Stupid water pressure question

 I have well water, and my pressure is pretty pathetic.

When I was pricing out an irrigation system last year, I also had to
include the cost of upgrading my well pump and tank.
However, the plumber explained to me that these upgrades didn't have
anything to do with *pressure*.  They were required so that the pump
would run longer, instead of lots of cycling off and on, which would
wear it out the pump.

I tested my gpm at an outdoor faucet: 5 gpm!  Terrible.

My problem is, I want to get more radius out of my traveling sprinkler
(haven't commited to the cost of irrigation yet).

So I'm confused about pressure versus flow rate.
Will using a larger diameter hose do anything for me?

 
I don't think a larger diameter hose would do much for your situation.  One
thing you might consider is buying a separate pump for your irrigation
system.  Assuming your well could support two submerged pumps, you could buy
a separate pump for your irrigation system and drop it down the same well
hole.  I have a rain bird controller and it has a provision for turning on
an irrigation pump right before the system cycles on.  For this setup, I
wouldn't think you would need a separate pressure tank.  The irrigation pump
should be able to feed the irrigation system directly since it will be on
while the irrigation system is running, but you would probably need a
filter.

 RoyDMercer  posted this a few weeks back.  I've hung on to it so I'll have
the info when I put in my sprinkler system.  Hope it helps, and thanks Roy!


http://www.irrigationtutorials.com/sprinkler04.htm

 

Get a better plumber.

What kind of well - artisian ? - driven ? - deep or shallow?

Based on his "run longer instead of cycle"  I would *guess* your present
tank is "water logged" - therefore requiring less volume of water to get the
pressure up from the turn on point to the turn off point.  If so you might
be able to pump air into the tank (not always the case)

What shape is your pressure switch (electrical) in ?  What is it set at ?
(most are adjustable)

You probably cannot get a second pump in your deep well.

Yes - larger diameter hose will help (a little)

 
  For an indoor faucet, that's not extremely bad.  Indoor plumbing often
involves long runs of small-diameter pipe.  Even with decent pressure, you
rarely (if ever) get enough water out of the indoor plumbing system to run
a sprinkling system.


  It depends on the length of the hose and flow rate.  If your hose is
small enough in diameter, long enough in length, and you're trying to run
a decent amount of water through it, then the answer would be YES:  The
pressure loss over a long, thin hose might be enough that a substantically
larger hose will help.  However, if you're hooking the hose up to a spigot
connected to the indoor plumbing, then the answer is probably NO:  The
indoor plumbing system probably wouldn't let enough water through anyway.

  You could always test by using a short, fat hose and see if it makes a
difference....

steve