Resevoir water

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travis uhlmansiek

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I live in a community that has water, gravity fed from a local reservoir by a 6 in pipe. In the evenings I don't get water to my house for a few hrs. I have talked to my neighbors and none of them seem to be using their water and they are all having the same issues. I am planning on getting a pump hopefully to syphon the water to my house. Will this even work? What type of pump should I be looking for?
 
try talking to your water supplier if y our whole neighbor hood is having the same problem there a problem with the method they deliver water


It's a private resivoir, no one in is in charge of it. Since it works most of the time, I am trying to find a way to make it more reliable. That's why I was thinking a pump. I believe someone is using a lot of the water, and they just aren't fessing up to it.
 
It's a private resivoir, no one in is in charge of it. Since it works most of the time, I am trying to find a way to make it more reliable. That's why I was thinking a pump. I believe someone is using a lot of the water, and they just aren't fessing up to it.
thats probably the way to go how do you know the quality of the water???? if no one controls it
 
Its fed by 3 mountain spring and as far as I know, no one has had an issue with it in 150 yrs. What type of pump would you suggest?
 
I agree with above comment.
There is a lot of information that must be known and considered to size and select the proper pump.

I would investigate into the reason this is happening. For example, does the water level drop below the inlet pipe?

Maybe you should consider your own water tank and pump for your own needs. So you would always have a reserve of water.
 
The issue must be determined as to why you’re losing water.

All I can think of that might work would be a booster pump, something like the Grundfos Scala 2.

If you’re losing water because there isn’t sufficient quantity to satisfy the demand, then you’re outta luck. But if it’s an issue of just losing all pressure, then a booster pump could help.
 
If you are not getting any water at all for a period of time, there's always a possibility that the piping is such that another user is using all the available water due to their proximity and path of least resistance.

I'd get my own tank and small pump and let it fill when water is available and just size it for those down times. End of problem.
 
If you lose water(not just pressure) a pump really won’t do much, except maybe burn out. The best way would be to add a cistern and then pump out of that. Addressing the main supply problem would be money better spent if everyone is having the same problem.
 
First guess is that the cistern is undersized, and in the afternoon/evening, you’re neighborhood is emptying the cistern. And, nobody gets water. So, everybody shuts down for a bit, and the system has a chance to catch up. Then it refills overnight, and lasts most of the day.
 
The resovoir is roughly 50,000 gallons. More than enough for the 20 houses. I am at the far end of the line and figure the demand is to much for the water line and is the reason I don't get water. I am hoping a hoping a pump would syphon the water to me instead of diverting to my neighbnors lines
 
Its fed by 3 mountain spring and as far as I know, no one has had an issue with it in 150 yrs.
You and your neighbors are very lucky this system has lasted as long as it has. I would say you are on borrowed time.
Someone in your community needs to be "in charge" of the water system. That person needs to do the following (or pay a contractor to do it)
1. Monitor the level in the reservoir and/or measure the inflow from the springs. You need to find out if usage has increased or if inflow has decreased.
2. Determine the condition of the reservoir and delivery pipe. Is it clogged or crushed? Is there a leak? A camera inspection of the reservoir and entire length of pipe would be a good start.
3. Have the water tested for safety. Probably fine for minerals but bacteria should be checked once a year at least.

My concern for you is that you are the only one taking initivae on this. If the main delivery pipe is failing or the reservoir has a huge leak, you won't be able to pay for it yourself. If you don't have a formal association, you will end up knocking on doors begging people to contribute to the repair fund. If there is an issue with specific users, you could have a big problem if they won't cooperate. You have no means (legal or otherwise) of cutting off an abusive user for example.
 
12x12x10x7.48= 10,771.2 I think you’d need a hole 25x25x10 to be close to 50k gallons.
 
I agree with chiraldude. If you don't already have it, you need an association where you can collect 10 bucks a month or something from each person and establish a fund to perform repairs on the reservoir and distribution system when needed. And as other have said you need to determine if the problem is low water in the reservoir or an issue with the delivery system that becomes more obvious in the evening when the demand might be higher.
 

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