02-04-2008, 08:14 AM
Glen, I recall that the place you bought has an underhouse ferrocement tank. I can't recommend anything for that, sorry. We have an above ground tank (corrugated steel with liner) and have two 3" PVC pipes off the top sides that empty out overflow. Our overflow pipes are together larger than our 4" input so that the outflow won't lag behind the input. The overflow pipes are simple constructs that sit in the water with a u-shaped end with opening pointing upward and a few inches below the top edge of the tank. When the tank fills, water pours out of the overflow pipes instead of running down the side of the tank. I've placed rocks where the water hits the ground to act as energy dissipators to reduce erosion. Also, our tank is positioned far enough from our house to not flood any are near our house.
It sounds like opening an outside spigot with a garden hose attached and with the end extended far from your house is a good solution, as long as someone can monitor your tank level during the process. It will require your pressure pump running to push the water out.
I suppose, for your situatiion, you could have the following installed: a float attached to a limit switch that would turn on a pump that would push water out through an overflow pipe when the water in your tank reached a level just short of overflow. That overflow pipe would empty far from your house, ideally into a lava tube. This overflow pump would probably be a separate smaller pump than your pressure pump.
Thinking on this further, this same pump system could have an override switch and you could use it to suck debris off the bottom of the tank with the aid of an extension pole, hose and vacuum head to periodically clean the bottom. But the placement of your underhouse tank and access opening might make this not an option. Your answer might be one of those robot pool vacs. [
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It sounds like opening an outside spigot with a garden hose attached and with the end extended far from your house is a good solution, as long as someone can monitor your tank level during the process. It will require your pressure pump running to push the water out.
I suppose, for your situatiion, you could have the following installed: a float attached to a limit switch that would turn on a pump that would push water out through an overflow pipe when the water in your tank reached a level just short of overflow. That overflow pipe would empty far from your house, ideally into a lava tube. This overflow pump would probably be a separate smaller pump than your pressure pump.
Thinking on this further, this same pump system could have an override switch and you could use it to suck debris off the bottom of the tank with the aid of an extension pole, hose and vacuum head to periodically clean the bottom. But the placement of your underhouse tank and access opening might make this not an option. Your answer might be one of those robot pool vacs. [
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