House 1 has 300 foot well with submersible pump and 86 gal pressure tank and a 60/80 pressure switch, house two was added after pressure switch and is 1,500 feet up a hill with a 2 inch pipe to reduce friction, water will only run water when house one is calling for water ie. running a garden hose and water appears to back flow. Has this been added to the wrong side of the pressure switch? Would a check valve at house two help.

 

You just mean that house #2 is 1500' up the road . . . . not that it's 1500' higher in elevation, right ?

I think you'll need a foot valve on the 2" pipe as it leaves house #1 on it's way to house #2 (probably with a drain to occasionally empty the pipe).

 

Yes the distance is 1,500 feet, the slope up hill is about 45 degrees not sure of the elevation.

 

Not following your logic Vermont ?

A check valve would keep the water from flowing back down from the higher house but I don't see as how that will affect the supply to it.

Did this setup ever work properly ?

 

Was just installed for water for new construction, worked fine first few days. We do have a foot valve on the well pump itself so not sure on a closed system were water would drain to without a leak. Also have a shut off valve at house 1 on the 2 inch pipe. Still don't get why there is plenty of water and pressure on house 2 when spigot to drain pressure tank is open and running or water to house 1 is on.

 

I'm not clear either . . . . that 1500' long 2" column of water contains nearly 245 gallons of water, and I'm not sure of the rise in elevation; but 1500' at 45° pitch would represent an elevation increase of 750' and requiring a tremendous pressure at house #1, far exceeding the cut-out pressure for the 60/80 switch.

If it's just the submersible pump positioned at depth of 300', and adding the 750' between house #1 and house #2 would require much more than the normal 1 HP Pump to supply water all the way up to house #2; a rise of 1050'. My initial concern was about the drain back, and the frequent loss of the 245 gallons of water already in the pipeline (if there were no check valve); but now I'm surprised that any water ever made it all the way up to house #2 . . . . so I must have some of my facts wrong.
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Just a couple of nit picking points that may already have been considered. First, having a shut off at house one to house two is nice if house one ever wants to cut off the other house, but I do hope they also have a shut off at house two. That would be their master shut off. If not, if a pipe ever burst in house two and the inhabitants of house one are away for the day, house two will have the pleasure of watching their house get destroyed with water damage wondering why they didn't install a shut off tap. So maybe they did.

2ndly, I have seen this set up before with two houses running off of one well system but I have never really understood why. I mean I understand the cost savings, but I know I would never buy house two when it will be dependent on house one for water. My offer would be discounted for the entire value it would cost to set up house two with its own water system. Since house two will either pay for the cost of a water system now or with a reduced sale price when they sell their house, why not have the benefit of it now and put an independent water system in?

I imagine those points may have been thought of but that is all I can add to the issue. I agree with Vermont that if house two is 750' ABOVE house one, I cannot see how house two will be able to use the same water system of house one, without adding more valves, pumps and gadgets, then just a 2 inch pipe between them.

 

Didn't mean to pick on you. Thought maybe you had an idea that I didn't understand.

There are many unknown variables. That long line up a hill to the second house contains a lot of water. That column of water in itself presents pressure to the system at the pump and pressure switch. That means a true water pressure to the line going up the hill cannot be determined.

The more I look at this setup.... I don't think there is a inexpensive way to get it working properly.

 

Thank you for all the input greatly appreciated. Just to clarify I measured elevation from house 1 to house 2 and 2 is approximately 40 ft higher. House 2 does get plenty of water and pressure as long as we run water at house 1, appears water will run at house 2 when submersible pump is running.

To those concerned about 1 well 2 houses both are owned by us with no plans of ever dividing in our lifetime $800.00 out weighed several thousands to drill new well, current well can be left on 24 hours, 7 days a week with no recovery time needed therefore cheapest solution at this time.

Also house 2 has a shut off valve both at house 1 (pump house that can be accessed at any time) and at house 2 itself.
One plumber suggests working with tank and pressure switch adjustments.

 

Has anyone suggested a 2nd Pressure Switch at House #2 to activate House #1's Pump from there ?

 

Vermont, I would think we probably have a significant difference in pressures between house 1 and house 2. If the very low pressure in house 2 was to determine the on and off of the pump, then I suspect that instead of normal pressure in house 1 and not enough pressure in house 2, we would change that to having normal pressure in house 2 and way above normal pressure in house 1. Possibly even dangerously high pressure in house 1, if the pressure switch was in house 2.

If I was him I would want to get one of those hose bib pressure gauges and try to get a pressure reading in house 2 when the pump is on and when it is not, etc to know exactly what kind of pressure we are getting.

The idea I thought of was to put a check valve between the two houses and then install a jet pump with its own pressure switch and pressure tank at house 2 (after the check valve). I have no experience with this but my thought is that, although house 2 is 40 feet above house one, which is higher then the traditional jet pumps like to pump, since house 1 is already pushing on the water to some extent, a jet pump might be able to add enough to fill up a pressure tank. There is no need for 60/80psi in house 2. My cottage runs on 20/40psi and it works just fine. Most people run on 30/50psi. I bet a jet pump would provide those pressures to house 2, with house 1 pushing on it as well, but I am just using my imagination here. I have never had a set up like this before.

So that is my idea. Where is the flaw in my thinking.

 

At the risk of sounding foolish . . . . how about a pressure reducer for water distribution to house #1 while the pump and pressure tank/switch can satisfy the needs of house #2 ?

That difference in elevation of a mere 40' sounds quite minor when compared to the 750' I was originally contemplating.

 

That's not a bad idea and a lot cheaper then my set up. I would probably want to profile what kind of pressures I was getting, in both houses, so I can get a feel for the differential pressure between the two houses. Are we talking a difference of 10psi or 50 psi? Sounds like it is more like a difference of 70 or 80spi if house 1's pressure tank can't put a few psi into house 2.

I suspect that the only reason he gets some pressure in house 2 when the pump is running is that the pump is capable of taking the pressure a lot higher then his 80psi cutoff and it probably needs to be when water is asked for in house 2. The only reason house 1 isn't getting a blow out somewhere is that this condition only happens when house 2 calls for water and that demand reduces the pressure in house 1 so the pipes and valves do not see the stress. Kind of like how the pressure reduces on a tap when another tap is opened.