See if there is anyone in your area that has a similar situation and talk to them. Something creative could be done with the spillover, but I assume there are higher priorities.

Why must it spill over? Mine has a float switch that shuts off the pump before the tank overflows.

@ramona1976 that's what I'm wondering, too!

Wouldn't a generator be a better solution if there's a concern about long power outages?

Okay I found out the reason there would be spillover is that the well pump would run on a timer, so it's possible the holding tank would overfill at times.

@just_janni, that's what I would have thought. I will have a house generator, but the well would be far from the house (more than 2000ft and 300+ ft difference in elevation), so would be on a separate meter, rather than running a heavy duty power cable between the well and the house to run the pump. The separate meter would require a second generator for outages and a second large propane tank to run it--that's one option. (We were hoping not to have to put the well on a separate meter, but at this distance we don't have a choice.) The propane tank would have to be buried, and that would mean a day with a hoe ram because everything is rock, and then we'd be maintaining two propane tanks. So it starts to seem like it could be more practical to do it the way this well installer has done it on a nearby mountain, apparently successfully (I will be talking with the homeowners), with the well on a separate meter but a timer-run pump that fills the water tank at the house instead of a generator. The water holding tank would be 1500 gallons, which should get us through a pretty lengthy outage.

Moral of this story? The views are spectacular. And they better be.

My well is on a timer and there is a float switch in the tank. i have a timer because of well capacity/flow. Before I got the tank, I would run out of water after about 30-40 minutes, thus the timer. The timer is built into the well pump controller. IIRC, 30 minute cycle.

It should be possible to control the tank level with a combination of float switch and timer if the float switch is wired to override the timer in the event the tank is full but the timer isn't timed out.

@A Mat and @Charles Ross Homes, I will look into the float switch. My guess is it won't communicate with the timer, because there's no power connecting the well and the storage tank. The power supply at the well runs the pump, which pipes the water up to the tank above the house, and the storage tank is connected to the house power supply, but the two are not connected with each other.

@A Mat how much does your tank hold?

Communication could be by lots of things. Light duty wire or wireless. Lots of options for wireless but what would work in your situation I don't know.

The choice you are being given is timer+tank or heavy duty wire. Light duty wire can me a lot cheaper of course.

On the heavy duty (and I am really hating the lack of true specification here) side - the well needs power and the house needs power. So they both have power and that has to come from somewhere. Now - separate sides of a mountain peak - I can get behind, but otherwise, it would seem like they would be piggy backing on the same poles and adding a wire to that should be inexpensive.

Why can't you have battery backup for the pump? Has that been discussed? Would seem like a better option than a 1500 gallon tank. Typical water consumption would be easy to calculate and size. I couldn't resist some back of napkin calculations. 1000 gallons takes about a kwh to raise 300 feet. You can get a 10 kwh battery system for about $10k. That would be 10,000 gallons which is a lot more than your tank size. Less freeze concern, better aesthetics, less water waste.

Also, is the spill over partly for freeze protection because there is no place that one would call a mountain that doesn't get cold. And moving water is one way to protect that.

@2rickies,

Thanks for the explanation. I now have a better picture of your situation. In your case, wireless controls are a good option. Here's a link to one company's offerings:

https://remotecontroltech.com/why-remote-control-technology/applications/wireless-pump-control?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIto20-oma_gIVB_7jBx2uUgLAEAAYASAAEgIaT_D_BwE

Good luck with your project.

The proposed configuration isn't for your convince if there is a power outage but is a necessity to provide constant access to water even when there is power. Raising water from a well and pushing it up 300' in elevation over 2000 ft. would involve a very large commercial pump costing several thousand dollars to overcome the total dynamic head to provide the water volume and pressure required at the house.

So the solution is to continuously feed a large tank until full at the house with a smaller pump and then draw from the tank with a booster pump to fill a pressure tank in the house. It's a common configuration in a case like yours (and hope this is how your system will work). But allowing overflow from the tank isn't common, and should be allowed if you have a say.

A float switch should be installed in the tank to control the well pump contactor and should use a 12 volt transformer to supply a lower voltage control voltage to the float switch with a 22 gauge wire ran to the well pump high voltage contactor 2000 feet. it would be similar to using a 12 volt single from the transformer at the furnace to energize the high voltage contactors for the outside A/C unit and a very simple configuration. Running the well pump on a timer and letting it overflow is nonsense to me.

Another option would involve using a chain of booster pumps in the 2000 foot run instead of installing a holding tank. It's a little more involved, the entire pump chain would be controlled by the pressure in the pressure tank similar to traditional well pump system. This system would need power ran up the entire 2000 foot run and prone to high maintenance issues so the holding tank method would be more reasonable and reliable.

I run a 1 hp well pump at the house and to get good water volume and pressure 300 feet from the house I need to use another booster pump at the source to overcome the total dynamic head losses. I would guess you'd need a 10 hp pump to make the run straight to the house, so a small well pump, trickle over time into the holding tank and boost out when needed is your best option.

500 gal tank. Distance from well to storage tank ~100’ distance from storage tank to pressure tank ~40’

I prepare for power outages by storing water in buckets, trying to purchase a propane generator, ~$16k.

@outpaientzero, you are correct--power outage is not the only reason to set it up that way. We tried to drill closer to the house site, guided by a hydrologist, so far drilled two dry wells and decided not to spend more money on that. Best option then was either to use (or drill near) an old well that hasn't been used in years but we know works and produces a good volume. (Whether we use the old well depends on the condition of the liner and outcome of water testing.)

With the setup you're describing, we would need to run power from the well to the holding tank, so, even if it's only a low-voltage wire, we'd need 2000 ft of additional trenching. (Additional in that we buried a conduit not far from the well to provide house power, because that's where the last pole will be located, plus the trench we'll need for the water pipe.) Otherwise sounds straightforward. And in an outage, we'd still presumably have a full-ish storage tank.

@Charles Ross Homes Thanks fof the link--I will check it out! It would be great if a wireless connection would work. I will need to see if it relies on cell towers, b/c in the spot where the well is located there is no service (no cell and no internet). There will be decent service at the house site, though.

If you continuously fill and it isn't just for power outage, do you really need 1500 gal?

That is still like a 10 day supply. And is "several thousand" dollars for a commercial pump really a problem? I have to think avoiding such a tank is worth a lot of money. Is Legionnaires a consideration? NYC requires draining and cleaning tanks annually - I have no idea if that is overkill and maybe the water will be cold enough to be protective. But then is it brutally cold at the tap?

Not sure that you would need to really trench a low voltage line. Certainly not like a high voltage line. Think what the cable company does or irrigation wire.

Given the typical use case for the wireless pump controllers, it would seem unusual to need cell service.

@2rickies,

A wireless pump control system doesn't rely on cell service. It utilizes its own transmitters (e.g., float switches) and receiver. Most places water is a precious resource. I'd work to eliminate any overflow if it can be done in a practical fashion.

I'm new to all of this, and I appreciate the information!

@Charles Ross Homes, agreed, I don't want to waste water. (The way it was described I pictured something going into a rain barrel that I could use for outdoor water, but that probably wouldn't work.) I wonder if the radio transmitters those systems use would interfere with any systems in the house. Anyway, I will look into it further.

@David Cary, can you get Legionnaire's from an underground tank? I will have a water purifier, but not sure that's sufficient. I just read the CDC's info on it, and I didn't realize they advise flushing faucets, etc, if they haven't been used in more than a week.

If we got the expensive high-power pump and sent it directly to the pressure tank instead of a storage tank, we'd also need high-voltage power underground, which, from what I understand, would not only be extremely costly, it would bring the water in at a very high psi, as opposed to normal situations, where the well and pressure tank are closer together and don't require high voltage to move the water--the pressure still needs to be dropped, but not as much.

Whether we need a 1500-gall tank depends in part on how many people are staying with us and how much outdoor water demand we have whenever the power happens to go out.

I'm not sure what the best approach is, but I will definitely ask more questions.

I wouldn't advise buying a 10hp plus size pump, just giving you some info. But a big pump gives you the same pressure as a small pump because a pressure switch is set to turn it off and usually is set at 50 psi. You can have a 600 hp car or a 60 hp car, either one will do 50 miles per hour, but if you're going up a big long steep hill the 600 hp car will have no problem getting to the top while the 60 hp car will struggle and knock a little. Same with pumps, and it's a high and long way to push water to your house from the well, knock knock.

Why would you need high voltage underground (from house to pump) in that scenario? And why not a 10hp pump? Not disagreeing, just curious. I see them for $3k - $5k.

You can certainly use a relay and probably wireless to turn on the pump regardless. The bigger pumps will need 240V but I assume that any service - even just to the pump - is 240V. A relay can handle the switching on and off using low voltage.

What is the cost for burying a 1500 gal tank (and I didn't realize you were burying it)? That will probably keep the water too cold for Legionnaires. Generally under 77 degrees is good and ground temp should be below that.

When you mentioned "spill-over", I was assuming the tank was above ground. Which seemed like an ok assumption.

Your local people are probably correct but just because they did it this way once and it worked does not mean it is the only or perhaps best way. The thought of a spill-over when water is that hard to get sounds foolish. Wells run dry.

@David Cary, yes absolutely, we don't want spillover as a regular thing. I'm learning about this as I go, which is not the best way, but it's better than learning after the fact! I will ask about a relay, that makes sense.

An underground 1500-gall poly tank is around $3k, but that doesn't include digging the hole, which experience tells me will require breaking up rock. That is probably the right size tank, because in addition to outdoor water for vegetable garden and a small number of livestock, we're planning a swimming pool in a future build phase and a separate guest cottage/pool house, all of which would be served by the same well.

@David Cary I wish it were a little LESS interesting! Parts of the process have been challenging. I think the well is the last big hurdle and the rest will be the normal construction issues that turn up, but I'm crossing my fingers as I say that... If you're interested in more info, though, I've been posting periodic updates on the monthly "building a home" threads.