creek water for domestic use, any ideas?

[scesnick]

I have crappy well water. It is full of iron and wifey is sick of it. I also have a very nice stream running through my property that feeds the towns resevoir down in the valley. It is super clean water and originates on my property. It has been tested by the town many many times.

I ran a waterline and electric down to the creek last summer (550ft). I planned on putting a 55 gallon drum in the creek and a deep well pump inside that drum and pump the water to the house. I have this system completley installed except my splice in the wire must be bad because I am not getting the proper power. Not a hard fix, just need to dig up the line again.
My question is this, I recently came acrossed a very nice 800 gallon poly tank. I would love to incorporporate this tank into my system. It seems like a great way to keep debris from my pump. Would I be better off to bury this tank and run an inlet and outlet pipe for the water? Or, just sitting this whole tank in the creek and letting the water run into it somehow that way? Or any other suggestion?

I know about the open water for domestic use issue. that is why I am running a UV light when I use this system.

 

[dieselbeef]

why arent you just running a aerator and a softener. if you have the uv and yer fridge has a filter in it yer all set..or even a inline cheap filter from lowes or the depot will filter 5 yrs of water from a spiket

 

[scesnick]

why arent you just running a aerator and a softener. if you have the uv and yer fridge has a filter in it yer all set..or even a inline cheap filter from lowes or the depot will filter 5 yrs of water from a spiket

Oh if it was just that easy...... I have dumped no less than 5k into two different water systems. The work great for about 2 months.

BTW- my well water isn't hard. it is just full of iron.

 

[dieselbeef]

ours has the iron and the sulphur in it..the softener helps the iron content also..our water is really hard...the salt does remove some of the iron...i wouldnt have thought md would have them problems tho...good luck w/ it..

 

[tungularafishcamp]

I don't know about your area but if flooding is a consideration it might be better to bury the tank off the crick a bit and pipe to and from the tank. On my system I just have a piece of pipe with alot of small holes sitting in the spring which I wipe the debris off every so often. You wanna make sure that you pipe the outlet back to the creek. As far as lack of power are you sure you have big enough wire to carry the load 550ft?
good luck
Rick

 

[MossRoad]

Does it freeze there in MD?

 

[LostInTheWoods]

I have crappy well water. It is full of iron and wifey is sick of it. I also have a very nice stream running through my property that feeds the towns resevoir down in the valley. It is super clean water and originates on my property. It has been tested by the town many many times.

Will your local authorities give you any grief about "altering" the waterway leading to the town's reservoir? Some places are more aggressive than others about being touchy-feely on such things.

Something to think about before you drop more $, and someone from the gubbm'nt comes knocking.

 

[scesnick]

Does it freeze there in MD?

I live in the western Md. mountains and it freezes hard. I have seen -20 many times. That is why I was considering burying the tank. The creek water does'nt freeze though. I guess because it originates on my property and is moving pretty fast. But that is why I was thinking of burying the tank.
The thing about burying the tank is that I would have to also bury the inlet line to it and It would have to be below the frost line. This would require ALOT of pipe to get the water to run downhill from a site upstream ( I hope that made some sense)
Unless I dig a REALLY deep hole right beside he creek.

I did use the proper guage wire for for the distance traveled. It cost me a small fortune...

 

[scesnick]

I don't know about your area but if flooding is a consideration it might be better to bury the tank off the crick a bit and pipe to and from the tank. On my system I just have a piece of pipe with alot of small holes sitting in the spring which I wipe the debris off every so often. You wanna make sure that you pipe the outlet back to the creek. As far as lack of power are you sure you have big enough wire to carry the load 550ft?
good luck
Rick

Would you mind describing your system a bit more?

 

[mmurphy]

At 550' of wire to the pump, you probably have severe voltage drop.
You have potential of having nasty viruses coming your way if using it as drinking water. The town would have a treatment plant that would inactivate these critters.
Many options out there for iron removal. Water softeners are not always the best for it. Dissolved oxygen in water will make the iron in to particulates, and that can plug a softener. If iron was not that bad at first, your well may need to be treated for iron bacteria. This bacteria type will not make you sick but just makes a mess.Check with a local water conditioning company for your best options. Let them know out front you are checking with other companys, it keeps them a little more competitive.

 

[scesnick]

At 550' of wire to the pump, you probably have severe voltage drop.
You have potential of having nasty viruses coming your way if using it as drinking water. The town would have a treatment plant that would inactivate these critters.
Many options out there for iron removal. Water softeners are not always the best for it. Dissolved oxygen in water will make the iron in to particulates, and that can plug a softener. If iron was not that bad at first, your well may need to be treated for iron bacteria. This bacteria type will not make you sick but just makes a mess.Check with a local water conditioning company for your best options. Let them know out front you are checking with other companys, it keeps them a little more competitive.

Been there and tried all of that. I understand the bacteria risks, That is why I went with the UV light. as far as conditioning existing well water, I am done throwing money at that .

 

[Egon]

Consider the pro's and con's of placing the tank at your house and use it for storage/treatment. Install a much smaller pump at the water source to reduce power requirements.

The small pump will have to run longer but it may also keep a siphon effect ongoing for the long line. [If'n I remember the situation correctly]

 

[tungularafishcamp]

I have a spring 900' away that is 85 higher than my house so gravity brings it to me. I put 2- 3 inch pvc pipes coming off the edge of the spring filling a barrel 10' away. Down in the barrel I have another 3 in pipe that has all the holes drilled in it (this is what I have to clean occasionally of leaves, moss etc although most floats off the top of the barrel. I have a 3 inch line then come down the stream bed aways until it branches off for the cabin, then I have it buried. It provides me with all my elec. as well as the water. It works well down to 10 degrees because of all the flow.

 

[scesnick]

Consider the pro's and con's of placing the tank at your house and use it for storage/treatment. Install a much smaller pump at the water source to reduce power requirements.

The small pump will have to run longer but it may also keep a siphon effect ongoing for the long line. [If'n I remember the situation correctly]

I would still have to bury the tank at my house due to the climate. then I would need to pump the water from the tank. I already have all the lines run from the creek. My house is 80 ft higher than the creek.

 

[scesnick]

I have a spring 900' away that is 85 higher than my house so gravity brings it to me. I put 2- 3 inch pvc pipes coming off the edge of the spring filling a barrel 10' away. Down in the barrel I have another 3 in pipe that has all the holes drilled in it (this is what I have to clean occasionally of leaves, moss etc although most floats off the top of the barrel. I have a 3 inch line then come down the stream bed aways until it branches off for the cabin, then I have it buried. It provides me with all my elec. as well as the water. It works well down to 10 degrees because of all the flow.

WOW what a setup. I am also contemplating a micro hydro unit.

 

[mmurphy]

I would still have to bury the tank at my house due to the climate. then I would need to pump the water from the tank. I already have all the lines run from the creek. My house is 80 ft higher than the creek.

O.K. Next issue, how many feet of head is your pump rated at? You not only have 80 feet of head but, also head loss for the amount of at least 550' of line plus connectors, or angles.

I am not trying to talk you out of what you want to do, just throw in any other thoughts that may be needed.
Egon's idea of a smaller gpm pump, so runs in longer durations, and a bigger tank is a good idea.

 

[blueriver]

My neighbor tapped into a spring about 700' from his house. First he dug down about 12' ... then put in a 3'x16' culvert (upright) with about 4' sticking out of the ground. He back filled around the pipe with 2" rock ... apparently this forces the water up the pipe. Inside is a platform where his pump and all sets also he has a hole for overflow just about ground level ... the thing has a lid .. he claims he can not pump it dry.

Course in your country this may freeze.

 

[scesnick]

O.K. Next issue, how many feet of head is your pump rated at? You not only have 80 feet of head but, also head loss for the amount of at least 550' of line plus connectors, or angles.
.

Itis a deep well pump so it should be good to go. I also like Egons Idea but that would require two pumps and quite a bit of installation at the house end of the system.

 

[MossRoad]

I live in the western Md. mountains and it freezes hard. I have seen -20 many times. That is why I was considering burying the tank. The creek water does'nt freeze though. I guess because it originates on my property and is moving pretty fast. But that is why I was thinking of burying the tank.
The thing about burying the tank is that I would have to also bury the inlet line to it and It would have to be below the frost line. This would require ALOT of pipe to get the water to run downhill from a site upstream ( I hope that made some sense)
Unless I dig a REALLY deep hole right beside he creek.

I did use the proper guage wire for for the distance traveled. It cost me a small fortune...

Good. I have an above ground swimming pool and it freezes solid for 3-4 months out of the year. Not any different from an above ground tank. That's why I asked. :thumbsup:

 

[charlz]

At the creek end, no matter what size tank you put there, it will eventually fill up with sediment etc. I would go for something that is easy to clean out.

I am curious as to the system you are going to use to treat the water to make it potable?