Neighbor wants to know about electric well pumps

[FarmboyBill]

Specifically, how far a above ground pump with pressure tank will suck water from down in a well?

[fishhead]

Theoretically I believe the maximum is 25' but real world is less.

[Waterwheel Farm]

There are basically a couple type of above-ground well pumps. A pump with a single pipe going from the pump down into the well is for shallow wells needing less than 25 feet of lift, as a previous poster stated. . Another style of above ground pump uses a water jet down inside the well and it will have two pipes going from the pump down into the well. These are good for around 100 feet.

[palm farmer]

if he wants to go deeper than 25 I suggest a submersible, Goulds is a excellent brand, it's easier to push it than to pull it. I have a 1.5 HP submersible hung at 30 feet and it does 20gpm, we have to be careful with it because it will blow fittings around the farm if nothings open, I do not have pressure tank just on and off

[FarmboyBill]

He wants it for a well pump, but also to pump water out of a tank on wheels.

[Old Vet]

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

He wants it for a well pump, but also to pump water out of a tank on wheels.

He can use it either way but not both unless he is good at pluming and wants to use it one place and unhook it and plum it in to another place.

[fishhead]

I had a 3/4 hp convertible pump that could be used for >25' but it only put out 10 gal/min. I switched to a 1/2 hp shallow well pump and it put out 20 gal/min.

The static water level was 11'.

To use the deep water conversion with the head down in the well you'll need a 4" casing but the shallow well pump can use 1 1/4" well pipe.

[haypoint]

The gas powered water pumps, like you would use to empty a pond, will pump 25 feet deep. But running a suction hose down a well and then pulling it out could get come contaminates into your ground water. Likely illegal.

[rambler]

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

He wants it for a well pump, but also to pump water out of a tank on wheels.

That would be entirely cumbersome.

Does he need the same pressure from each source, or what?

As mentioned a simple pump can suck water up for e almost 25 feet, but that requires some good seals and waiting for the air to pump out, 15 feet is a more practically it in the real world.

Paul

[Harry Chickpea]

The other type of common above ground pump is a jet pump. We have one that services a well about 70' deep.

There is a foot valve at the bottom of the big well pipe, then a U-shaped channel with one leg of the U formed into a nozzle that sprays upward into that big pipe. The smaller pipe attaches to the other end of the U.

The pump on the surface has three pipe connections. One is for the suction line from big pipe coming up out of the well, one is at the tail end of the pump going to the pressure tank, and the third comes off the bell where there is pump pressurized water.

The pressurized water shoots down the small pipe, makes a U turn, and PUSHES any water in the large pipe upward. Because it is pushing instead of pulling, the 22 ft rule doesn't hold. In theory a jet pump can go quite deep, but they work best at less than 100'. The foot valve is vital, because if the pump loses prime, there is no water to send down the pipe to push other water up.

Transfer pumps are an entirely different ball of wax.

[farmerDale]

We have a thirty foot well here, and had a pump in the house that sucked from 30 feet down, and then 100 yards to the house for about 60 years. It worked great. We replaced it with a submersible a few years back, and it works fine too. Either way, you need trenching done. I would go submersible.

[wy_white_wolf]

Originally Posted by FarmboyBill

He wants it for a well pump, but also to pump water out of a tank on wheels.

Shallow well pump. Put a 3-way valve between the pump and well. Use a fire hose bib to connect to the tank so it can be easily undone when he needs to fill the tank.

If his well is over 25' then I seen no way of easily doing it.

WWW