Filling multiple Pressure Tanks at Different Elevations and Locations

[Cary Austin]

Need help. I am new to the working of Well and Pump system. We moved into this house which has well system. The pump and the control valve is less than 2 years old.
The setup is as below. My well and my house is 200 feet apart and my house is at an elevation difference with 100 ft higher.

The setup is as below:
- The Pressure tank is at the house
- Pressure Switch is near the well pump :
- Distance between the pressure switch and the pressure tank is 200 ft
- Pressure Switch : Cut in 130 Cut Out : 150
- Pressure Tank : 40 PSI

I was told by the installer that the difference in pressure setup is due to elevation difference.

The pressure switch keeps bouncing on pump start.

I spoke to the well guy and he indicated that the setup is wrong and that there has to be a pressure tank next to the pressure switch in order to make sure that the pump does not cycle too often. With the current setup the pump cycles a lot when it reaches the Cut in.

Any guidance on what could be wrong is helpful.

[Cary Austin]

To get a tank rated for 150 PSI it has to be an Amtrol 44 gallon size (WX250) or larger.  Even so at 130/150 a 44 gallon tank only hold 5.3 gallons, so it is not going to help much with run time.

There is another problem with two tanks at either end of the uphill line.  The same way your pressure switch is seeing more pressure now and shutting off the pump on startup, the lower tank will fill first and shut off the pump.  Then the lower tank will drain into the upper tank and the pump will start again, filling the lower tank and shutting off.  This could happen 2 or 3 times before you get the upper tank filled.

The friction loss in the pipe from running the pump at full flow will always make sure the bottom tank fill before the upper tank.  Friction loss always makes tanks in different locations not be able to fill at the same rate or time.

If you install a Cycle Stop Valve before the lower tank and set it at about 140 PSI, the tanks will be filled at only 1 GPM.  When filling the tanks at 1 GPM there is no friction loss in the pipe and the upper tank will fill at the same time and rate as the lower tank.  So when the pump is shut off at 150 PSI, both tanks will be full.

A CSV will also make the pump start and stop at 1 GPM, which will eliminate water hammer and keep the pressure switch from bouncing on pump start or stop.