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Pump to Filter to Tank pipe sizes

610 views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  SeniorSitizen 
#1 ·
Hi, I have a house in Thailand with a hand dug well. I pump up 12m, then 35m horizontal then up another 4m to the tank.

The pump has a 1" output with a reducer to 3/4". I connected two inline filters at the pump output to get rid of sediment. First one is a 20 micron, then a 5 micron. When the filters are clean I get about 23L/minute.

My question, is that right now the filter housings are both 1/2". So the pump goes from 3/4", to 1/2" for the filters, then back up to 3/4" to the tank. If I change out the housings to 3/4" versions would I notice any increased flow to the tank, or do the filters themselves as bottlenecks supercede any increase in pipe size?
 
#2 · (Edited)
With a hand pump I doubt you would see any difference in flow by changing pipe size. This is pure speculation without any data to back this statement up.

But allow me to suggest a sediment tank ahead of your filters to catch a large percent of sediment if it is actually sediment. My definition of sediment, in this instance, is any material that has a specific gravity heaver than water.

Pictured is a sediment tank I installed 30+ years ago in our water well system to catch sand particles. It has reduced filter changes to nearly non-existant. The tank is nothing more than a pre-owned hot water tank. Size won't matter much with a hand pump. Water enters where the gas valve was, water out near the top where the relief valve was and a drain valve in its normal drain location. Plug the other half couplings at the top.
 

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#3 ·
I didn't see anything in the OP regarding "hand pumping", so I am assuming you are using an electric pump to move the water. I like the sediment tank set up SS refers to if you have a lot of sand in the water (and you may with hand dug well). I would, however run 1" lines from the pump to the usage end of the line, THEN reduce it down to 3/4" and use 3/4" filter housings on the filters. You then reduce it to 1/2" at the final usage points. Doing it your way reduces volume tremendously by necking it down too early.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the replies! The buried 35m horizontal run is 3/4" pipe and though I now regret not putting 1" pipe when I installed it 10 years ago, I am not about to retrench. Everything is by hand, so it's alot of work for not much gain I think. Right now I have a switch on the storage tank that kicks in when I use about 250L of water, which is about once a day, give or take. The switch controls the electric pump which runs off of solar. This way the pump/batteries are used everyday for ~15 minutes rather than an hour every 4 days.

You're right that it's sand/soil for the sediment. The well is 1m diameter concrete rings. For the bottom 2 rings, I drilled multiple holes in them and surrounded the outside of them with gravel. Then I filled the first ring with large rocks. I didn't know what I was doing but in my head this seemed like a good way to sort of pre-filter. I don't actually know if it makes a difference or not though

I like the idea of the sediment tank, just not sure if it's viable for me or not. No one stores hot water here, it's all gas or electric on-demand... I have never seen a hot water tank new or used anywhere so would need to figure something else out.

I am reluctant to move the filters to the "house-side" of the tank, because the pressure is provided by gravity and I don't want to impede the flow in anyway. With a 4m high tank, it's just enough to be comfortable. Just.

So given that I cant really change anything except the housings, my original question still stands... Would changing the housings to 3/4" from 1/2" make a noticeable difference in fill flow-rate, or do the filters themselves as bottlenecks negate the change in pipe size? Here's a picture of my wellhead (pump-> check valve->20 micron filter->5 micron filter->flow meter->tank) edit: sorry, seems I can't add an attachment for some reason!
 
#10 ·
Hmm... Right now, the bottom of the tank (1000L) has a 1 inch output that reduces to 1/2" inside the house. The pump line enters at the top of the tank. So I could hook up the pump to the bottom of the tank, but then how do I draw out the top for usage?
 
#13 ·
I connected two inline filters at the pump output to get rid of sediment.
If this were mine I'd be installing a sediment tank first thing off the pump ahead of any filter even if I had to build a plastic tank. Being the pressure is gravity, head pressure dependent of about 1lb. / 28" of water column, a tank of 10" PVC pipe or larger would be sufficient.
 
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