Hey, I just saw a response to a question that is EXACTLY what I want to do but not sure how to size the pump etc. This was the response to the guys question of "Jet pump without pressure tank"... :

Whoa You have a 1550 gal. holding tank. (This is a holding tank and not a pressure tank, correct?) and this tank supplies your cabin through gravity feed? If that's the case then no pressure/bladder tank or pump control box should ever be installed. The pump shut of should be a float valve in the holding tank. It works like this. The jet pump operates until the holding tank if filled and then the float switch shuts the pump down. As you draw water into your cabin outta the tank the level falls and the float switch kicks the pump in again and the process starts all over again.

I have an old open well on this property I bought... I just want to put a submersible pump or Jet pump (?) in it and pump to a holding tank with level switches... the tank will gravity feed to my livestock tanks... and maybe eventually I will filter it and use it in my house (which is another question). But for now can someone hold my hand on how to get this going just to supply water to my livestock. I want to power the pump with solar.

THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH! I am so happy I found this site! :)

I can't help with the solar power But I can help a little with your pump. The size of your pump will depend on how deep the water table in this open well you have? I wrote the above answer on the gravity feed cabin supply. Yours is no different. This will be a simple hook up. No bladder tank, no control box, and no pressure tank to hassle with.
Let's find out how much lift the pump will have to provide, (How much higher will the holding tank set in relation to the well head?) Let me have all the details and we'll get busy. Regards, tom

Thank you so much Tom!

I can actually set it as high as needed since I am not committed to anything yet. And I am fortunate in the way my land slopes... it is a problem in all areas except when I think of doing my water supply to the rest of the land. My well is at the top of my land... EVERYTHING else is down hill from it!

I just now took a tape measure out and moved the piece of tin covering to the open well and measured from water line to land and it was about 7 feet.

:O)
D

I am not a plumber, but have done a lot of research on Solar well pumps and systems. The best setup I can find is located at this site, and they can answer a lot of your questions there on line.
Grundfos USA

The well head is elevated and the water table's only 7' down from ground level?
Excellent! Living in a metro area I haven't a lot of pump experience but it seems to me that you could put a well point with a foot valve down 15 or 20 feet and with a 1/2 horse centrifugal pump supply your holding tank, gravity will get the water down to the watering trough. How do you plan on metering the water from the holding tank into the watering trough or will you have a valve at the terminal end?
Regards, Tom

If you're only going to use one watering trough, why not put the float switch on the watering trough and forget about a holding tank?

You are on top of a hill and water is 7' down? Wow! Are you sure that's what you are telling us?

I thought of that but wouldn't that cycle the pump much more then a holding tank would? Regards, Tom

If the watering trough is below the well water level, put a hose in the well and down the hill. Fill it with water and then open and let a syphoning action draw the water out of the well. No power needed

SB, you are right about that, but if the cycle is thirty or forty gallons at a time into the trough (pure guesswork), that would be better than what happens with many pressure tanks which is 5 or 10 gallons. But you do raise a good point.

HK, I just can't imagine water 7 feet down at the top of a hill. Doesn't that sound strange to you guys?

Sorry... but a long day here on the farm and I didn't get to check this! Yes... I walk up the slope to the top of my yard and look down into my open well... and measured 7 feet to the top of the water line! Now I really need to find a rope and weight to measure exactly how deep this thing goes.

And I need to water 3 areas with this water... my chicken coop, my pigs, and my horses! But that is no problem with a simple float valve at each trough. I currently have one now at my horses... it is attached to the trough and I just attach a regular garden hose and it valves off when the level is full in the trough... no power needed either!

I just wasn't sure how to pump it to a holding tank to let gravity do all the work! Thank you guys sooooooo much... this is awesome! I think I can figure out how to power my pump with solar... just need to know what type pump etc.

Thanks again and I look forward to more brainstorming on this!

:O)
D

Why do you want to pump it if syphoning will draw the water out of the well? Why do you want a holding tank, your well is your holding tank.

How am I suppose to syphon to 3 areas needing water? Is there a syphon made for this type of application??

Three hoses. OK, you may want to put a holding tank below the level of the well for a gravity feed to three locations but you shouldn't need a pump to feed the holding tank.

Harold, I'm curious. OK! You've installed a holding tank farther down the hill and r8ig up some type of siphon to get the erater out of the well and down into the holding tank.
My question's this. Since water seeks its own level once the siphon's started how do you control it? Since the top of the holding tank's lower then the level in the well how do you stop the holding tank from overflowing once it's full? Inquiring minds want to know! Regards, Tom

Some kind of float valve or ball cock. Or set the tank such that the top of the tank is above the water level of the well.

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Ok... so you that might work but how do I start the siphon each time to fill the holding tank? I am doing this so I don't have to manually water.

I have no problem with using a solar powered pump of some type once I know what size pump and type of pump to use in this application... this will be the most energy efficient besides siphoning! I just need help on the simplist pump setup to fill the holding tank!

Thanks you guys!
:O)
D

I guess if he could figure out how far down the hill to set the tank he could hire a end loader or backhoe to scoop a shelf out of the hill to mount the holding tank but which of the two is the most cost effective? Just wondering, Tom

Hey Speedball1... back to your original suggestion: well point with a foot valve down 15 or 20 feet and with a 1/2 horse centrifugal pump supply your holding tank, gravity will get the water down to the watering trough.

This is exactly what I was thinking but I am totally illiterate to pumps etc. So I looked up a centrifugal pump online so I could actually see one (I am very visual)... would this pump pull water up via some type of hose from my well on the intake side then I could attach a hose on the out-take side to my holding tank?? Would this work? If that is how it works then is it based on how far down (how many feet my intake line is) in the well I need to pump from to calculate the size pump I need? Is this where you came up with 1/2HP... assuming 15 to 20 feet lift?

Bare with me... I am just trying to struggle through with how all this well pumping stuff works!

Thanks!
;)
D

You don't start the syphoning each time. The holding tank will automatically fill when needed.

HK is right on that.