Adding a 2nd water pump question/advice?

turnkey4099 · Mar 18, 2007

tawilson said:
Thanks a lot Steve. My setup now is: shallow well pump-appr. 30 gallon bladder tank-clarifying filter-softener-then to the house which is split to feed each level separately. The pump is in the basement so total lift to the second floor is around 22'. I could easily add the 80 gallon bladder tank between the softener and the house plumbing. Maybe after the tee to the second floor would be better. I've got my pump set at 35/55 psi, but I see what you mean about a lower psi giving you more room for storage in your bladder tank. Right now, I will see how things work after cleaning out my lines. If it doesn't solve the problem, I'll stick the other tank in. The second floor is fed with only a 1/2" line, which isn't good, but when I'm not using water downstairs, is ok. I have thought about adding a small bladder tank upstairs. I understand what you are talking about with the check valve, I have the campsite setup the same way, except with pumps. Thanks again.

I agree with Steve. You don't have a pressure problem, you have a capacity problem. Possibly complicated by restricted flow. The pump you have will pressurize any tank you add in, no need for a 2nd pump. With the tank after the filter, any restriction caused by the filter has no effect on system performance _except when the pump is running_. Thus a large storage tank will supply your 35/55 pressure just fine until the pump kicks in. At that point you might be drawing more water than can work its way through the filter.

Adding another tank will cause the pump to run longer each cycle which is good as it is the start up part of the operation that causes the most wear. Of course if you have a low capacity well that has to be considered in just how much water you can pump in one cycle.

Harry K

tawilson · Mar 18, 2007

Hey turnkey. Thanks to you and the others for their time. Now that we've cycled our little community through a days worth of showers and washings, I think my problem is solved. With the plugged line, I was trying to feed my house with a 3/8" line. This is 3/4" plumbing I redid in copper about 10 years ago. I didn't expect copper to plug up like this. It happened so gradual, and I had a couple more people move in in the last couple years, that I wasn't thinking plugged lines. Now I am going to redo the plumbing from the pump so I will have a dripleg and a blowoff valve that I will just hit every so often. Thanks again.

BobRip · Mar 19, 2007

tawilson said:
Hey turnkey. Thanks to you and the others for their time. Now that we've cycled our little community through a days worth of showers and washings, I think my problem is solved. With the plugged line, I was trying to feed my house with a 3/8" line. This is 3/4" plumbing I redid in copper about 10 years ago. I didn't expect copper to plug up like this. It happened so gradual, and I had a couple more people move in in the last couple years, that I wasn't thinking plugged lines. Now I am going to redo the plumbing from the pump so I will have a dripleg and a blowoff valve that I will just hit every so often. Thanks again.

Do you think the material is loose enough to be blown out?

tawilson · Mar 19, 2007

Yeah, as long as I do it regular. I had the 80 gallon and I have a couple of tanks piped as settlement tanks and blow the rust out of the bottom all the time. I thought about just using the unions that are there already and taking it apart occasionally, but if all I have to do is hit a valve, I'll keep up on it. I'm also going to raise the 30 gallon bladder tank so it comes into the riser above the pump, which will give me a good drip leg with the volume of the bladder tank to blast it out. I'm also throwing in a couple more unions so I can take the whole thing apart if needed.

turnkey4099 · Mar 20, 2007

tawilson said:
Yeah, as long as I do it regular. I had the 80 gallon and I have a couple of tanks piped as settlement tanks and blow the rust out of the bottom all the time. I thought about just using the unions that are there already and taking it apart occasionally, but if all I have to do is hit a valve, I'll keep up on it. I'm also going to raise the 30 gallon bladder tank so it comes into the riser above the pump, which will give me a good drip leg with the volume of the bladder tank to blast it out. I'm also throwing in a couple more unions so I can take the whole thing apart if needed.

Sounds good. I know I am very lax about blowing down my water heater. It is several year overdue.

Harry K