Irrigation well. Questions about pressure tank and freezing.

[LouNY]

I always liked using a 240 volt bulb on a 120 volt circuit, the bulb will put out a bit less heat but will last almost forever.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I didn't see any mention of any house. I understand this to be a vacant lot with the well being used for irrigation.


My question to the OP is why bother? Turn the power off and let it drain back down into the well so everything at the surface is dry. Build your doghouse to protect the works from the elements but don't worry about freezing.

My thought too. An irrigation pump does not need a pressure tank or pressure switch. Turn the pump on when you want to irrigate, turn it off when you are done. Put it on a timer for convenience. For freeze protection, put a pinhole in the pipe 10' down so it drains down when the pump is off. It may already have one. I had a place where the pressure tank was a non-diaphragm model, and every time the pump kicked on it shoved a charge of air into the tank. There was a float valve on the side of the tank that vented excess air. With no pressure tank, the excess air would just squirt out the sprinkler.

 

[Sportsman762]

I would make a shed with a concrete floor that would house everything. No need to make it removable by tractor, so long as you can get get a tank in it, you will be fine, however the well contractors always appreciate it if you make it a little larger so you have room to hook up pipes. A small milk house heater with a thermostat would work just fine on heating it up. Easy to install and cheap to replace. However if your warm enough to have the underground discharge 18" below ground you might be able to use a 100W bulb. I am use to working with underground discharges 6' down per state law.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I just tore down a small well house. It only had a door on the side and I needed to get at the top so I had to cut the roof off. So there's a tip, make it so that it opens up all the way or can be taken apart. It was lousy with mice, so another tip is to seal it tight everywhere. I'm already thinking of the next one, which will probably have a poured concrete floor to get the walls off of the ground and a lightweight roof -- metal panels probably -- that can be lifted off.

If you put insulation on top of the ground you raise the frost line. A rule of thumb is that dirt is about R4 per foot. If you know what the frost level is in your area, an equivalent amount of insulation in a structure that is open to the ground on the bottom will be frost protected. Where I am the frost depth is 40", which would be R-13.2. My well house had two inches of polyiso insulation, rated at R6.5 per inch, so R13, and I never had frost damage. Of course insulation has to be continuous to work.

 

[npalen]

Thanks for the ideas so far.

I must have a pressure tank. This is not for open irrigation. It will support hose bibs, drip irrigation and such.

I cannot bury anything. Here in east Tennessee, you hit rock quickly. For instance, my primary well is 5 ft of clay and 195 ft of limestone.

Every situation is different but I've done the above with a submersible pump with a timer on the relay and no pressure tank or pump house for almost fifty years now. This in Kansas where it can get down to minus 20F. Finally added a wifi controller last year along with six solenoid valves for zoned lawn irrigation but still no pressure tank. Can attach a hose to bibs at a couple locations and still run manually with the timer.

 

[Egon]

Would you have a link to such a dome? The wellhead doesn't need insulation. Just the nearby equipment. Wellhead has a pitless adapter 18" below grade. We get overnight Temps as low as the mid-teens, but not for long as the day heats up usually above freezing. Not worried about the wellhead nor buried piping. Just the well-side equipment.

i can’t refer to a supplier. In the oilfield one sees quite a few over well heads. From your information ancillary equipment could be placed anywhere as long as access to power is available. However, the well head may be the desirable location.
Lots of insulation for building, self activated heat tape on all the piping and vessels and then wrapped with insulation and cladding.
The building does not have to be a dome. Just a weather proof insulated structure to cover the equipment. If it’s on the wellhead it must be removable.

 

[Valveman]

If you want to use hose bibs and have the pump come on automatically when you open a bib, a pressure tank and pressure switch are needed. If the electric pole is at the well you need the pressure switch at the well or you would need to run wire to the house for the pressure switch and back to the well. You don't need a very large pressure tank if you control the pump with a Cycle Stop Valve. A 4.5 gallon size pressure tank is all you would need. The CSV is very helpful to keep the pump from cycling to death when using small flow rates like drip systems. The PK1A kit that comes with a 4.5 gallon size tank will fit in a 24X24X14 box and can be easily buried with a valve box or covered and heated in a fake rock.

The CSV125 can also be used below an in the well pressure tank, which is 4" diameter and fits in the well with the pressure switch. These tanks are expensive and don't hold much water, but they don't need to hold much water as they are used with a Cycle Stop Valve to control the pump.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

This. I am surprised by how many people think the controls and pressure tank HAVE to be at the well head. They don't. Mine are all in a group, pressure and hot water tanks right next to each other and right by the breaker box.

None of my wells are even any where close to the pressure tank and controls. 4 wells run to a central well house.

 

[Michael In Tennessee]

Update: Got everything done but an insulated house of some kind. I went with a horizontal tank as it makes the house smaller. The service disconnect is a bit redundant as the power pole is 25 ft away and in sight. But, I needed a J-box anyway to split out the 120V utility circuit. The utility circuit continues on as #12 UF 175 ft to the edge of my pond for a future aerator. I made all connections go through the slab so the insulated building could just lift off without any encumbrances.