Replace or extend slab around water well?

[ning]

The water well at my property has a very small concrete slab around it - about 2' x 4', 3"ish thick - with the well casing, electrical conduit, and pipe going to the house being encased in it (there's a T in the pipe which provides water to chickens & garden between the well and the outflow-to-house pipe). There is a small structure surrounding this, mostly for aesthetics.

The pressure tank and water filters for the house are currently in a very inconvenient crawl space, and I propose to relocate those to a newly constructed well shed at the well location. The pressure tank is 30 years old and the stand is rusted out and I'd be surprised if it functions near 100% and it's definitely not going to last a lot longer; it'll be enough of a pain to get the old tank out and I'd prefer not to put a new tank into the same spot and also need to add a large water filter which may or may not fit in the available height!

Issues: the slab is way too small to add a pressure tank and a couple water filters.
In addition, in the rare cold winter it would be nice to be able to have always-on electricity for a pipe heater / space heater (even more necessary if the water filters are there). Last time I needed heat there, I had to run an extension cord from the house.

Q: Should I remove the old slab and pour a new one? Or should I pour an addition around the current one?

(There's also about a 12' elevation increase over ~180' run that the new pressure tank location would need to account for - about +5psi - but the tank at the house is currently set for 30/50 so this should not be a problem.)

 

[ChuckT]

I think it may be that your local authority _ might_ have an opinion on the slab around the well casing. But only to insure that nothing can sleep down along the outside of the casing to the water layer you're tapped into.
We're it me I'd form and pour a large enough slab to build your well house around the casing but do consider - iff you ever need to pull the well (to replace a submersible pump as we just did) you need to make the roof structure either removable or make the house small enough to be moved out of the way to service the well, the pressure tank, softener, etc.

 

[Rebeldad1]

i vote for a seperate building for all your above ground needs. ours are inside a shed. keeps the tank warm during freezing.

 

[ning]

I think it may be that your local authority _ might_ have an opinion on the slab around the well casing. But only to insure that nothing can sleep down along the outside of the casing to the water layer you're tapped into.
We're it me I'd form and pour a large enough slab to build your well house around the casing but do consider - iff you ever need to pull the well (to replace a submersible pump as we just did) you need to make the roof structure either removable or make the house small enough to be moved out of the way to service the well, the pressure tank, softener, etc.

Great point - the current structure I built ages ago is fully removable but I'd kinda forgotten that point.

Last time I pulled the well pump myself (its impellers had gotten impacted with clay over the years - same reason I want better access to filters now) I rigged up a roller system and pulled out out using my truck more or less horizontally; this didn't require much vertical space. I'd want at least 7' to avoid cobwebs when servicing filters and other plumbing issues though.

 

[ning]

i vote for a seperate building for all your above ground needs. ours are inside a shed. keeps the tank warm during freezing.

I'd like to, but that space between the well and the house is pretty much the main yard so I'd prefer to incorporate it all together there, remote from the house. There's nowhere adjacent to the house it could go either due to the layout.

 

[3Ts]

I have all my well stuff in one building that looks kinda like a miniature church. It's 4'x8' with the electric, pressure tank, heater, and filters. And in the early days also had the washing machine in there. The submersible pump is in the 2'x2' "vestibule" connected to the pump house and is fully removable for access to the well. They did not pour a concrete surround for our well but we incorporated it when we poured the pad for the well house.

 

[beowulf]

My wellhead, control box, pressure tank, pressure switch and gauge, a fuse box, and electric outlet are all contained on a slab - guessing it is about 7 x 7. I poured it about 34 years ago. A large slab to seat all your equipment is really nice. We just added a second well for a second house (daughter and son-in-law) on our property and the well has been dug and pump is in the ground, but nothing else yet done but I have already staked out a 6' x 9' area where I will pour a slab.

Re the well house - 1) With a couple of bolts removed my well house can be completely tipped on its side (takes two people) which is very important when you need to service things, and 2) it has walls on two sides only (with a adequate 2x6 horizontal bracing for the other two sides - so not dark inside), and 3) the walls start about 12" up from the slab. This last point is important as I do not have spiders or other insects in there and no critters have decided to make it a home. And very easy to hose out.

 

[ning]

I have all my well stuff in one building that looks kinda like a miniature church. It's 4'x8' with the electric, pressure tank, heater, and filters. And in the early days also had the washing machine in there. The submersible pump is in the 2'x2' "vestibule" connected to the pump house and is fully removable for access to the well. They did not pour a concrete surround for our well but we incorporated it when we poured the pad for the well house.

I like this vestibule concept and will steal it.

 

[ning]

My wellhead, control box, pressure tank, pressure switch and gauge, a fuse box, and electric outlet are all contained on a slab - guessing it is about 7 x 7. I poured it about 34 years ago. A large slab to seat all your equipment is really nice. We just added a second well for a second house (daughter and son-in-law) on our property and the well has been dug and pump is in the ground, but nothing else yet done but I have already staked out a 6' x 9' area where I will pour a slab.

Re the well house - 1) With a couple of bolts removed my well house can be completely tipped on its side (takes two people) which is very important when you need to service things, and 2) it has walls on two sides only (with a adequate 2x6 horizontal bracing for the other two sides - so not dark inside), and 3) the walls start about 12" up from the slab. This last point is important as I do not have spiders or other insects in there and no critters have decided to make it a home. And very easy to hose out.

I'm a bit lost on the "walls on only two sides" bit - you're saying it's somewhat open on the (presumably away from most weather) other two, and this is to reduce spiders etc? (I get black widows in mine; I take a portable propane torch with me when I need to do something in there now and crisp anything that moves)

 

[skipmarcy]

When I built mine 15 years ago I used 1/2" anchor studs in the slab so I could remove the nuts & washers and lift the "house" up & off with my FEL on my tractor.

DON'T use one leg of your 240v off your pump for running any 120v items like a heat light etc. I ran a separate 120v wire from my shed underground for my 100w flood bulb and have a wall switch in the shed to turn it on (pumphouse has very rudimentary door screwed closed). I built my little pumphouse using R13 batt insulation so I don't even need the light until it gets into the low teens for an extended period. My well driller said the state encourages a slab around a wellhead to help seal from contamination.