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VC_YamahaRider
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2015 09:55pm
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I am in the process of building a small cabin and have already installed a 500 gallon cistern which is being filled by catching water off the roof. I will have two batteries to start out with. I have a Morningstar sure sine 300 watt inverter and a IOTA 55A charge controller. I will also be purchasing a transfer switch so I can use my generator to power AC items especially those that require more than 300 watt. Most everything I have will be powered by propane (vented wall heater, stove, Bosch 330 water heater, and some propane lights).
My original plan was to use this water pump placed in the cistern. http://www.ebay.com/itm/12v-24v-Farm-Ranch-Submersible-Deep-Well-Dc-Solar-Water-Pump- Battery-Solar-/251544799213?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368. I am not sure this is the right choice for my set up.
I was also planning on using a pressure tank but realize now that those require electricity so would prefer not to use one now. Not sure why someone recommended using one in the first place. I was just taking there advise. I will have a kitchen sink, bathroom sink, and a shower. I am looking for a simple and easy set up. Hoping just a 12v pump and the bosch 330 tankless hot water tank will meet my needs. The bottom of the cistern in about 6 feet in the ground and it is about 35 feet to where the hot water tank will be mounted.
I am looking for recommendations on what type of water pump (submersible or non-submersible) I should get or any other thoughts/ideas of a simple set up that will meet my needs.
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Ontario lakeside
Member
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2015 10:11pm
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Hey VC
I used a shurflow 12volt on demand water pump, it is not in the tank. uses very little power and works fine this our on demand water heater. I have a video showing the setup here if your interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=funUNu9zVLQ
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 17 Aug 2015 10:31pm - Edited by: MtnDon
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Unless your cistern is buried deep in the ground that is the wrong pump. It also has very low volume: Flow Rate: 1.6 GPM (6 LPM) on 24 volts; half that on 12 volts.
Do you have to winterize the system?
Tell us more about climate... part time or full time use... winter or not... cabin is raised off the ground or not....
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VC_YamahaRider
Member
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# Posted: 18 Aug 2015 10:21am
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My cistern is only buried about 6ft in the ground. I do have to winterize the system because I live in Ohio. I will be using it mostly in the spring and fall and occasionally in the summer and winter. Just mainly weekend use and at least one time during the year we will use it for an entire week which will most likely be in early winter during hunting season.
The cabin is not raised off the ground but has a concrete slab.
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 18 Aug 2015 10:38am
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We have a buried cistern. Here's what we did. In the cistern we have a Rule IL200P pump. It is sold as a boat bilge pump. There are also higher capacity models. It can lift (push) water about ten feet IIRC. 12 VDC and 24 VDC models. That pushes water into the cabin.
Inside the cabin is a 14 gallon RV type water tank. There is also an RV water pressure pump that turns on when a faucet is opened. That supplies water to sinks and shower.
I also have a control that senses when the inside water tank level drops. It turns on the cistern pump and turns it off when the inside tank is full.
The bilge pump does not have a foot valve so the water drains back into the cistern. Of course that is only because I was careful to slope the piping from inside down to the cistern. The cistern also has its own water level indicator system.
Our cistern top half has insulation and now does not freeze. The only winterizing I need to do now is the usual inside the cabin stuff.
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VC_YamahaRider
Member
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# Posted: 18 Aug 2015 01:48pm
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MtnDon - so it sounds like you have a holding tank inside your cabin?
What do you mean when you say the pump can lift water about 10 feet IIRC? The bottom of my cistern is about 6 feet in the ground and then it is about 35 feet to my cabin so the water will have to rise 6 feet and then there is a slight gradual up hill slope of about 35 feet to the cabin so a max of about 45 feet of travel for the water from my cistern to inside the cabin.
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MtnDon
Member
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# Posted: 18 Aug 2015 02:47pm - Edited by: MtnDon
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Quoting: VC_YamahaRider so it sounds like you have a holding tank inside your cabin?
Yes it is under the kitchen counter, beside the water pump and water heater.
Quoting: VC_YamahaRider What do you mean when you say the pump can lift water about 10 feet
It can push water to a height of about 10 feet. (I should not have used the word lift. Push because a bilge pump is located in the lowest point of the tank. It has to push the weight of the water.) Any higher it won't. No pump can push an infinite height. So you should get an accurate vertical distance measurement from lowest to highest point. Then find a pump that will push the water that height.
The official terminology is "head".
The horizontal distance is not so important as there is only the internal pipe friction to be overcome.
Link to the spec sheet on the Rule pumps I mentioned. I see the model I have is now listed as 25 ft head. I didn't think it was that much. One thing to remember is that as the head increases the flow rate decreases. That document has a height/flow chart. We get approx 1 GPM with the 200 GPH (3.33 GPM) rated pump.
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DaveBell
Moderator
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# Posted: 18 Aug 2015 06:53pm
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You may want to consider pumps that are FDA certified Food Grade for drinking water.
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DaveBell
Moderator
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# Posted: 18 Aug 2015 08:59pm
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FYI Best practices for roof water for drinking include; a first flush device, four water filters inline and plain Clorox bleach in the final stage.
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VC_YamahaRider
Member
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# Posted: 19 Aug 2015 03:19pm
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I won't be drinking the water. It will only be used for toilet, shower, and washing dishes and hands.
I talked with a few people about my set up and now I am thinking that the pressure tank will be beneficial for me and why I purchased the pump that I did. From what I understand, I will hook up the pressure tank to 12 volt just like the water pump and the pressure tank switch is used to trigger the pump to come on when the pressure in the tank drops below the set pressure. So basically the pressure tank is my holding tank. What I have to confirm is what pressure does the water pump put out and I need to determine if it has a foot valve to NOT allow water to flow back into the cistern.
Has anyone used this type of system before?
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DaveBell
Moderator
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# Posted: 19 Aug 2015 06:00pm - Edited by: DaveBell
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REMCO makes 12V on demand 5 GPM pumps used for RV's. Turns on automatic at 45 psi and turns off at 60 psi. You may want at least one 100 micron RUSCO spindown filter before the pump to keep debris out of the pump.
https://www.freshwatersystems.com/specifications/remco-5200-brochure.pdf
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steverobertson
Member
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# Posted: 21 Aug 2015 01:15pm - Edited by: steverobertson
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Wow. I used a nearly identical pump to the one you posted from Ebay. I used it in the 90's in my 200' deep well and it worked great. The only drawback to it was having to pull it and replace the brushes every year.
Here's a cheap, reliable pump that I've been using:
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G20544
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lbeaudoin
Member
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# Posted: 14 Sep 2015 07:55pm
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I need a little help with setting up a solar 12 volt water system. my cottage is about 175 feet from the lake and at an elevation of about 50 feet. I need to know what size pump to purchase to push water that far up, by the way I don't want a holding tank.
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Just
Member
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# Posted: 14 Sep 2015 09:07pm
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Quoting: lbeaudoin I need a little help with
I.M.O. You are too far from the lake to run ether 12 or 110 volts down the hill .but the pump needs to be at the lake . Therefore you need a complete solar system and a pump at the lake . A 40 or 50 watt 12 volt panel with a matching charge controller [ $100 ] plus a $100 deep cycle marine battery plus a 3 gal. per min . surflo pump should do the job .
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