On Aug 15, 8:42*pm, "scorpionleather" wrote:
wrote in message news:8ce59576-bf94-4472-84a2-
Why is he measuring the flow rate in a higher floor bath?
Presumably, the unit is going somewhere lower, much closer to the
well, fed by a much larger diameter pipe. * Also, many bath fixtures
have aerators, etc that restrict flow. * Before considering
alternatives, I'd find out what the real flow rate is.

I'll have him check the adjustment on the existing pressure tank and see if
he can measure the flow from a valve somewhere in the basement. *Do you
think that with such adjustments and different faucet location it would even
be possible that we could see an increase from 3gpm to 14gpm?

Yes, it's possible. How old is the house? If he has old galvanized
pipe, it's not unusual for the pipes to be corroded and constricted so
instead of a 1" line, you have 1/4" line. Measure on the 2nd story
using that, you could get 3GPM. Open a 1" line direct from the well
you could have 5X.

It's more common to find a residential well yielding 15GPM than 3 GPM.




*Would there
be any risk of running the well dry if we change the pressure setting?

It's the flow rate that is going to run the well dry, not the
pressure. The flow rate is determined by the well, pump, and piping.

Here's another simple test. With the faucet constantly drawing 3GPM,
how much is the well pump actually running? If it is running 100%,
then clearly 3GPM is the max you can get with the well, pump, and
piping from the well to the house. If it is cycling on and off and
runs only 20% of the time, then clearly the settup is actually pulling
a lot more than 3GPM.




After searching the web I found some info that people like to recommend the
Gould Aquaboost II or WellManager systems along with an atmospheric storage
tank. *The pump is supposed to intelligently know about the water demand and
regular its power pumping from this tank according to water demand. *If it
turns out we have to install something like that, I wonder if it is feasible
I could grab one from a supplier during my week-long trip to Vermont and be
able to install it as a DIY project. *Or if this would turn out to be one of
those complex things that a well company has to do along with engineering
analysis of the well yield etc...?

Adding a booster pump would not be my focus. Any reasonable well
pumping installation can surely support far more than 3GPM, so it's
very likely you have the pumping capacity.

I'd start by measuring the flow rate from a large valve or fitting
close to where the water softener will be connected. And obviously
it depends on the well yield, because if the well truly yields only
3GPM, no matter how much you boost the pressure, that's all the water
you can pull continuosly. To get a higher rate, you'd be limited by
the tank capacity. Whether that would be sufficient for the water
softener depends on how long the softener needs that 14GPM flow rate
to backwash and the tank size. If it needs it for 1 min, it's
practical. If it needs it for 10, that's another story.