Having recently and unexpectedly run out of water in my holding tanks, I
now see the value in some kind of remote warning system that can be seen
inside the house.

Do you know of a good idea for remote sensing of holding tank water levels?

Presently, there is a chlorox bottle floating in the steel tank which is
roped to a red wooden block that moves up when the water level goes down
(and vice versa).

The problem with this manual method is you have to walk almost to the water
tanks to 'see' the level of the block.

It would be nice to have an indicator in the house that showed the water
level of the tanks, about 100 or 200 feet away and about 20 feet above the
level of the house.

Any ideas for remote sensing of water level?

On 8/18/11 5:03 PM, SF Man wrote:
Having recently and unexpectedly run out of water in my holding tanks, I
now see the value in some kind of remote warning system that can be seen
inside the house.

Do you know of a good idea for remote sensing of holding tank water levels?

Presently, there is a chlorox bottle floating in the steel tank which is
roped to a red wooden block that moves up when the water level goes down
(and vice versa).

The problem with this manual method is you have to walk almost to the water
tanks to 'see' the level of the block.

It would be nice to have an indicator in the house that showed the water
level of the tanks, about 100 or 200 feet away and about 20 feet above the
level of the house.

Any ideas for remote sensing of water level?

There are probably plenty of remote liquid level sensors online.
My first thought, being cheap, errr frugal, would be binoculars.
Old farm chemical tanks used just a clear plastic hose mounted
vertically outside the tank. There were openings on the side at the top
and bottom of the tanks. A couple street Ls pointed at each other with
hose barbs provided a way to connect the hose. One could rig up a
larger hose with a bright colored floating ball in the hose. That
wouldn't be much better than what you have though.

SF Man wrote:

Any ideas for remote sensing of water level?

How much do you want to spend? There are loads of commercial solutions - just
Google. My favorite is the solar power satellite transmitter that sends you a
text message.

Seriously. Well, that it exists - it's not may favorite. There's some slightly
less expensive radio setups with a range of a few hundred feet.

On Aug 18, 7:28*pm, Robert Neville wrote:
SF Man wrote:
Any ideas for remote sensing of water level?

How much do you want to spend? There are loads of commercial solutions - just
Google. My favorite is the solar power satellite transmitter that sends you a
text message.

Seriously. Well, that it exists - it's not may favorite. *There's some slightly
less expensive radio setups with a range of a few hundred feet.

Not sure what all is out there, but if power is available
near the tank, that would enable him to put in any
off the shelf wireless access point networking
solution to get ethernet connectivity from the tank
to the house. Then he would need some ethernet
compatible water level sensor.

On Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:34:15 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Then he would need some ethernet
compatible water level sensor.

Interesting concept.

There 'is' electricity since the booster pump is righ next to the tanks. I
don't know if that's 220 or 110 but the point is there is electricity at
the tanks.

I like the idea of tying into the existing wireless network ...

On 8/18/11 7:18 PM, SF Man wrote:
On Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:34:15 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Then he would need some ethernet
compatible water level sensor.

Interesting concept.

There 'is' electricity since the booster pump is righ next to the tanks. I
don't know if that's 220 or 110 but the point is there is electricity at
the tanks.

I like the idea of tying into the existing wireless network ...

Would some sort of remote camera be workable?

SF Man wrote:
Having recently and unexpectedly run out of water in my holding tanks, I
now see the value in some kind of remote warning system that can be seen
inside the house.

Do you know of a good idea for remote sensing of holding tank water levels?

Presently, there is a chlorox bottle floating in the steel tank which is
roped to a red wooden block that moves up when the water level goes down
(and vice versa).

The problem with this manual method is you have to walk almost to the water
tanks to 'see' the level of the block.

It would be nice to have an indicator in the house that showed the water
level of the tanks, about 100 or 200 feet away and about 20 feet above the
level of the house.

Any ideas for remote sensing of water level?
Hi,
RVs have warwe level monitor for water tanks.
May be try RV paerts dept.?

Put a sensetive pressure gage on the pipe, where it comes
into the house. Water creates 0.434 PSI per foot.

With the gage at 4.34 PSI, you know that the top of the
water is 10 feet over the gage. The 200 feet horizontal run
makes no difference, at all.

Idea two, you need a "gas gage" sender, but made for water.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"SF Man" wrote in message
...
Having recently and unexpectedly run out of water in my
holding tanks, I
now see the value in some kind of remote warning system that
can be seen
inside the house.

Do you know of a good idea for remote sensing of holding
tank water levels?

Presently, there is a chlorox bottle floating in the steel
tank which is
roped to a red wooden block that moves up when the water
level goes down
(and vice versa).

The problem with this manual method is you have to walk
almost to the water
tanks to 'see' the level of the block.

It would be nice to have an indicator in the house that
showed the water
level of the tanks, about 100 or 200 feet away and about 20
feet above the
level of the house.

Any ideas for remote sensing of water level?

SF Man wrote:
Having recently and unexpectedly run out of water in my holding tanks, I
now see the value in some kind of remote warning system that can be seen
inside the house.

Do you know of a good idea for remote sensing of holding tank water levels?

Presently, there is a chlorox bottle floating in the steel tank which is
roped to a red wooden block that moves up when the water level goes down
(and vice versa).

The problem with this manual method is you have to walk almost to the water
tanks to 'see' the level of the block.

It would be nice to have an indicator in the house that showed the water
level of the tanks, about 100 or 200 feet away and about 20 feet above the
level of the house.

Any ideas for remote sensing of water level?

Connect a vertical pvc pipe to the bottom of the tank,
put a magnet inside the pipe, floating on something, then put
reed relays along the pipe, which switch a row of say 10-20 leds.
That should give you a nice display, and the reed relays are safe from
water.

On Thu, 18 Aug 2011 19:40:59 -0500, Dean Hoffman wrote:
Would some sort of remote camera be workable?

Actually, that's an idea I would never have thought of.

I was thinking electronics, with LEDs and the like ... but ... since the
visual works just fine if you can just see it ... a camera would be the
most direct remote sensing.

What I love about this camera idea is that it won't require modification of
the tank sensing mechanism at all!

On Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:49:56 -0400, Stormin Mormon wrote:

Put a sensetive pressure gage on the pipe, where it comes
into the house. Water creates 0.434 PSI per foot.

That is an interesting idea.

I think you mean the standard pipes that go into the house for water? If
so, that won't work (I don't think) because the booster pump at the tanks
pressurizes the water to something like 60 psi.

But, if I could somehow put a separate hose to the house from the tanks ...
that might work ...

But, the other ideas seem simpler.

On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 05:00:57 +0200, Sjouke Burry wrote:

put reed relays along the pipe, which switch a row of say 10-20 leds.
That should give you a nice display

I'm amazed at the ingenuity of the suggestions!

This idea seems elegant.

A pipe with a floating magnet (either inside the pipe or a ring outside the
pipe).

As the magnet moves up and down, differnet switches are turned on or off.

Are you suggesting that the one switch which is 'active' would be the water
level?

I guess that would take a lot of reed switches ... to cover about 5 feet of
water level travel ... but the result 'would' be an interesting display in
the kitchen!

I thought your pump was inside the house -- and that the
water was gravity flow from the tank to the house. Oh,
bother. Might not work as well. The other ideas (remote
camera, for example) make more sense.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"SF Man" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:49:56 -0400, Stormin Mormon wrote:

Put a sensetive pressure gage on the pipe, where it comes
into the house. Water creates 0.434 PSI per foot.

That is an interesting idea.

I think you mean the standard pipes that go into the house
for water? If
so, that won't work (I don't think) because the booster pump
at the tanks
pressurizes the water to something like 60 psi.

But, if I could somehow put a separate hose to the house
from the tanks ...
that might work ...

But, the other ideas seem simpler.

On Aug 19, 1:39*am, SF Man wrote:
On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 05:00:57 +0200, Sjouke Burry wrote:
put reed relays along the pipe, which switch a row of say 10-20 leds.
That should give you a nice display

I'm amazed at the ingenuity of the suggestions!

This idea seems elegant.

A pipe with a floating magnet (either inside the pipe or a ring outside the
pipe).

As the magnet moves up and down, differnet switches are turned on or off.

Are you suggesting that the one switch which is 'active' would be the water
level?

I guess that would take a lot of reed switches ... to cover about 5 feet of
water level travel ... but the result 'would' be an interesting display in
the kitchen!

I'm sure you can find some kind of ethernet compatible I/O widget
that has basic contact inputs that you could connect to this
arrangement. Then you could hook that up to a wireless bridge,
etc to connect to your home LAN.

How many switches it takes depends on what
resolution you want. But it's also not as simple as the magnet
keeping the switch closed. The magnet will trigger a switch
while it's next to it. At that point, you need something on the
other end, eg PC software program that keeps track of the
last switch that was triggered. Then you know the water
level is somewhere between the two switches on either
side of the last one tripped. Would require quite a few
switches to get any accuracy.

I would think a pressure sensor would be the easiest.
One sensor does it. Not sure how easy it is to find
one that covers the necessary range and is reasonable
cost.

SF Man wrote:

Having recently and unexpectedly run out of water in my holding tanks, I
now see the value in some kind of remote warning system that can be seen
inside the house.

Do you know of a good idea for remote sensing of holding tank water levels?

Presently, there is a chlorox bottle floating in the steel tank which is
roped to a red wooden block that moves up when the water level goes down
(and vice versa).

The problem with this manual method is you have to walk almost to the water
tanks to 'see' the level of the block.

It would be nice to have an indicator in the house that showed the water
level of the tanks, about 100 or 200 feet away and about 20 feet above the
level of the house.

Any ideas for remote sensing of water level?

Do you have an alarm system? You could add a wireless water sensor and
have it alert a trouble on the keypad.

You could put a wireless web-cam in an enclosure maybe.

You can definitely do it with pro CCTV gear, right down to Internet
monitoring and control of relays.

SF Man wrote:

I'm amazed at the ingenuity of the suggestions!

This idea seems elegant.

Here is how pro's do it:

http://www.winland.com/waterbugalert.html

SF Man wrote:

Having recently and unexpectedly run out of water in my holding tanks, I
now see the value in some kind of remote warning system that can be seen
inside the house.

Do you know of a good idea for remote sensing of holding tank water levels?

Presently, there is a chlorox bottle floating in the steel tank which is
roped to a red wooden block that moves up when the water level goes down
(and vice versa).

The problem with this manual method is you have to walk almost to the water
tanks to 'see' the level of the block.

It would be nice to have an indicator in the house that showed the water
level of the tanks, about 100 or 200 feet away and about 20 feet above the
level of the house.

Any ideas for remote sensing of water level?

I would suggest that one of the simplest ways to monitor for low tank
level on this apparently non pressurized tank would be to install a
decent pressure gauge at the house and sharpie mark the pressures that
correspond with low tank level and full tank level.

SF Man wrote:

On Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:49:56 -0400, Stormin Mormon wrote:

Put a sensetive pressure gage on the pipe, where it comes
into the house. Water creates 0.434 PSI per foot.

That is an interesting idea.

I think you mean the standard pipes that go into the house for water? If
so, that won't work (I don't think) because the booster pump at the tanks
pressurizes the water to something like 60 psi.

But, if I could somehow put a separate hose to the house from the tanks ...
that might work ...

But, the other ideas seem simpler.

Ok, booster pump in the way at the house. Can you put a pressure switch
at the outlet of the tank and just run wire back to the house to operate
a warning light?

On 8/18/2011 5:03 PM, SF Man wrote:
Having recently and unexpectedly run out of water in my holding tanks, I
now see the value in some kind of remote warning system that can be seen
inside the house.

Do you know of a good idea for remote sensing of holding tank water levels?

Presently, there is a chlorox bottle floating in the steel tank which is
roped to a red wooden block that moves up when the water level goes down
(and vice versa).

The problem with this manual method is you have to walk almost to the water
tanks to 'see' the level of the block.

It would be nice to have an indicator in the house that showed the water
level of the tanks, about 100 or 200 feet away and about 20 feet above the
level of the house.

Any ideas for remote sensing of water level?

You might be able to rig a mechanical indicator that shows over the edge
of the tank.

If you only need one or two level indicators you could have lights (like
a light bulb) at the tank visible from the house. Other level indicators
include float switches and simple conductivity.

--
bud--

On 8/19/2011 6:18 AM, Pete C. wrote:

SF Man wrote:

Having recently and unexpectedly run out of water in my holding tanks, I
now see the value in some kind of remote warning system that can be seen
inside the house.

Do you know of a good idea for remote sensing of holding tank water levels?

Presently, there is a chlorox bottle floating in the steel tank which is
roped to a red wooden block that moves up when the water level goes down
(and vice versa).

The problem with this manual method is you have to walk almost to the water
tanks to 'see' the level of the block.

It would be nice to have an indicator in the house that showed the water
level of the tanks, about 100 or 200 feet away and about 20 feet above the
level of the house.

Any ideas for remote sensing of water level?

I would suggest that one of the simplest ways to monitor for low tank
level on this apparently non pressurized tank would be to install a
decent pressure gauge at the house and sharpie mark the pressures that
correspond with low tank level and full tank level.

pressure pump at the tank end of the pipe, so from the house, it looks
like a pressurized tank.

chaniarts wrote:

pressure pump at the tank end of the pipe, so from the house, it looks
like a pressurized tank.

Little to no chance the tank is pressurized:

Presently, there is a chlorox bottle floating in the steel tank which is
roped to a red wooden block that moves up when the water level goes down
(and vice versa).

After reading several more posts is seems to be that this is a gravity
tank presumably on a hill, with a booster pump near the house.

On 8/19/2011 10:52 AM, Pete C. wrote:

chaniarts wrote:

pressure pump at the tank end of the pipe, so from the house, it looks
like a pressurized tank.

Little to no chance the tank is pressurized:

didn't say the tank is pressurized. i said 'from the house' it looks
like it is pressurized, implying that it's not a gravity pressurized system.

Presently, there is a chlorox bottle floating in the steel tank which is
roped to a red wooden block that moves up when the water level goes down
(and vice versa).

After reading several more posts is seems to be that this is a gravity
tank presumably on a hill, with a booster pump near the house.

already stated the pump is next to the tank

I suggested that. Problem is, the booster pump is at the
tank. The house only "sees" the pressurized water.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Pete C." wrote in message
.com...

I would suggest that one of the simplest ways to monitor for
low tank
level on this apparently non pressurized tank would be to
install a
decent pressure gauge at the house and sharpie mark the
pressures that
correspond with low tank level and full tank level.

On Aug 18, 3:03*pm, SF Man wrote:
Having recently and unexpectedly run out of water in my holding tanks, I
now see the value in some kind of remote warning system that can be seen
inside the house.

Do you know of a good idea for remote sensing ofholding tankwater levels?

Presently, there is a chlorox bottle floating in the steel tank which is
roped to a red wooden block that moves up when the water level goes down
(and vice versa).

The problem with this manual method is you have to walk almost to the water
tanks to 'see' the level of the block.

It would be nice to have an indicator in the house that showed the water
level of the tanks, about 100 or 200 feet away and about 20 feet above the
level of the house.

Any ideas for remote sensing of water level?

Use an alarm system like the use on septic pump tanks.
I just put in a new one,very simple to do.

On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 07:27:00 -0400, Stormin Mormon wrote:

I thought your pump was inside the house -- and that the
water was gravity flow from the tank to the house.

Oh. My mistake. I should have made it clearer.
- The well pump is nowhere near the house.
- Neither are the tanks (which are nowhere near the well pump).

PS: I didn't design it; I just bought it!

On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 05:23:14 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

you need something on the
other end, eg PC software program that keeps track of the
last switch that was triggered.

I was wondering about that!

I would think a pressure sensor would be the easiest.
One sensor does it.

That's an interesting idea.

I presume we lower a weighted pressure sensor on the inside bottom of the
tank, and, it simply senses the weight of the water on top of it.

From scuba, I remember every 33 feet was 15 pounds of pressure, so these
tanks, being (roughly) 8 or 9 feet tall should have 1/4th that, or about 4
pounds of difference, empty to full.

Does that seem about the right calibration points?

On 8/20/11 6:32 PM, SF Man wrote:
On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 05:23:14 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

you need something on the
other end, eg PC software program that keeps track of the
last switch that was triggered.

I was wondering about that!

I would think a pressure sensor would be the easiest.
One sensor does it.

That's an interesting idea.

I presume we lower a weighted pressure sensor on the inside bottom of the
tank, and, it simply senses the weight of the water on top of it.

From scuba, I remember every 33 feet was 15 pounds of pressure, so these
tanks, being (roughly) 8 or 9 feet tall should have 1/4th that, or about 4
pounds of difference, empty to full.

Does that seem about the right calibration points?

One foot of head in water equals about 2.3 pounds of pressure.
Chart he http://tinyurl.com/4ymr9uw

On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:17:46 -0500, G. Morgan wrote:

Here is how pro's do it:
http://www.winland.com/waterbugalert.html

Interesting.

The Waterbug WB200 or WB350 seems to fit the bill, on initial inspection.

Since a well holding tank has got to be wet inside, key to operation is the
sentence "Will not alarm due to condensation or humidity".

Seems to me, I screw the six sensors onto a weighted panel (or pipe) the
depth of the holdin tank ... and then just lower that pipe into the tank
and secure somehow.

The specs note that the wires can be 100 feet long, so that should be fine
if I strategically place the main unit.

One intriguing sentence (on the Waterbug WB200) was "Can be used to detect
ABSENSE of water (emphasis mine).

Seems to me, the absense of water is more interesting, to me, than the
presence of water ... so I would think that WB200 unit would be the first
to explore!

On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:15:01 -0500, G. Morgan wrote:
Do you have an alarm system? You could add a wireless water sensor and
have it alert a trouble on the keypad.

Yet another interesting idea!

Yes, in fact I do have a 24-zone alarm system! I don't think I'd want the
security company called every time I run out of water ... but I suspect
that can be programmed to not call them for specific zones.

SF Man wrote:

Seems to me, I screw the six sensors onto a weighted panel (or pipe) the
depth of the holdin tank ... and then just lower that pipe into the tank
and secure somehow.

Why 6 sensors? You would just need two on each tank, like how limit
switches work in garage door openers. Or are you going for greater
resolution?

You can use the sensors to trigger the timer to start a 'run' cycle when
it gets below the lower switch (sensor). The top sensor would be a
'full' indicator, and shunt the pumps.

The specs note that the wires can be 100 feet long, so that should be fine
if I strategically place the main unit.

Are you going to use their annunciation unit? The sensors can be hooked
to anything, like an alarm/home automation panel or PLC controller.


One intriguing sentence (on the Waterbug WB200) was "Can be used to detect
ABSENSE of water (emphasis mine).

Yup, I've installed dozens. You can get really creative with them, they
are versatile. I've used them to detect any water on the floor in a
university chemical-storage vault. Some of that stuff in there was
explosive if it reacted w/H2O.

I'm was surprised the head of chem.. dept. let me install the sensors
all day alone in there. He said he was the only one with access and
students are never allowed unattended. He gave me all kinds of warnings
about keeping the door locked and the alarm on if I left, but ZERO
instructions on what to do if I knocked a shelf full of volatile
chemicals on the ground.

On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:18:43 -0500, Pete C. wrote:

one of the simplest ways to monitor for low tank
level on this apparently non pressurized tank would be to install a
decent pressure gauge

The problem is that the holding tank isn't pressurized, but, the piping
goes immediately to an adjacent 4-foot tall blue pressure tank and pump.

So, the water, to the house, is pressurized.

On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:52:34 -0500, Pete C. wrote:

After reading several more posts is seems to be that this is a gravity
tank presumably on a hill, with a booster pump near the house.

My fault for not being clear.

The 'only' gravity part of the system is the four inch pipe that goes from
the tanks to the fire hydrant, about 20 vertical feet or so down the hill
(about 150 feet away from the tanks and on the other side of the house).

The rest of the system is certainly pressurized since that four inch outlet
pipe almost immediately (within a few feet) branches off with what looks
like a two inch pipe that goes to a pressure pump and blue tank that is
almost right next to the large unpressurized holding tanks.

So, for all intents and purposes, all the house water, from the pressurizer
next to the holding tanks to the house is pressurized.

SF Man wrote:

On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:15:01 -0500, G. Morgan wrote:
Do you have an alarm system? You could add a wireless water sensor and
have it alert a trouble on the keypad.

Yet another interesting idea!

Yes, in fact I do have a 24-zone alarm system! I don't think I'd want the
security company called every time I run out of water ... but I suspect
that can be programmed to not call them for specific zones.

It can, it would not be programmed as a burglary zone, just a
supervisory signal (or no CS report at all).

On Aug 20, 7:42*pm, Dean Hoffman wrote:
On 8/20/11 6:32 PM, SF Man wrote:





On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 05:23:14 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

you need something on the
other end, eg PC software program that keeps track of the
last switch that was triggered.

I was wondering about that!

I would think a pressure sensor would be the easiest.
One sensor does it.

That's an interesting idea.

I presume we lower a weighted pressure sensor on the inside bottom of the
tank, and, it simply senses the weight of the water on top of it.

I would put the pressure sensor on a fitting on the bottom of
the tank. Usually tanks have multiple outlets with some of
them not used and plugged. Use one of those.
I would not put it on the pipe
feeding the house, as when the house pump kicks on
it's going to effect the pressure, giving a false reading
while it's running.





*From scuba, I remember every 33 feet was 15 pounds of pressure, so these
tanks, being (roughly) 8 or 9 feet tall should have 1/4th that, or about 4
pounds of difference, empty to full.

Does that seem about the right calibration points?

* * One foot of head in water equals about 2.3 pounds of pressure.
Chart he *http://tinyurl.com/4ymr9uw- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

On Aug 20, 7:43*pm, SF Man wrote:
On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:17:46 -0500, G. Morgan wrote:
Here is how pro's do it:
http://www.winland.com/waterbugalert.html

Interesting.

The Waterbug WB200 or WB350 seems to fit the bill, on initial inspection.

I don't see how they fit the bill at all. They are alarms that
trigger
when a sensor gets wet. You can hook like 6 sensors up to them,
but they will just sound an alarm when it reaches any one of them.
They are intended for applications like putting several sensors
around your basement floor, so that if any one of them gets wet
the alarm sounds.

Another big problem. Those sensors are intended for areas
that are dry and rarely get wet. The inside of a tank is going
to be wet with condensation, etc and even if you had 6 of
them in there, they would probably all be wet enough to
trigger the alarm.



Since a well holding tank has got to be wet inside, key to operation is the
sentence "Will not alarm due to condensation or humidity".

I wouldn;t count on taking it to the extreme of the inside of
the tank. I would take it to mean the condensation or humidity
you would find on a basement floor or a laundry room.




Seems to me, I screw the six sensors onto a weighted panel (or pipe) the
depth of the holdin tank ... and then just lower that pipe into the tank
and secure somehow.

And if one sensor is wet, it triggers an output or sounds the
internal alarm. All that tells you is that at least one sensor
is wet, not which one.





The specs note that the wires can be 100 feet long, so that should be fine
if I strategically place the main unit.

One intriguing sentence (on the Waterbug WB200) was "Can be used to detect
ABSENSE of water (emphasis mine).

Seems to me, the absense of water is more interesting, to me, than the
presence of water ... so I would think that WB200 unit would be the first
to explore!

On Aug 20, 8:11*pm, SF Man wrote:
On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:18:43 -0500, Pete C. wrote:
one of the simplest ways to monitor for low tank
level on this apparently non pressurized tank would be to install a
decent pressure gauge

The problem is that the holding tank isn't pressurized, but, the piping
goes immediately to an adjacent 4-foot tall blue pressure tank and pump.

So, the water, to the house, is pressurized.

You don't need or want the holding tank to be pressurized.
The weight of the water in the tank creates pressure and
that is what you measure with one transducer. That
pressure tells you the exact level of water in the tank.

On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 09:26:00 -0500, bud-- wrote:

You might be able to rig a mechanical indicator that shows over the edge
of the tank.

I asked three neighbors this weekend, and, ALL of them have the same
mechanism!

They all have a block of brightly painted wood that is at the outside
bottom of one tank (all tanks are in parallel) when the water is full; and
it slowly rises, a few inches every few hundred gallons, until it's at the
top.

The one thing different is that they all said their wells pump continuously
.... so ... I must have a local problem with water flow.

you could have lights (like a light bulb) at the tank visible
from the house.

I 'guess' there could be a three-light system, green being full, yellow
being half empty, red being lower than that (or something like that), but,
actual levels would be more informative.

On Sat, 20 Aug 2011 07:18:03 -0700 (PDT), JP wrote:

Use an alarm system like the use on septic pump tanks.
I just put in a new one,very simple to do.

Do you know the brand you put in?

On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:15:01 -0500, G. Morgan wrote:
Do you have an alarm system? You could add a wireless water sensor and
have it alert a trouble on the keypad.

Yet another interesting idea!

Yes, in fact I do have a 24-zone alarm system! I don't think I'd want the
security company called every time I run out of water ... but I suspect
that can be programmed to not call them for specific zones.

On Sat, 20 Aug 2011 19:11:12 -0500, G. Morgan wrote:

Are you going to use their annunciation unit? The sensors can be hooked
to anything, like an alarm/home automation panel or PLC controller.

I do have a home alarm system with many zones ... some of which (I think)
are free ... so that's a possibility.