show a setup with a conventional pressure tank after the storage tank, which is one way to do it.

Water Storage Tank Systems | Texas Water Services and Well Drilling

Since you are in the high desert, the advantages of this should be obvious. In case of a power failure, you still have water to drink for a while.

Whatever you do, go bigger than you think you need. Pump and tank and pipe sizes. You will be glad you did.

 

[turnkey4099]

So you are saying I can "T" off near the well and run one line to the guest house and one to the future house and still just have the controller sit in the guest house?

If you turn on the water at the main house, how will the pump know that it needs to turn on?

It's a closed hydraulic system, pressure is the same throughout (static), It may take a bit for the controller to see the pressure drop there when a tap it turned on but it would be inperceptable.

 

[turnkey4099]

Are there two locations at the same elevation? My basement gauge and controller in house is 10 feet below my shop gauge and reads 5 psi more than shop. It is 15 psi per 33 feet of water altitude change due to static water pressure. The static pressure in pipes is like skin diving in lake, one atmosphere ( approx 15 psi) per 33 feet of depth.

I get maximum 60 psi in house while only 55 psi in shop. I first thought it was gauge error. Any body need a calibrated electronic readout pressure gauge? ☺

Yep, rule of thrum is .5 psi per foot elevation. Really .46 IIANM but close enough for practical purposes. One may have to live with a higher pressure at the low elevation to get acceptable pressure at the higher one.

 

[turnkey4099]

I wouldn't worry about a 5' elevation difference, but if it turns out to be a problem, you can always add a pressure booster.

There are a number of ways you can do this, but the thing to keep in mind is, you want ONE controller. You can have as many pressure tanks as you want (in theory) as long as the pump can handle all of them.

And think about maintenance and think about potential problems. You want to make sure you can isolate both buildings (that means valves) and you want to make sure a burst pipe in one place doesn't drain the whole system (that means check valves). You also don't want a flushed toilet in one house to mean a cold shower in the other.

Maintenance is the reason I don't like a pump house located near the well head. You'll have to run power there, and you'll have to do maintenance there. I'd rather have it in a comfortable basement with lots of room. But... it IS a very workable solution.


Another approach is to forget the pressure tank. Pump to a storage tank, and then have separate pressure boosters to supply each building. This isn't as common a setup, but it has a number of advantages. For one, much less load on the pump. It also eliminates any problem with elevation differences, and one building affecting the pressure in the other building.

These folks show a setup with a conventional pressure tank after the storage tank, which is one way to do it.

Water Storage Tank Systems | Texas Water Services and Well Drilling

Since you are in the high desert, the advantages of this should be obvious. In case of a power failure, you still have water to drink for a while.

Whatever you do, go bigger than you think you need. Pump and tank and pipe sizes. You will be glad you did.

I'm with you on the pressure tank, conroller, etc not in a hole in the ground. Those are where all the maintenance (except the pump) takes palce. Why people htink they jus thave to have a well house is beyond me. My nieghbor had a new well drilled, put the tank/switch in a room in a shed nearby...then put money into insulating and heating hat room to keep things from feezing. He totally ignored the fact the old system ran just fine with the tank/switch in the house basement.

 

[Pettrix]

It's a closed hydraulic system, pressure is the same throughout (static), It may take a bit for the controller to see the pressure drop there when a tap it turned on but it would be inperceptable.

So I CAN run two separate lines from the well using a "T" valve to split them (one for the guest house and and one for the main house).

SEE ATTACHED DETAIL -



So being it's a closed hydraulic system, once I turn on the water in the future main house, the water will flow from the line from the well and then then the guest house line will begin to drain back and cause the controller in the guest house to sense the pressure loss and kick on the well pump.

Is that correct?

So there shouldn't be any problems or issues later if I do it with the above way, correct?

 

[Qapla]

I live in Florida so freeze is not a problem. However, what we do have is four houses/buildings being fed from one well.

We have a 4" well with a submersible pump. In our case, since "basements" are not a common (or practical) thing in Florida, we have all the controls at the well. My house is 400 feet in one direction from the well and my Brother's house is 600 feet in the other direction - so, we have 1,000 feet of 1.5" mainline.

In your drawing it looks like you will have the controller in a free standing garage. Since the pressure switch sits on the mainline before it leaves the garage, and water drawn from it will be able to turn the pump on. If this is the case, feeding the other locations is simple, depending on how bad your areas freezes.

In the simplest way, just bring you mainline out and head toward the house(s). At some point, put a "T" and run one line to each house. Put a check valve where the water enters each house. Add an additional "T" in the mainline for any outside faucets/hydrants you would like.

If you don't have to great of a concern about in-ground freezing, you could place a "T" (or two) in the mainline just outside the garage and put a shutoff valve on individual lines running to each house and one for any outside watering. Put these valves in Irrigation Valve Boxes (the deep rectangular ones).

If ground freezing is a problem, you could always build a manifold in the garage (with cut-off's) and run each line out through the slab.

As long as the pressure switch is BEFORE the manifold or T's, the system will work fine regardless of where the water is used.

(think about it ... turning on the kitchen faucet downstairs or filling the tub upstairs makes no difference, the pump still works as it should. The same holds even if the kitchen faucet was in one house and the tub were in another)

BTW - we have had our system in and working for 40 years and we can never tell when water is being used in any of the other houses/buildings - and we only have one pressure tank ... it is at the well with the controller.

 

[Pettrix]

How big of a water line should I get from the well so I don't have volume/pressure losses?

1.25" or 1.50"

 

[Pettrix]

I'm confused now. Some are saying to run a single line from the guest house and then split it. Others are saying to run two main lines (one to each house) and just have the controller in the guest house garage.