[TheForge] OT - Water pressure problem. OT:ish

[Lynn and Susan Lang]

Bruce
A pressure switch to control the pump, same style as is on your
compressor. You will need a water level switch, like a sump pump switch,
to disable the pump should the water level is insufficient.

lynn

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Bruce Freeman
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 8:30 AM
To: Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] OT - Water pressure problem. OT:ish

How would the pump activate on demand?  I'd have to go to the pump,
turn it on, then go back to the hose nozzle and water.  When watering
gets interrupted, I'd have to either let the pump keep running with
zero flow, or waste water, or go back and turn off the pump.  Or, I
could run an electrical lead along the hose and put a switch at the
nozzle (which would require me always to use the same hose).  Or I
could come up with some non-wire remote control to turn on and off the
pump.  These strike me as burdensome AND assume that I want to water
at the full pump flow.

If I could equip the downstream side of the pump with a pressure
sensor, then the pump could turn on when that pressure dropped below
some minimum.  But that still assumes I want to water at the full pump
flow.  And with that level of complexity, I might as well add an
accumulator tank of some sort (air-pressurized or water tower) so that
the pump can run at its maximum efficiency and then turn off, but
water would be available even when the pump is not running.

My objectives here are (1) to pressurize the accumulated rain water
sufficiently for use in the garden, and (2) to do this cheaper than it
would cost me to just use city water.

So far, I've spent $125 on tanks (~600 gallons total), and maybe about
$25 on plumbing parts (I haven't checked my receipts, just guessing
from memory).  I have a very nice pump I plan to use.  I have no
pressure or flow sensors suitable for use with it, but I can design
and build electronic circuits needed to control it.  I'll probably
cannibalize an existing pump controller that takes a contact closure
input and closes a 12V relay to control the 115V pump. I may have to
use a transistor to close the contact, and drive that from sensor
inputs of some sort.

On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 1:32 AM, peter fels <artgawk at thegrid.net> wrote:
> That's much too straight-forward!
>
> On May 15, 2011, at 8:09 PM, Lynn and Susan Lang wrote:
>
>> Bruce
>> Why not just collect the water in a stock tank and when water is
needed
>> have a small pump to charge your garden hose.....Not knowing your
task
>> makes suggestions a shot in the dark...
>>
>> lynn