| Original System | | | | very low pressure is MUCH better than trying to |
| When we bought our rural property in 2000, the | | | | use a pump to build up a 35-50 PSI dozens of |
| water system needed some serious help. The | | | | times a day to charge a pressure tank. |
| previous owners had purchased a Culligan water | | | | As a side note, our well is not a great producer. |
| conditioner that did not use salt, but used a dosing | | | | The well pump will run from sixty to ninety |
| pump which injected a bleach solution into the | | | | minutes (depending on how much water is in the |
| water when the well pump was running. The well | | | | 300 foot well) until all the water is pumped out. |
| water had lots of iron and a horrible sulfur smell. It | | | | When all the water has been pumped out, the |
| was nasty! The iron in the water was oxidized by | | | | well pump spins fast and draws more power. Our |
| the bleach and fell out of suspension where it was | | | | no load pump sensor sees the increased load of |
| filtered out. At least that was the theory. Not only | | | | the pump and shuts the pump down for ninety |
| did we find this pump had an ongoing problem | | | | minutes. This hour and a half off period allows the |
| with leaks (bleach has a nasty habit of eating | | | | well to "recharge" with water. At the end of the |
| rubber seals), but the tank needed to be regularly | | | | ninety minutes, if the water storage tank is not |
| refilled with many gallons of grocery store bleach, | | | | full, the controller will turn the pump back on to |
| then mixed with water. This was a dumb, high | | | | continue the filling. |
| maintenance system... and whether it worked or | | | | How long the pumps last depends on a lot of |
| not, my wife and I REALLY did not like the idea | | | | things, but they should last 7-10 years. Our last |
| of having that nasty tasting chlorine in our water. | | | | pump survived as many as 13 years (the date of |
| I don't know which was worse, the chlorine taste | | | | manufacture was stamped on the pump). The |
| or the rotten egg smell. Blah! | | | | system was not used much by the former |
| | | | owners, so we believe that is what made it last |
| Water Storage & Pumps | | | | as long as it did. Because of the way we set up |
| We looked at the problem and decided to | | | | our current system, we hope to get 15-20 years |
| overhaul the entire water system. The first thing | | | | out of this current pump... even with our growing |
| we did was to install a 2500 gallon above-ground | | | | population. To boost our water storage capacity, |
| water storage tank. Once the tank was full, the | | | | and further save the pump, we added a second |
| well pump turned off... and stayed off until the | | | | storage tank for a total of 5000 gallons. We |
| tank level dropped considerably. By themselves, | | | | replaced the pressure tank with a new unit (the |
| well pumps are very expensive... never mind the | | | | old one was leaking internally) and added a |
| labor to install one. Well pumps are quite happy | | | | separate booster pump motor to maintain |
| when they are running, but really do not like | | | | pressure in the system. After we pulled the old |
| on-off cycling. The very best way to make these | | | | pressure tank, my son Jacob snatched it from |
| guys last is to minimize the load on them (the | | | | the scrap metal pile and went to work turning it |
| "head" pressure) and have them run until the tank | | | | into a deer feeder. Way to go, Jacob! |
| is full. Pumping water into a storage tank under | | | | |