Tech Topics: Wireless Gives Well Pump, Tank Something to Talk About
Figure 1. Click to return to place in textLast month, we looked at using non-pressurized storage tanks with booster pumps to provide usable amounts of water when you have a slow-producing well. We mentioned several ways of communicating between the storage tank and well pump to tell the pump when to start filling the tank and when to stop. But, what if the tank is a half a mile away from the well up on a hill? That’s the issue we’ll discuss this month.
There are basically two ways to communicate between the tank and well pump when they are not in close proximity. One is by stringing wires between the two, which is the cheapest but also the least reliable because of all the forces that tend to disrupt long runs of wire like wind, fallen trees or branches, rodents and thieves. The second is using low-power radios: a transmitter at the tank and a receiver at the pump to provide the communication link. Float switches in the tank are normally used to provide the water level information.