Well advice requested

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havasu

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My cousin has a well at his Lake Arrowhead residence. He has city water and a well so he can take advantage of using his cheaper well water primarily for irrigation, but when turned on, will supply water to his entire house.

Besides the stop float falling to the bottom of his 500 gallon tank (estimated) recently, it seems to be operating without any problems. He did have a well specialist come out who recommended he install a shut off valve to the tank discharge line for ease of maintenance, does anyone see any problems with this set up?

What type of maintenance do you recommend? He does have about 3/4" of silt in the bottom of his storage tank, which we plan on sucking out soon, can any of you advise the best way to remove the silt? Can you experts give me any tips to keep this running in good condition?

Any and all comments would be appreciated!

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One thing I will mention is there should be a back flow device on the city water line. Without one he could contaminate the city water with his well water. I'm sure if the city was aware that he had a cross connection between the two water supplys they would require he install one.

John
 
I took a peak at the city water inlet near the street and saw a back flow device was installed already. I even saw a leak down there which needs attention though.
 
From looking at the pictures it would appear that there are two pumps here.
One to fill the storage tank and one to pressure the system.
Am I correct is my thinking? If so, here are my thoughts.

That is a good setup. We have the same thing set up on a larger scale for a sports ranch. The only thing I would say( if theres not one) would be a cut off float in the storage tank. A safety switch as it were. One to stop the booster pump from running if the storage tank ran out of water before the system was pressured up.

Its a good setup and works very well.
 
The system worked great until a few weeks ago, when the pump was running, the storage tank was empty, and the shut off float was lying at the bottom of the tank. it appears the installer zip tied the shut off float inside the tank, and the broke away. It was re-installed with stainless steel clamps (two of them) and all seems good now. I'm glad that you gave it "two thumbs up", I appreciate it!

Only question is he wants me to drain the storage tank soon, and my fat butt sure ain't crawling into the little inspection hole. How do I clean the sediment from the bottom of the tank? Should i use a little submergable pump after stirring up the gunk?
 
We had a tank like that needed to be cleaned.
After draining the water we used a shop vac with a two inch pipe as a extension to reach the bottom. It work great.
If the sediment is like a sand, you may have to add a little water to help the vac pull up what ever in on the bottom.
 
I have a question. Why the tank in the first place? Is his well a low yield well? He has a top of the line bladder tank.
 
Maybe he will trade me for my bladder tank? As for the cleaning use a shop vac.

Should have called me on Monday I was in Arrowhead doing a job. I have a skinny guy that works for me, he fits inside tanks real well.
 
I have a question. Why the tank in the first place? Is his well a low yield well? He has a top of the line bladder tank.

I don't know for sure but I would assume the holding tank is for irrigation purposes, since he has 5 acres and a huge Koi pond, which is now used as a toilet for the damn bears up there.
 
We drove by a construction with a toothless guy sitting in a white truck, playing video games for several hours. I thought for sure it was you, but was told this was a rep. from Cal Trans, who is there just to make sure the job was being done without disruption. Our tax dollars at work!
 
I was looking for the sign on your door which exposes your extremely long last name, but you took it off to be stealth, huh?
 
It wouldn't fit properly, people kept having to walk around my truck just to read my name.
 
I don't know for sure but I would assume the holding tank is for irrigation purposes, since he has 5 acres and a huge Koi pond, which is now used as a toilet for the damn bears up there.
There are a lot of these systems our there, but usually because the well can't keep up with the irrigation system, so they store water over time to use later.
 
Thanks, SB, that was my thinking as well.

My cousin wants me to conduct any and all maintenance on this beast, so I will be paying close attention to any future posts.

I do know in the winter, he places a drop light with a 100 watt light bulb on a timer, (12 on 12 off) close to the external pump to prevent it all from freezing. This seems so substandard but the well guy who came out seemed impressed with the idea. I'm sure it wastes a lot of electricity though.
 
My neighbor up there has a 60 watt bulb in his well shed and he has never had a problem with anything freezing.
 
Having not lived in Michigan for over 25 years, I'm kind of out of the freezing loop. I guess heat tape is the best deal, but would need a mile of it to wrap around that big tank to keep it from freezing.

Maybe alternating light bulbs in case one burns out. Better buy them quick, before the EPA phases out light bulbs to be replaced with something greener!
 
Having not lived in Michigan for over 25 years, I'm kind of out of the freezing loop. I guess heat tape is the best deal, but would need a mile of it to wrap around that big tank to keep it from freezing.

Maybe alternating light bulbs in case one burns out. Better buy them quick, before the EPA phases out light bulbs to be replaced with something greener!

He will have to put in one of those energy conserving space heaters.:eek:
 

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