well water supply

[bmancanfly]

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Hi, I hope to build a small campground on my property. I need to supply water to the sites from one or several wells. Eventually there will be 50 sites requiring 50 gallons per day each for a total of 2500 gallons per day. Rather than having to drill several wells I plan on purchasing a 3000 gallon water storage tank (about $1000) to supply the camp sites. I'll fill the tank with only one small pump and save on drilling and pump costs. But, how do I create water pressure from the storage tank to the supply lines to the campsites? The tank will be at an elevation higher than the campsites but I don't think it will be sufficient to create enough water pressure.

The cost of drilling several wells with the standard small storage tanks seems to be much higher.

Any advise would be appreciated.

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[hawgeye]

Sounds like you need to do some calculations or hire an engineer to do it for you. You may find that gravity may provide enough pressure and volume, otherwise you're looking at an additional pump with a pressure tank.

2500 gal/day seems like a lot even for 50 sites and unless your has the capacity, I suspect you'll be drilling a lot of wells.

[dpb]

hawgeye wrote: ...

It may require you hire an engineer or otherwise get permits, etc., since you will, in essence, be running a public water system. Virtually all will depend on where this site is located the resulting zoning requirements and code requirements, etc., ...

Well, 2500gal/day --> 1.7 gpm so even a 6-7 gpm well would only have to run 25% or so, so it would seem at least feasible.

But, the previous questions make dealing w/ any of the other details meaningless until know about them...

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[PeterD]

Please can this spamming signature! It is not (repeat not) appropirate to promote your company on USENET!

[PeterD]

(spam snipped)

First contact your state, county and local regulators about this. In some areas this constitutes a community water supply and you may find there are requirements that you don't realize (scheduled testing, water quality assurance, for example)

[bmancanfly]

bmancanfly had written this in response to

: thanks for your reply hawgeye, Here's the math I'm working with - maybe I'm wrong. If I have one well pump at 20 gpm (1200 gallons an hour) running for 2-3 hours a day that will fill the storage tank with ease. And the campsites are then supplied as needed from the storage tank - allowing me to have only one well/pump. I think it will work. I guess I will need a separate pump to pressurize the water from the storage tank to the campsite water supply line. If I need to drill numerous wells it's gonna cost a fortune. Any advice?

------------------------------------- hawgeye wrote:

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[Steve Barker DLT]

Use a pump.

s

[Steve Barker DLT]

gravity only supplies .4 of a pound per foot. so, i guess if he could get his tank 100 feet in the air, it MIGHT work. But then again, you'd then need a pump to get the water up 100 feet, so youmight just as well leave the tank low and use the same pump to make the pressure in the system. It does NOT take an engineer to make simple hydraulic flow calculations. Especially for something like the OP is proposing. The main concern is that his well could supply 2500 gallons a day. That's a hundred+ gallons an hour continous, (24x7) and that would be some kind of magnificent well in my opinion.

s

[Steve Barker DLT]

I think you are being unrealistic to expect a well to produce 20 gallon a minute even for a few minutes. Better check into water well productivity a litte more.

s

[Steve Barker DLT]

since when are there rules on usenet? I'd be more inclined to say it's not appropriate to mis-spell on usenet.

s

[jloomis]

[bmancanfly]

bmancanfly had written this in response to

: jloomis, Since you're able to fill a 1200 gallon tank I was wondering how many gpm does your well and pump produce. I've moved here from an area that had city water to this location now, so this whole well/pump thing is new to me. My plan to fill a 2500 to 3000 gallon tank with water from one well didn't "seem" far fetched to me - but I could be way off. Also I've already checked the legal aspect with the county (that's where I came up with the 50 gallon a day per campsite number) and have resolve those issues. Just not sure what's the best way mechanically and cost wise to do this.

------------------------------------- jloomis wrote:

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[RO]

2500 gallons a day is only 1.73 gallons per minute over a 24 hour period. If your well is capable of pumping 20 gallon per minute, it might be a lot easier and cheaper to just have four 80 gallon bladder pressure tanks in your well house and not bother with a big plastic storage tank and centrifugal pump.

How deep is you well? RO

[Rick Samuel]

First things first; Find GPM your well produces. I use rain water to water my plants and refill my garden pond. A 1500 gal. tank, raiser 5 ft, for a camp site, that pressure would be fine. To find GPM, you'll have to disassemble part of your supply coming out of the well. So you can measure the output. Two 5 gal. buckets will serve as your measure. Let the well rest, or do it first thing in the morning. shut off the pump, disconnect and form a outlet high enough for the buckets. Have a watch. Start the pump and measure output and time. When the flow drops off, shut off the pump. Wait 10 min and redo. The first will tell you your drawdown, ie capacity of the well, the second will tell you how much the well produces. IF your lucky, the first go around won't slow down. Depending where you are.

[jloomis]

[dpb]

Steve Barker DLT wrote: ...

...

2500/24/60 --> 1.74 gpm -- that's not particularly large well at all--as noted earlier, 6-7 gpm is only 25-30% duty cycle.

--

[bmancanfly]

bmancanfly had written this in response to

:

I've heard different > >>>

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[bmancanfly]

bmancanfly had written this in response to

: Actually it sounds pretty simple and similar to what I was thinking I wanted to do. Except that my tank would be 2500 - 3000 gallons, and I'm sure to supply all the campsites that I would need a larger pump in the tank than what you have. The tank supplies peak demand needs of the campsites and the well, over a 24 hour period, refills the tank. I'm assuming this system works well for you?

------------------------------------- jloomis wrote:

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[Steve Barker DLT]

water pressure is .4 (that's POINT FOUR) of a pound per foot.

s

[jloomis]