If the fixtures you're planning on for the bathroom need 1" pipe you
should look at what volume of water (both total gallons and gallons/
minute) they will require for both typical and longer duration use.
Then have your well tested for it's flow and reserve volume. If your
fixtures are exceeding what your well can produce (in gpm) you might
be okay with a large enough pressure tank and reserve in the well
itself, but if you're using almost all the water in the tank and the
well (or running them dry) you'll be causing yourself lot's of
problems for the future. It's not just about the pressure - you can
pressurize the water you have to whatever level you need easily
enough - but if your well can't produce enough water to keep up with
the intended use, you'd need a new well. In our area, the NE, that
could be in the thousands ($) or more!
My situation might be a useful example. When I moved in I had the
well tested. It's a 6" well that's about 450 feet deep and produces
1.5 gallons per minute or so (at least in the spring). So I have
about 88 cubic feet or 650 gallons in the well plus a 75 gallon
(can't really remember but something like this) pressure tank - say
roughly 700 gallons reserve. If my shower used 2.5 gpm I would go
through that reserve in about 700 minutes and my well would run dry.
But that's assuming I use no other water, which in most homes is
unlikely though so is a 12 hour shower - so that's fine for me. But
putting in a fancy five-head shower might possibly use 10 gpm or more
(some use lot's of water!) in which case I'd be stressing the well
after an hour and 20 minute shower (one fancy Kohler shower head I
looked at uses 10 gpm at 80 psi all by itself. add four other body
showers using 2 gpm and you're up to 18 gpm!). Again not a big deal
unless I've already washed the car or watered the lawn (5-10 gpm
while the hose is on) or done laundry, in which case it could be
relatively easy to run the well dry, especially if in the late summer
the well doesn't produce as much water due to the weather (I don't
really know how variable mine is but I'm assuming it might be an
issue). Do that and you might need a new well pump. Do it a lot and
you might need a new well.
My well is considered marginal) for a 3 bedroom house in my area
(though the rate is only from memory now). The company that checked
my well had an ultrasonic tester that could measure the water level
in the well as it was used up and then as it refilled. When the
output dropped the well was considered empty. They could then figure
how quickly it refilled hence the output of the well. If I were you
I'd have the well checked by someone with appropriate equipment to
tell you the flow and volume of it before installing that shower.
Sorry for the length,
Michael
On Dec 12, 2007, at 4:05 PM, scott.hall@comcast.net wrote:
> I know our rental was only 1/2" from the street. nonetheless, the
> fixture requires 1" in, so I thought I'd go overkill now so I don't
> have to later (I suspect the plans for the master bath include
> something like the bathroom I'm doing now, only bigger/more).
On Dec 12, 2007, at 4:20 PM, Ron Schmittou wrote:
> Worst case if you have a low flow well, you may have to buy a
> holding tank,
> so you will have stored water available for High flow usage, which
> is not an
> uncommon issue.
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