How is pressure created?

I'll be moving into my 1st home within the next 2 months and after speaking with a couple of my future neighbors, I'm wondering how pressure is generated with a well.

One future neighbor has great pressure, another's pressure is on the less desirable side and I'd like to know the ins and outs to make sure my builder gets it setup right with good pressure. If you can explain or have a site, please let reply.

Thanks!!

 

http://www.peekspump.com/pumpbasics.html

 

Dunbar,

Thanks for the link, but from what I read, it only tells you how pumps work, and not how pressure is built up.

I thought that pressure had something to do with the holding tank as the pump only fills the tank. The reason I thought this was because my parents well only pumps 8 gallons per min where my future neighbors pumps 15, but the pressure at my parents is better then my neighbors. My parents holding tank is also double, maybe even triple the size.

If onw has low water pressure in the home, how can one increase this?

thanks!!

 

The actual pressure(PSI) is controlled by the pressure switch. It is adjustable. You can set it where you like it. High or lower pressure.

 

There is a bladder full of air in most storage tanks. As the water is pumped into the tank the air compresses creating pressure to "push" the water throughout the plumbing system. As you use the water the pressure falls. When it falls to the lower limit, maybe 15 PSI, the pump starts up. As the tank fills again it compresses the bladder. When it reaches the upper limit, say 45 PSI, the pump turns off. That's why you can run a little water without the pump cycling. Read the instructions for your pump and stay within its limits. Those numbers I cited were great for my simple piston pump, other systems may have other limits.

There are different pumps for different situations. For shallow wells and cisterns a shallow-well pump or simple piston pump is fine. Deep wells may have a jet pump; part of the pump is in the well itself. Long-haul situations may have multiple pumps.

Good luck.

Lee

 

Pressure is created by the impeller in a pump. Water is thrown from the impeller by centrifical force. The faster the impeller spins, the higher the pressure it will build.
In situations where high pressure is needed, multiple impellers can be used. For instance, a shallow well jet pump, single stage (one impeller), will be able to build pressure to about 65 psi. Adding another stage (impeller) and the pressure will increase to, say, 75 psi. Submersible well pumps will typically have between 7 and 34 stages, depending on the pressure required to deliver water to the surface. Some submersible pumps can actually produce several hundred psi, which might be required of it if the pump is set very deep in a well.
The secret of having good water pressure for your house is knowing what your well is capable of. It doesn't do any good to use a large pump if the well can't supply enough water for it. Knowing the recovery rate, static and pumping water levels and other information is invaluable in sizing the pump correctly. The driller who drills and develops your well will test pump it and should be able to supply all the info needed.
Be sure, too, that the pressure tank is size correctly for the pump, and that piping size is adequate to provide the pressure required at the home.
Ron