A simple guide to how our water works — and how it gets installed.
The simple idea
Our well fills up slowly. It makes plenty of water over a day — just not fast enough for a shower all at once.
So we let it trickle into a big storage tank, and a small pump pushes water from that tank to the taps whenever we need it. The tank is the trick that makes a slow well feel like normal plumbing.
Well
fills slowly
Storage tank
holds days of water
Your taps
full pressure, anytime
Will it work for our home?
Drag the two sliders to match your well and your household.
How fast the well refillsliters per hour
75 L/h
20300
Water we use per daya family of 3 ≈ 600–800
750 L
1501500
Storage tank sizethousands of liters — bigger means more backup
—
Water we useWhat the well makes in a day
4 days
backup if the pump stops
3K
size we suggest
—
What the system looks like
Here's the whole thing, from the well to your taps. The storage tank (cistern) sits in a frost-free room, together with the pump and your 100 L pressure tank.
- The well and its pump, deep underground. The pump pushes water up slowly.
- A buried pipe carries the water to the room, below the freeze line.
- The storage tank (cistern) in a frost-free room — it fills slowly and holds days of water. Water drops in through a small gap so nothing can flow back and dirty the supply.
- A booster pump and your 100 L pressure tank (already bought) give the taps normal pressure.
- A filter and a UV light clean the water and kill germs, so it's safe to drink.
- Clean water to your taps — as fast as you need it, whenever you want.
The tank, the pump, your 100 L pressure tank and the cleaning all live together in the frost-free room — warm, dry and easy to reach.
How it gets installed
- Check the water and the wellTest the water in a lab, and measure how fast the well refills. This sets the tank size and what cleaning the water needs.
- Fit the pump and run the pipeLower the pump into the well and bury the pipe to the room, below the freeze line.
- Set up the storage tankPlace the tank in the frost-free room. This is the part that turns a slow well into normal water.
- Add the booster pumpThe booster, with your 100 L pressure tank (already bought), gives the taps proper pressure on demand.
- Add the filter and UV lightSo the water is clean and safe to drink straight from the tap.
- Wire the controlsThe well pump fills the tank slowly and shuts off before the well runs dry. Alarms warn you if anything's wrong — and the tank keeps water flowing meanwhile.
- Clean, test, doneDisinfect the whole system, test the water one more time, and it's ready to use.
Your installer has the full technical version with the exact parts, sizes and wiring.
The tank room
The tank lives in a frost-free room with the pump and your 100 L pressure tank — warm, dry and easy to reach. Here's what that needs:
- Frost-free room (heated cellar / utility), kept above freezing year-round.
- Floor that takes the weight — a full tank is heavy (about a tonne per 1,000 L).
- Booster pump beside the tank, drawing from it (always full, no priming).
- Your 100 L pressure tank (already bought) sits on the booster line to smooth pressure.
- A floor drain nearby for overflow, drips and cleaning.
Before you start
01- Lab water test — bacteria, iron, manganese, hardness, nitrate, pH, arsenic.
- Well yield test — pump down & time the recovery; confirm the L/h do it in late summer.
- Permits & setbacks — clear of septic ≥15 m and leach field ≥30 m.
Well & pump
02- Low-flow submersible matched to the well's yield — not a big pump throttled down.
- Intake ≥1 m above bottom, set below the lowest pumping level.
- Level probes: LOW ~1 m above intake, HIGH in the recovered water.
- Pitless adapter below frost · sealed vented cap · grout seal · ground sloped away.
Buried pipe
03- PE100 food-grade, buried below the freeze line ~1.2 m.
- Sand bed · tracer wire + warning tape above it.
- Electrofusion or rated compression joints · pressure-test before backfill.
Storage tank (cistern)
04- Food-grade opaque tank, ~3,000 L — one, or two side-by-side (or the size the Designer suggests).
- Air-gap inlet ≥2× pipe bore, ≥20 mm — stops dirty water flowing back.
- Screened vent · overflow DN50 to drain · drain valve DN40.
- Outlet near the floor with a strainer + anti-vortex.
- Two tanks cross-linked → clean one while the other keeps running.
Pressure to the taps
05- Booster pump beside the tank · flooded suction (always full) · strainer + non-return valve.
- Your 100 L hydrophore (already bought) is the pressure tank — smooths pressure, fewer pump starts.
- Reuse your existing pump if its curve gives ≥ peak flow @ 3 bar; else a new booster.
- Pre-charge the 100 L tank to cut-in − 0.14 bar ≈2.36 bar · set-points 2.5 / 3.5 bar.
Treatment
06- Sediment filters 50 → 20 → 5 µm.
- Iron / manganese filter if Fe > 0.2 or Mn > 0.05 mg/L.
- Softener if hardness > 150 mg/L (blend back to 50–80).
- UV ≥40 mJ/cm² at peak flow + fail-safe cut-off valve. Always fitted.
- Under-sink RO for drinking if nitrate or arsenic is high.
Controls & power
07- Well pump: paced fill + dry-run cut-out + level-probe interlock — never runs dry.
- Tank HIGH stops the fill · LOW protects the booster.
- 30 mA RCD per pump · IP55 panel · remote alarms (text/app).
- Backup: battery on booster + UV; generator + auto-switch for long outages.
Test & disinfect
08- Pressure test to 1.5× working (~9–10 bar), hold 1 h.
- Shock-chlorinate ~50 ppm, 12–24 h, then flush clean.
- Retest the water — 0 coliform / E. coli before anyone drinks it.
Commission & hand over
09- Tune the fill cycle to the measured yield.
- Prove every safety interlock (dry-run, tank HIGH/LOW, UV cut-off).
- Hand over: set-points, depths, photos, certificates · label every valve & circuit.
Looking after it
10- Every few months — change sediment filters.
- Twice a year — softener salt, filter backwash.
- Yearly — new UV lamp + sleeve, water test, clean the tank, check pre-charge.
- Every 2–3 years — pump check valve, RO membrane.
Your installer holds the full technical document with the exact parts, wiring and torque figures.