As some of you know, I use open loop (aka "pump and dump") geothermal heat pumps for heating/cooling the houses here on the farm and for water to livestock (for drinking) and for irrigation. Well water supplies the geothermal heat pumps and the exit water is used to fill ponds that I then use for pasture irrigation.
A 2 HP pump could never meet the volume demands of irrigation alone, so I fill ponds and then use a much larger centrifugal tractor PTO pump to supply the needs for the irrigation system (needs about 200 gpm).
Anyway, I use a deep submersible pump (2 HP) down in a well about 180 feet. This will provide about 30-35 gallons per min of water. To minimize short cycling of the pump, I use two 85 gallon bladder tanks in parallel. Two, because if one fails, then I have the other to prevent short cycling of the pump. Standard 40-60 psi pressure switch.
Extreme short cycling a water well pump can (and will) kill a pump in just a couple days.
One of the pressure tanks just lost the bladder and replacing it is ~ $400. A plumber friend suggested putting in a cycle stop valve to further minimize cycling of the well pump and to forget about replacing the broken bladder tank.
With the exception of spring and fall, this water well pump runs a lot and I suspect that even with the bladder tanks, I have hundreds of cycles on the well pump per day. Well pumps are like an incandescent bulb - lifetime is largely a function of the number of start/stop cycles.
Also, replacing the pump is expensive, tough to do physically and it seems like well pumps always fail on a day when I need water for livestock or it is below zero . . .
The cost of a cycle stop valve is < $100 and if it does what it says, then putting one in is a no brainer. Here is the URL of the manufacturer and am interested in the group's thoughts.
Cycle Stop Valves, Inc.
Thanks in advance!
Steve