SPRINKLER TALK FORUM - You Got Questions, We've Got Answers

Yes, that's exactly how it is. The 1 1/4" plastic pipe comes in from the well to the utility space below the front door with the pressure tank there, no control box (2 wire), just the pressure switch on the tank, but it's about 7' deep there. Why would they want to tap in there and then have to ditch 7' deep and run everything back outside to the other side of the driveway again. Plus dig up a large concrete walkway to get to it. I don't think so. No way would I have let them put all that paraphernalia next to the sidewalk by the front door.

What's this got to do with gpm anyhow?

I suppose it could have been done that way, but it would require a lot of trenching under sidewalks and very deep too, messing up the existing gardens even more than they did. Maybe it will back flow the pressure tank mitigating some of the sediment? I wouldn't have let them do it that way, it would have been too much of a problem, maybe if we did it when the house was built, but that was long ago. It is what it is.

I've installed a psi meter at the input and the output of the booster pump and also added a 1" valve for a separate supply to a hydrant I want to put in the garden the well is in. Anyhow running the system in the night at 1am, it runs for something less than 2 hours and according to my calculation it's pumping out about 1000 G of water each night. Now I may be a bit optimistic on that figure, but it's my best estimate with the output of the rotors/sprinklers at the 48-62 psi output of the booster pump. It couldn't be half that figure. Input psi runs about 36-42 psi and the booster adds about 20 psi or a bit more. I still haven't run the irrigation for an hour or more while I can watch it, but I did run it for 20 minutes once and the sub pump is keeping up and going on and off about every 4-5 minutes and the output of the booster is maintaining 45 psi or better. 20 minutes on a zone I figure it putting out about 15 gpm is 300 G. 300 G in a 6" well is about 200' of water and it's not showing any sign of drawing down the head. Since the well is 250' and the pump is at 200', it's certainly not drawing the head down to the pump. I know I need to measure the flow beginning and end to see whats going on, but at this point it looks like the well is certainly keeping up with the 15gpm. As soon as I can get a way to measure the flow and the wife stops doing laundry, I'll do a timed flow test while running the largest zone.

I found what looks like the specs on my sub pump and with 200' of head it should be putting out about 15 gpm. So things are adding up so far.

Just to follow up on my issues. Been using the irrigation all summer, near as I can tell by the pressure at the sprinklers/rotors, I'm pumping out about 800 G/night for the irritation. Haven't had any issues with running out of water at the well. Finally installed a hydrant off the 1" line right after the irrigation filter and I fill up a 5 G bucket in about 20 seconds or less from that hydrant. So it appears the pump in the well is certainly putting out at least 15gpm, but only at around 40psi. Haven't noticed that the booster is lacking water at any time. So it appears to be working fine, but if I ever end up having to replace the well pump, I'll put in one that will put out the pressure without the booster. I'm still thinking about what to do in the house for the pressure, it's still only 40psi or less, but that's not what this forum is about.