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glscholten · Sep 17, 2008, 03:37 PM

Hi- I am in need of some advice. My house used to be on two wells. One for my irrigation system and one for my house. The well for my irrigation was bad so I just switched over the lines from my irrigation and tied into the house lines. I may have not thought this through "well" enough so I am looking for advice.:-)

Where I tied in my irrigation line to the house well is just inside the well house but before the pressure tank that is inside my house. I put in a check valve to prevent back flow from my irrigation to the well and/or house lines and also have a shut off valve at that point.

This design works as I intended with one problem. When I pressurize my irrigation lines my pump seems to be constantly running. Because of the pressure in all the lines, I expected the pressure tank in my house would determine when the pump turned on - even when running my irrigation.

NOTE - this happens even when my irrigation is not running.

I believe I have one of two problems:

1. I have a slow leak somewhere in my irrigation that is causing my pump to run

OR

2. There is something wrong with my design . Maybe I need to pressurize my irrigation line separately with another pressure tank.

Advice? Comments?

mygirlsdad77 · Sep 17, 2008, 03:55 PM

Your tie in sounds like it should work OK. Although you should have a vacuum breaker in between the domestic water and irrigation system. But that's not causing your problem. Turn off the valve to your irrigation until you pumps turns off. Make sure your spinkler system is not calling for water, and turn the valve back on. If your pump still won't shut off, then it sounds like you have a significant leak on you sprinkler system. If its leaking that badly you should be able to walk around your yard and find a wet spot.
Also, your pressure switch controls pump on/off. Not your tank.
Hope this helps.

glscholten · Sep 17, 2008, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by mygirlsdad77

Your tie in sounds like it should work ok. Although you should have a vacuum breaker in between the domestic water and irrigation system. But thats not causing your problem. Turn off the valve to your irrigation untill you pumps turns off. Make sure your spinkler system is not calling for water, and turn the valve back on. If your pump still wont shut off, then it sounds like you have a significant leak on you sprinkler system. If its leaking that badly you should be able to walk around your yard and find a wet spot.
Also, your pressure switch controls pump on/off. Not your tank.
Hope this helps.

MyGirlsDad - I didn't make clear that the pump runs even when the irrigation lines are not calling for water. My main line in the irrigation runs about 6 ft underground through a non-irrigated field. There is one area in the field that stays green all summer- though it's not wet. If my design is fine I am suspecting there is a leak out there. Does this information change your answer?

mygirlsdad77 · Sep 18, 2008, 07:22 PM

Definitely sounds like a leak in the irrigation. I was just assuming that your irrigation line was only a foot or so deep. I would say the green spot would be a good place to start, when trying to locate the leak.
How long have you let your pump run before closing the valve to your irrigation?
You may try letting it run for a half hour or so, if your well can keep up, and see if the green spot gets damp. If the ground around this area is extremely dry, it may take longer than that before water will come to the surface.
Hope this helps.