Pump House Operating Procedure for Rally Creek

This is a basic article for operating the pump house at Rally Creek in August 2023. This article is the “how to” with our rudimentary pump house setup that will be in place until we complete the construction later this fall with full electrical, shut offs, and other upgrades to the pump house.

Note: The pump house should only be used as needed and for less than 45 minutes at-a-time. This will keep the pump from burning out. It does have an automatic shut off but the electrical needs to be rewired for this to work properly.

Startup

Make sure the pump priming inlet (the nut on the stainless housing on the pump) is partly open. It can remain screwed in, but loosely. You want water to be able to flow out of this plug.

Go to the rain catchment storage and open the valve.

Go back to the pump and make sure water is trickling out of the priming inlet in a steady flow (can be slow).

Close the priming plug – hand tighten with a wrench (do not over tighten).

Make sure the ball-valve shut off , just past the UV filter outlet, is turned OFF.

Turning On The Pump

Make sure the pump extension cord is plugged into the single 15A outlet (on the shipping container) and that nothing else is running on that circuit.

Make sure the container AC is off and the “Blue Skies Cabin” is unplugged.

Plug the pump into the extension cord. It should immediately turn on and start pressurizing the system.

Turning On The UV Filter

Plug the UV Filter into a 110 outlet. The outlet on the side of the RV will work if it is there. If not a 110 outlet on the pump extension can work but a separate outlet is preferred.

Check the switch on the UV valve control is set to “auto”. This will turn the UV on when water is flowing and off when not needed.

Turn On The Water / Purge The Air Gaps

Since the system usually sits without pressure (pump is off) between use, you’ll need to purge any air gaps to get useful water pressure from the system.

Make sure both the garden hose spigot and shower head valve are fully closed.

Open the ball valve that is just past the UV filter to open.

Open the garden hose spigot partway and let if flow for a minute. It should product a strong flow of water. If not you still have an air gap in the system.

Try opening the release / purge valve on the bottom of the spin-down filter for a couple of seconds. It should empty almost completely in a few seconds. Close that valve. You should see the water flowing quickly through the glass enclosure on the spin down filter.

Open the garden hose spigot fully and within a few seconds, possibly up to a minute, the pressure should improve until you have full pressure.

Close the spigot. You can now use the shower or spigot as needed.

Keep in mind the pump will not automatically shut off. The longer it runs the more it will heat the water trying to keep itself cool. If it overheats it will shut itself off. It is important to unplug the pump when it is no longer needed.

Shut Down

Unplug the pump.

Unplug the UV filter.

If leaving the property for the week / weekend , turn off the main outlet valve at the rainwater storage system.

Turn the AC back on in the container to keep the humidity down, especially in the summer months.

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