So, Dave, my tank needs water and turns the pump on. Your tank needs water and - um - turns the pump back off? Sorry, I'm not seeing it through in my mind.

 

The switches i posted are for Manual use, if you're going for automated then i would use float switches in parallel, the problem there is if one tank is full and the other is partial full, the pump keeps running until all switches are open..

 

I think you kind of end up with each house generates a "call for water". The ones that don;t need water a float switch turns off the flow of water.

The last "full" switch has to turn off the pump..

You likley need am "empty sensor", an "almost empty", "almost full" and "over filled". The overfilled is an alarm and so is empty/

A pump turns on at any "almost empty" and runs until "almost fill". You want to prevent short cycling. Other pumps can generate the same signals. The valves are moslty controlled by "almost full", They shut the full valve.

When they are all "almost full" or over filled alarm the pump is off. Empty has to generate an alarm as well in case the valve doesn;t work.

Empty may need to be bypassed when commissioning. If all empty, one as to assume no water and the pump shuts down. Empty has to be looked at better. Empty should never occur except during commissioning or tank replacement.




Probabky PLC material or :Smart relay"

 

I think you kind of end up with each house generates a "call for water". The ones that don;t need water a float switch turns off the flow of water.

The last "full" switch has to turn off the pump..

You likley need am "empty sensor", an "almost empty", "almost full" and "over filled". The overfilled is an alarm and so is empty/

A pump turns on at any "almost empty" and runs until "almost fill". You want to prevent short cycling. Other pumps can generate the same signals. The valves are moslty controlled by "almost full", They shut the full valve.

When they are all "almost full" or over filled alarm the pump is off. Empty has to generate an alarm as well in case the valve doesn;t work.

Empty may need to be bypassed when commissioning. If all empty, one as to assume no water and the pump shuts down. Empty has to be looked at better. Empty should never occur except during commissioning or tank replacement.




Probabky PLC material or :Smart relay"

How about a single pressure switch at the pump that unlatches the motor starter when all of the float valves on the tanks have closed? Then each user could simply have an "on " button, and that would make the wiring simpler. Possibly a stop button for emergency situations only. No real expensive anything, and easy for somebody with no electrical skills to service. ALSO, cheap and easy.

 

each user could simply have an "on " button

Call me spoiled, but at 4:00 AM I don't want to have to go push a button before I can take a shower.

 

Leave it to a tech forum to overthink and overcomplicate something as simple as a water tank.

 

I like simple! My son, the baby, was too short to reach the light switch in the bathroom. So I drilled a hole through the toggle and hung a wire so he could push the switch up and turn the light on and pull the wire to shut the lights off. Didn't need Arduino to detect his presence and all that jazz. Could have gotten a motion detector switch, but the wire was just easier.

Wish I'd have gone with the motion detector. Can't tell you how many times I found the light on with nobody on the toydee.

 

Call me spoiled, but at 4:00 AM I don't want to have to go push a button before I can take a shower.

The button push is not to start the water use,it is to start the tank water replenishing. Just like on a car, most folks refill the fuel tank well before it is empty, or at least they intend to do that. Besides that, often the hot water comes from solar heating, which is seldom available at 4 AM in most areas that use gravity supplied household water systems.

 

OH PHOOEY!

Killjoy! Can't I find fault with anything?

 

OH PHOOEY!

Killjoy! Can't I find fault with anything?

You should know that the last 30 years of my career were spent primarily solving problems for companies that needed solutions to problems with machines and systems. And then in my second, post retirement career, for people instead of companies.
And every bit of it required evaluating how things worked and how they should be working, and very often cost was a concern as well. AND, most of the time I had fun doing it!!