Water Pump Advice Needed

[kolohe]

I am having a time finding information for a particular application. I need to pump water from a reservoir, through approximately 150-200 meters of pipe and into a storage tank. Ideally I'd like to use an automatic pump/setup to keep the tank filled.

Any recommendations for type, HP, etc, for the pump I should use? I get wildly different answers from the various stores I go to.

So far I've seen the yellow Mitsubishi automatic pumps, but I'm dont know how the automatic feature functions to know if it will work with this application. Plus I am not sure what model would be needed.

I've also seen a non-automatic pump hooked up to a water level switch. This would require running approx. 200 meters of electrical line between the tank and the pump which is not ideal.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

K

[kolohe]

I forgot to add that the 150-200 meter run is fairly level. The only real vertical portions are up out of the reservoir (approx 5 meters) and up into the water tank at the other end (approx 2 meters).

Thanks,

K

[Artisi]

Your post is a little confusing, if using an automatic pump is the pump located at and 5 metres above the water source and is power available at this point -- but if you use a non-auto with a float switch you need to run power between the storage tank and the pump - is this a correct assumption? Also is it 150 or 200 metres - 50 meters difference is quite a big difference for friction loss calculations.

Why put the storage tank 150 -200 metres from the pump - why not put the storage tank at the pump with a float switch which is really needed what ever pump type you use - the pump has to turn on/off as the storage tank fills. This setup means you gravity feed the water from the pump / tank to where you want it. Probably a much better arrangement.

[kolohe]

Your post is a little confusing, if using an automatic pump is the pump located at and 5 metres above the water source and is power available at this point -- but if you use a non-auto with a float switch you need to run power between the storage tank and the pump - is this a correct assumption? Also is it 150 or 200 metres - 50 meters difference is quite a big difference for friction loss calculations.

Why put the storage tank 150 -200 metres from the pump - why not put the storage tank at the pump with a float switch which is really needed what ever pump type you use - the pump has to turn on/off as the storage tank fills. This setup means you gravity feed the water from the pump / tank to where you want it. Probably a much better arrangement.

Thank you for your reply and my apologies for the confusion. Aside from trying to do a bit of learning on this subject, I am a bit wore out today and I didn't get my afternoon nap!

I will try to clarify what I am attempting.

There is a reservoir with power available that is approximately 200 meters from the house (I am unable to go get an accurate measurement at the moment because I am not at the site). The distance from the top of the reservoir (where the pump would be) to the water is approximately 5 meters (at most). Ideally, I'd like to have the storage tank near the house. I'm thinking the water has to be pumped vertically a total of 7 meters and horizontally approximately 200 meters.

As I understand it, using the float switch to turn on/off one of the non-automatic pumps would require running wire between the pump and the tank float switch. This is not ideal as it would require a lot of extra wiring that might be avoided if there is another method available.

I am interested in the possibilities of the automatic pump. My problem is, I don't know enough about them or enough Thai to get the answers I need. I am not sure if there is a way to use a pressure regulator or something to trigger the pump to turn on/off in a set-up like this (and not need to run wire over the distance to the tank).

So far I have been told it can be done with a Mitsubishi automatic pump and I have also been told it cannot be done. The three stores that told me to use the Mitsubishi each tried to sell me a different model. So far the different stores have pitched to me me the WP-105, WP-155 and the WP-305 for this. I don't know enough to know if the guy trying to sell me the 100 HP model doesn't know enough or if the guy trying to sell me the 300 HP model is trying to up-sell me for a bigger sale.

Is there a way to use an automatic pump in this configuration to avoid running 200 meters of wire to a float valve?

Thanks again,

K

[Artisi]

Guess I already understood what you are trying to do etc but needed to check.

I will repeat my earlier suggestion - a storage tank at the pump which can be any height you like - higher the better - makes for a much better arrangement with less problems and no need to run cabling from the float / level switches for 200 metres. Is there any good reason not to put the tank at the pump location?

Depending on the flow rate you need into the tank governs the pump size.

The Mitsubishi units are really designed for pressure systems but can be adapted to operate on level control - plus they are self-priming and capable of the 5 metre lift. You could use the mitsubishi as a pressure pump operating against a float isolating valve in the storage tank - but this means the valve will see very high pressure all the time and probably reduce it's life considerably as well as being prone to leakage which means the pump will hunt on/ off constantly.

Trust this gives you something to think about - let me know if I can help further.

[kolohe]

Thanks again for your help.

I have no reason other than "the powers that be" want it there. I was hoping for a solution that would keep things less complicated all around.

I am on a sharp learning curve in order to try to make everyone happy. Thank you for your time to educate me on the subject. It seems keeping the tank at the house would only bring future problems with the system. It looks like its time to sell Plan B.

K

[lopburi3]

Those model number do not refer to HP. But any well pump would likely work and you just have a normal float valve at entry into tank which blocks the pipe supply and the pressure will build to turn off the pump until water in tank is used and float allows flow again. No electric required except at pump.

[onionluke]

Hello ,

another factor to take into consideration is noise from the pump , for example will the pump go off in the night ? We had a fair bit off bother from our neighbours over pump noise . In the end we built a dog house insulating the noise but we should have done that in the first place .

[Artisi]

Hello ,

another factor to take into consideration is noise from the pump , for example will the pump go off in the night ? We had a fair bit off bother from our neighbours over pump noise . In the end we built a dog house insulating the noise but we should have done that in the first place .

If you have sufficient storage in your tank, you could put a time switch on the pump to isolate it overnight.

[TexasRanger]

I use a lucky star brand pump from the well, never had a problem.

I am on my second Hitachi that pumps into the house.

I use a liquid level switch in my tank because before that it had a ball/float valve and when the water got to it the pump would switch itself on and off about 20 times as it stabilised.

Is the pipe from the pump to the tank exposed? There should be no problem running some cable in a plastic conduit or PVC pipe along the same route as the water pipe, unless it is already buried then you could use the liquid level switch, they only cost a couple of hundred baht and mine work well.

[lopburi3]

Believe if the well pump has the normal small pressure tank that most home pumps have it should take care of any last minute dribble from the float valve.