Irrigation on Well question

[olmod]

I have a question and concern. I have done a few irrigation installs over the last few years and where I live a lot of people still have wells even in some of the sub divisions. I had a lady ask me last week to bid an irrigation system for her new house she is building. I went and looked the other day and noticed it is on a well. I did one install once on a well and it worked fine until the well ran out of water. My questions are:

Where do you hook up in the water supply on a well? I was thinking after the bladder tank. I believe this is what I did wrong because I hooked up right at the line coming out of the well.

And in general how do you guys bid irrigation installs? I dont need numbers as I will use what I need to make money for those. I am wondering if you do labor plus materials or price per zone or another way? I enjoy irrigation work just dont have much of a call for it here in my area. I also want to be in the ballpark when I give this lady a bid on the work. I know she is getting other bids so I dont want to be a lot higher or lower than some else.

[Mike Leary]

Unless she has some paperwork, a competent well expert should be brought in to perform what we call a "pump down" test to determine the flow, and recharge rate, plus the type of pump. He will ask you for your projected demand and pressure requirements, so have some numbers ready.

[olmod]

I know all this I am just wondering to solve the problem I had before do I need to hook up after the blatter tank. I just do not want to have the same problem I had before. It just makes me nervous.

[Wet_Boots]

Where you connect won't alter things if you are over-pumping the well. Connecting downstream of the pressure tank is always preferable, in case any plumbing is changed upstream of the tank.

[Mike Leary]

I dislike pressure tanks, but it goes with the territory unless a pump-start relay or on-demand pumping system is used. My best luck was to zone the system with lower-demand spray heads first to get through the pressure tank. I would then be on the pump for rotors.

[olmod]

So what you guys are saying is it does not matter where I hook up then? I know when I had the well guy come adjust the well pump on the last one to kick on not long after I flipped the irrigation on. I just hate the fact that I had this bad experience with my only system I have installed on a well. Why can't everyone be on city water makes things so much easier for us.
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[greenmonster304]

Originally Posted by olmod

Why can't everyone be on city water makes things so much easier for us.
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I like wells. I can usually get more water and pressure from a well than street water and it's cheaper than a separate meter. I recently had a 4" well drilled with a 2 hp pump with an output of about 45 gpm for $3,800.
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[Wet_Boots]

Wells require due diligence on the installer's part, because you always have the concern of the well running dry.

[Mdirrigation]

i prefer wells in my area , available water is predictable and pressure is a constant . City water on the otherhand I have 1 area where water pressure drops from 60 psi in early spring to 30 psi mid summer due to demand . One area all the houses have booster pumps and they are on city water. My best area has pressure reducers , they hit 135 psi before the regulator and push 20 gpm.

[Mike Leary]

Most of my systems were on wells, I grew to like them, after I learned to do the math.