depositphotos 35691245 m 2015 0

Water Pressure Tank Sizing | Which One is Best For You | Plumbing Tips

Tank sizing is one of the most important thing in water pump system and must need to be installed and checked properly. If you have no knowledge about it, this article will help you a lot in learning about water pressure tank sizing.

  • Why it is important to sizing a water pressure tank?
  • What happens if you use an under-sized water pressure tank?

It is very important to sizing a water pressure tank properly or as required because of a very important reason. The reason is that it will result in keeping the run time of water pump to the minimum level. In this way, the pipe or tank would be saved from extra pressure, long run times, and also from the cracks.

If you use an under-sized tank, the run-time of it may increase. The more the pump will run in a pressure tank, the more will be the chances of tears or damage to electric motor and pumping mechanism. Furthermore, there would also be the chances that using an under-sized tank would make the pump run for longer. If we use the right sized tank as according to the need, there pump will work more effectively and efficiently.

You May Like: Electric Water Heater Pressure Test Valve | Repair and Replacement Guide

[wp_ad_camp_1]

How does using the right sized pressure tank helps in saving the cost?

When you use the right size pressure tank, the risk of failure of lightly used pump reduces to a minimum. In other words, the pump keeps working effectively for longer period of time with the same output and desired performance.

In this way, you wouldn’t be required to install a new pump or make any compensations. As a result, you extra cost of maintenance and replacement of pump is saved. In this way, using a right or correct sized pressure tank help is reducing the cost through prolonging the pump-life.

How does water pressure tank sizing affects the energy use?

The is a direct link between the water pressure tank sizing and the energy use. If you are using the larger capacity pressure tank sizing for smaller use, the energy consumption may be higher. Similarly, if you are using the smaller sized pressure tank for larger requirements or greater use, the energy consumption will still be higher.

This is because the pump will keep on running in order to meet the requirement and the energy will be kept on consuming. Therefore, it is very important to choose the right sized water pressure tank to safe extra energy consumption. By doing this, it would make a great difference in minimizing your cost as well.

Three factors to consider for determining the correct water pressure tank sizing:

In order to determine the right size of the water pressure tank, it is very important that you must consider its right size. Its right size means that the tank that would be enough to meet you daily needs. In order to choose the right size, just keep in mind the following factors:

  • Figure out the gallon per minute pump rate.
  • How much run time of pump is required?
  • What PSI of pressure switch is required in terms of its cut-in and cut-out pounds per square inch?

How to size a water-pressure tank?

If you are wondering about how to perfectly size a water pressure tank, make sure you follow the following steps:

  • Step 1

You must first know that all of the water pressure tanks are recognized by their draw down capacity. You must be wondering about what is the draw down capacity? It is basically the water level or amount of water which can be stored easily within the pressure tank while the pressure is low.

This low pressure and water capacity results in turning the pump on. Most of the commonly used well systems use the pumps at about 30psi to 50 psi which is a good value. You must be wondering about what does it mean by 30psi to 50 psi.

Basically, it means that the pump will start working or turn on when the water reaches 30psi. Then, it will automatically stop working or turn off when the psi drops to the 50 psi reading. This is done to fill and maintain the pressure tank.

  • Step 2

Then next step is to pay attention to the GPM capacity of the water pump. The GPM stands the Gallon Per Minute capacity. There are different pumps available in the market with different GPM capacity.

It is your responsibility to determine which one will be the right one for you. You can contact the pump seller in this regard and discuss it with him. He will suggest you the right pump with required gallon per minute capacity according to your water pressure tank.

  • Step 3

The third step is to make a connection between the outdoor spigot and garden hose. It must be kept in the mind that they must be close to the water source or well. Take a five-gallon bucket and place the hose end into it.

Wide open the spigot valve in order to fill the water and keep recording the time. Assume that it fills the bucket in one minute. It means that pump will give you 5GPM of water within a minute. Decide on the required level of pump and GPM capacity in this way.

  • Step 4

In this step, it is important to size the draw down capacity of your tank for every GPM that the pump delivers. Make sure if your pump’s ability to deliver the water is 10GPM, then it is important that you must choose a tank with a minimum size of 10 draw down capacity.

  • Step 5

In this last step, make sure you size the tank according to your required need for water. However, it must be kept in mind that choosing a little larger sized pressure tank is good. This is because in this way, the pump will not have to keep running continuously.

These breaks and naps during the pump working keeps the pump working for longer run. By following these steps, you can easily size your water pressure tank without any issues.

You May Like: How To Tell If Well Pump Pressure | Water Well Problems and Solution