Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Dry hydrant and well pump

I want to be able to use the pond water for landscaping needs, cleaning fish at the boat dock, etc. I also would like a dry hydrant. Is there a way to combine the two? Seems like you could place a pump on the dry hydrant system to use when you need water from the water hose. Plus the hydrant is there if you ever need it. Anybody have any experience with this?

Dry hydrants are normally 6" PVC. It would take one helluva pump to draw up thru a 6" pipe. If you use 45 degree angle fittings on the 6" pipe, you could slip the suction hose of a pump down into the PVC pipe (using it like a sleeve) until it reached the static water level. Of course, you would need a pump capable of overcoming the head.

Could a well pump work or would this be overkill?

You could probably use a shallow well pump unit that sends a suction hose to the water source, but it will be difficult (impossible?) to put an intake screen past the 6" PVC fittings. I gotta admit that my exposure and experience in all the different pump and filter options is minimal. Let's see if the voice of experience rings in.

Specs on dry hydrants call for 6". Unless your bringing in a fire truck you are not pumping directly from that. Not for the applications you are mentioning. I'm installing them wherever I can. I use 90 elbows, if you wanted to push a semi rigid suction hose down one you almost have to use 45. If you want my honest assessment, I'd keep them seperate. You can always run them in the same ditch, but I'd go with 3" and put the intake away from the dry hydrant intake. I think the answer is dry hydrants really should not be dual purpose, nor are they intended to be.

Do you know what the most economical/efficient setup is for our water use needs? I ask because I have no clue about pumps. Thanks.

Chad

Let's say your dry hydrant just sits there after it is done, and hopefully you never have to use it. Once in a while it will require a backflush.

You should have a seperate set up for your fish cleaning, washdown and ag needs. Your water volume and psi requirements should determine your pump. There are charts all over the internet where you plug in values and a pump is recommended for you. There are other considerations, such as priming, head, submersible, power. Don't let it intimidate you because you don't know the first thing about it. Once you start to learn it you will say this is a breeze.