Getting new well tanks - anything I should add?

[sean donato]

Post deleted

 

[Blue Oaks]

Reporting back. My good friend is a maestro with his Bobcats, so he made a pad MUCH higher on the hill behind my house. The plan is to get away from the pressure pumps and tanks at the houses. I calculated about 38 PSI peak, with some pressure drop due to friction and load. My current pump uses 30 PSI as the lower threshold, so I'm hoping to exceed that under a load of a shower and maybe the sprinklers. I'm probably delusional haha.

Anyway, here's the pics. I think the tanks are about 80 feet above the floor of the house, and the tanks will have at least 5 feet of water in them. It's good to have capable friends with nice tools. Now to rent a trencher and get some pipes in the ground.

Tanks waaaaay up on the hill.

The very beginning of the road. He found some clay in the digging for the pad and used that to compact the road later. It's very well done.

Looking down the new road. Blue Oaks everywhere !!

Getting the pad level. He used a laser level and got it to within about 1" over the 10 x 20 pad.

Motoring the tanks up the road.

 

[holeycow]

Nice!

 

[Tin-knocker]

Don’t know if it’s been said but spend the money on some quality brass gate valves! Those pvc ball valves are crap and have been known to have the handles snap off (ask me how I know) also they can be a bear to turn on some higher pressure stuff which wouldn’t affect you necessarily but they still suck!

 

[Blue Oaks]

Don’t know if it’s been said but spend the money on some quality brass gate valves! Those pvc ball valves are crap and have been known to have the handles snap off (ask me how I know) also they can be a bear to turn on some higher pressure stuff which wouldn’t affect you necessarily but they still suck!

Thanks, we're on the same page. I decided at the beginning of the project that they'd all be brass full flow ball valves with the steel handles. The nice part about not paying the well company to do the work is I can upgrade on hardware and still save a lot off the overall cost. I'm going to have 2" brass valves available for fire hoses as well. The 5000 gallon steel tank will be dedicated for fire reserve and the new 6000 gallons will also have a 2" NPT valve.

Next on the list is measuring the slope of the new road and seeing if I can rent a trencher that will work on something that steep. The backup plan is to have my friend Dan come back out and I'll rent a trenching attachment for it. Once it's trenched I will measure the lengths for the pipe and make sure I have plenty of glue.

The trencher at the local tool rental place. https://morganhill.atoolshed.com/equipment.asp?action=category&category=38&key=9108

The part that I'm worried about from the trencher directions is, "A 20° maximum incline is allowed. Honda engines have an Oil Alert system that will automatically stop the engine if tipped more than 20°."

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I ysed something like that to put in an air and power line to a shed. Never again. Took almost 8hours to dig a 100ft trench 2.5-3ft deep. And another 4 hours to fill and compact it.
Any rock jammed it up or had it bucking like a pissed off bull.

I did another power line with a small excavator. Took not even 2 hours all said and done. And i didn't feel like I'd be run over by a log truck the day after.

I'd use an excavator. Quicker, can backfill and compact the trench and can dig deeper. 45* slope can be handled.

No idea where you live, but I'd imagine you need to be at least a few feet deep on water lines?

Here we go 10ft, but it's cold. Probably could get by with 5-6ft most winters though.

 

[Tin-knocker]

Thanks, we're on the same page. I decided at the beginning of the project that they'd all be brass full flow ball valves with the steel handles. The nice part about not paying the well company to do the work is I can upgrade on hardware and still save a lot off the overall cost. I'm going to have 2" brass valves available for fire hoses as well. The 5000 gallon steel tank will be dedicated for fire reserve and the new 6000 gallons will also have a 2" NPT valve.

If you hadn’t bought them already I’d still go with gate valves. Not ball valves. Although I’m sure the ball valves would work fine. Oh and around me it’s so damn rocky and steep that instead of a trencher we usually use an excavator. Makes a wider trench so more dirt to move but easier when you hit a rock or anything like that. When we hit a big rock that wasn’t granite we’d use a jackhammer to get us by

 

[sean donato]

I ysed something like that to put in an air and power line to a shed. Never again. Took almost 8hours to dig a 100ft trench 2.5-3ft deep. And another 4 hours to fill and compact it.
Any rock jammed it up or had it bucking like a pissed off bull.

I did another power line with a small excavator. Took not even 2 hours all said and done. And i didn't feel like I'd be run over by a log truck the day after.

I'd use an excavator. Quicker, can backfill and compact the trench and can dig deeper. 45* slope can be handled.

No idea where you live, but I'd imagine you need to be at least a few feet deep on water lines?

Here we go 10ft, but it's cold. Probably could get by with 5-6ft most winters though.

Seeing hes in California I doubt he would need those depths. Here we go min 3 feet and get bellow the frost line. So unless hes getting really cold for extended periods hell likely be ok.

 

[grizz55chev]

I ysed something like that to put in an air and power line to a shed. Never again. Took almost 8hours to dig a 100ft trench 2.5-3ft deep. And another 4 hours to fill and compact it.
Any rock jammed it up or had it bucking like a pissed off bull.

I did another power line with a small excavator. Took not even 2 hours all said and done. And i didn't feel like I'd be run over by a log truck the day after.

I'd use an excavator. Quicker, can backfill and compact the trench and can dig deeper. 45* slope can be handled.

No idea where you live, but I'd imagine you need to be at least a few feet deep on water lines?

Here we go 10ft, but it's cold. Probably could get by with 5-6ft most winters though.

He's in California near the SF bay area, so freezing is not an issue.

 

[Blue Oaks]

Thanks guys. I am indeed in a fairly mild climate so no need to go more than 18 inches down. There's also no chance anyone else will want to dig a trench up there for anything else. The soil is not very rocky at all. We found some rock a couple of feet down where we placed the tanks, but that was it.

I already have the ball valves, so I'll use them.

 

[grizz55chev]

Thanks guys. I am indeed in a fairly mild climate so no need to go more than 18 inches down. There's also no chance anyone else will want to dig a trench up there for anything else. The soil is not very rocky at all. We found some rock a couple of feet down where we placed the tanks, but that was it.

I already have the ball valves, so I'll use them.

Ball valves that are exposed do tend to crack under freezing conditions, I've had better luck with gate valves in the long run.

 

[sean donato]

Does it even hit freezing temps in silicon valley?

 

[grizz55chev]

Does it even hit freezing temps in silicon valley?

Sometimes, even snows on occasion.

 

[Blue Oaks]

It was 30* here this morning. I'm at about 700 feet of elevation. Low 20s is probably the outlier of how cold I need to plan for.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Seeing hes in California I doubt he would need those depths. Here we go min 3 feet and get bellow the frost line. So unless hes getting really cold for extended periods hell likely be ok.

Had no idea where he lives. If it was said, I missed it.

Either case, it would be wise to go down 2-3 feet to prevent the pipe from being hit or crushed in the future. Also keep the water cooler in the summer, if that matters.

I've had garden hoses make water hot enough to make coffee

 

[Tin-knocker]

Does it even hit freezing temps in silicon valley?

I could see snow up on mt Hamilton today. So yes it can get cold but not for extended amounts of time

 

[lone wolf]

Guys,

I'm getting two new poly 3000 gallon tanks installed soon. They'll be replacing a single 5000 gallon steel tank that is probably 50 years old. Access to the pad is limited, and that's why I'm doing two tanks I can roll up the hill to the site. The pad is about 30 vertical feet above the ground level of the house, and probably 90 feet away as you walk. The house has a pressure pump and tank that works pretty well.

What would you recommend in terms of any features at the tank area? Right now I'm planning on having a single 3" male NPT port on a ball valve for fire use. I can gravity feed down the hill to my driveway where I keep a Type 6 Engine (Brush Rig) that I can pump high pressure water anywhere in the neighborhood.

Just wondering if there's any features or materials you'd recommend I use. The plan is to use mostly UV resistant grey PVC for the connections except for the fire nipple. That will be galvanized steel.

Make sure the Brass fittings are Lead free.

 

[Blue Oaks]

Make sure the Brass fittings are Lead free.

Thanks! I made sure all the brass is lead free.

 

[lone wolf]

Thanks! I made sure all the brass is lead free.

Nasty stuff.

 

[Blue Oaks]

Success! I have 35 PSI at the main/upper house with the shower running. I was aiming for greater than 30 PSI. The pressure pumps don't turn on anymore since it doesn't drop to 30 PSI. I'll be removing them for a little better flow. I'll post some pics when I finish up the float switch and level gauge.