Greetings, I'm new here.
I have "typical" residential/suburban well: 5 inch bore, water level at about 40-60' below grade, pumped with a 120VAC 1/2HP pump that goes to my pressure tank. The submerged pump is about 80' below grade. It works fine, but I'd like to have a backup ability to get water if we lose grid power. I'd like to avoid a big investment or disrupting my "normal" pump and piping.
Ideally, I'd like a small (1" to 1.5" dia) DC pump that I could just put down the well in the space between my existing poly-pipe and the well casing. I could leave it there all the time, or drop it in when needed. A flow of just a few GPH would be plenty, and I could run it in the daytime with a solar panel and no battery (or, charge a battery and pump with that). As long as the weather isn't freezing, the pipe (probably 1/2" flexible vinyl) could exit from the top of the casing to a cistern.
I haven't had much luck in finding an appropriate pump. The closest I've come is these small DC pumps built for well sampling applications (I have no affiliation with this retailer or manufacturer). (I'll avoid a link since I'm a newbie. "Proactive pumps" makes them)
They are small and run on 12VDC, but seem a bit pricey at about $150 and up. Also, not particularly robust (the mfgr warns against constant use, and the motors have a reported life of 400 hours).
Pumping to the surface from 70 feet or so is only a head of about 30 PSI, so I'd think a simple 50 psi diaphragm pump would be fine and probably sturdier than these turbine pumps. But, they don't seem to be available in small diameter sizes.
Any other ideas for this application? If I can't find a small DC pump, I'll probably need to go with panels, batteries, and a beefy inverter big enough to handle the start-up amperage (36A or so) of my existing 1/2HP 120 VAC pump. That seems like a long and expensive road to go down for just 20-30 gallons per day.
Thanks for any ideas.
I have "typical" residential/suburban well: 5 inch bore, water level at about 40-60' below grade, pumped with a 120VAC 1/2HP pump that goes to my pressure tank. The submerged pump is about 80' below grade. It works fine, but I'd like to have a backup ability to get water if we lose grid power. I'd like to avoid a big investment or disrupting my "normal" pump and piping.
Ideally, I'd like a small (1" to 1.5" dia) DC pump that I could just put down the well in the space between my existing poly-pipe and the well casing. I could leave it there all the time, or drop it in when needed. A flow of just a few GPH would be plenty, and I could run it in the daytime with a solar panel and no battery (or, charge a battery and pump with that). As long as the weather isn't freezing, the pipe (probably 1/2" flexible vinyl) could exit from the top of the casing to a cistern.
I haven't had much luck in finding an appropriate pump. The closest I've come is these small DC pumps built for well sampling applications (I have no affiliation with this retailer or manufacturer). (I'll avoid a link since I'm a newbie. "Proactive pumps" makes them)
They are small and run on 12VDC, but seem a bit pricey at about $150 and up. Also, not particularly robust (the mfgr warns against constant use, and the motors have a reported life of 400 hours).
Pumping to the surface from 70 feet or so is only a head of about 30 PSI, so I'd think a simple 50 psi diaphragm pump would be fine and probably sturdier than these turbine pumps. But, they don't seem to be available in small diameter sizes.
Any other ideas for this application? If I can't find a small DC pump, I'll probably need to go with panels, batteries, and a beefy inverter big enough to handle the start-up amperage (36A or so) of my existing 1/2HP 120 VAC pump. That seems like a long and expensive road to go down for just 20-30 gallons per day.
Thanks for any ideas.
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