I currently have a pressure tank for my well, in my basement. We just purchased the house and I want to move my pressure tank from a guest bedroom (a weird place for it) to a closet in the bathroom adjacent to the guest room, that also houses my hot water heater and water softener.

My plan was to push 1" PEC through some housing that holds the copper pipe that goes elsewhere in the house. I would pipe this into the bathroom closet to the pressure tank. The PEC would basically follow the same connection as before but would have another 20' of pipe between T and pressure tank.
However, after many frustrating hours of trying to thread the PECs through, I am about to give up. But I was wondering if I can just hook into the cold water going into the hot water heater. My reasoning is that water cannot be compressed, so pressure should be maintained in the whole system regardless of where the pressure tank is. The pressure switch should tell the well pump when to turn on or not.

Am I off with this reasoning? Will the pressure tank still perform its intended task, even if there may be tees that go to fixtures between the tank and the well?

 

Is this room in the basement?
Trying to picture why the pressure tank is not sitting right next to the pump in the basement not in the living space.

 

First you said the pressure tank was in the basement. Then it's in a bedroom. Is the bedroom in the basement? Is the pressure switch also located there with the pressure tank? Where does your water line enter the house?

 

The pressure tank with the pressure switch is in a bedroom in the basement. The water line coming into the house also is in the bedroom. The tank is kind of loud, so I would prefer to have it in the bathroom closet with other water tanks (there is also a drain in the floor in the closet).

 

hi chucko –

Not a pro or not an expert. But I believe pros will tell you that the pressure switch should be as close to the tank as possible. I think most installation instructions for pressure tanks/switches say the switch should no more than 6’ from the tank. However most setups seem to have the switch on a tee right at the tank. So 20’ from the pressure tank does not seem correct.

Below is a quote I saved from someone who purports to be a pro. I can’t verify that. My old setup actually had the switch 7' from the tank and that seemed to work OK. Hope the knowledgeable folks weigh in.

Good luck!

 

Good to know. To install the tank in the closet, I was planning on moving the pressure switch with the tank, as it currently on a tee at the tank.

Will the pressure tank keep the lines pressurized when the well pump is not on, if it is anywhere in the system?

 

That is a good question. I could never find anything that tells you where to locate the pressure tank. All I could ever find was that the switch should be with the tank and that there should be a pressure relief valve with the tank. (I didn’t have a relief valve myself).

The setup I had (I changed everything) in picture below I did not like for many reasons that you can probably see… but it did work. The pressure switch and gauge that you can see are mounted up on a check valve before the piping turns down to the tee.

Then from the tee: on one side the pressure tank and the other side the sediment filter and UV filter and on to house.

Seems like you should be OK moving the tank? I mean your change seems to me would just mean you have some longer piping from the pump to your tank. Sure seems like it would be OK? But I guess you really need one of the pros to verify that.

Read somewhere once where someone explained the pressure tank by saying you could think of it as a big air bubble in the piping that expands and contacts giving you nice smooth pressure variations. Sounds good to me. LOL

But I guess you really need the pros to answer your question.

 

Thanks for the info. I called a plumber and all he could say it was not the "right" way to do it, but he couldn't see anything wrong with what I was suggesting. A check valve at the line coming into the house to prevent the water from going back to the well, and the pressure switch at the tank, shouldn't really change anything.

I am going to give it a go, since it is easier than trying to thread PECs through the wall. If it doesn't work, I will put it back. I will post the results.

 

Most systems do not have a check valve where the line enters the house as a submersible pump and a jet pump's foot valve both contain check valves to keep the system pressurized when the pump is off. Generally a check valve is a cheater technique if the valve down in the well is leaking.

Yes a pressure tank anywhere in the system will help smooth the flow and will provide water when the pump is not running. It's best located before anything else in the house that uses water so you don't have water trying to reverse direction, which because of it's mass can cause surging or brief water pressure drops/stoppages. If you think about it simply moving the tank & switch is no different that a slightly longer line to the well. The important point is to have it before anything like your bathroom ties in.

 

I am guessing there is a tee to a bathroom between pressure tank and well. I will see how much surging there is. If it not tolerable, then I will have to tear into some walls and install it like you describe.

Thanks

 

FWIW, I have pump drawing water from a lake; the pump and pressure switch are at the lake end of the dock, and the pressure tank is at the land end -- about 60' away. Works fine.

 

Sorry for the delayed update. I ended up moving the pressure tank into the closet tying into the cold water that feeds my hot water heater. There are tees between the pump and the pressure tank now. It performs as it did before moving- it keeps pressure in the system even though it is not first in line from the pump. A much easier solution than trying to run PECs through the walls.

 

Thanks for the update! Many of us wonder if the information that is given to help someone really did help. Updating gives posters satisfaction that some information helped.