, the more ideas, the better it is :-).
problem with the constant pressure system is that your electric bill will shoot up as the motor will run every time someone uses water in the house. i'm using a deep well water supply with an 85gal/120gal (forgot the exact size) pressure tank and our electric bill is quite high - it's a big issue for me right now, how to reduce it :-). this constant pressure system also assumes that your water supply is readily available with not much effort, as it's main purpose is to simply increase the pressure of the water. so if your using a deep well, then you need a bigger motor which means higher electric bill.

before seriously considering moving to a constant pressure system, you need to explore other simple ways of solving your issue - low pressure at 2/F bathroom, like:
- replace the main tank. if your using the ordinary GI/SS pressure tank, you can replace it with the bladder type tank as its capacity is much higher for the same physical size of the tank. it's also more expensive than the normal GI/SS tank.
- if possible, use a small overhead roof tank for the 2/F bathroom which can be refilled automatically by your existing water system when the water is low. if your considering on using an overhead tank for the whole house (much lower electric bill) to replace your pressure tank, take note of the height of the tank, at 20psi, that will be about 40ft (13m-14m) above ground.
- look for a shower water heater system with a built-in small water reserve. it's bulkier than normal water heater and i think it might solve your problem - just put the thermostat to it's lowest setting. i saw some models of this type of shower water heater at Robinsons Handyman in GenSan.

hope this info helps ... cheers

Boo!

Boo-..
thanks for the reply. Elec consumption was actually my first concern. although the guy from bestank that offered this cps said its inverter and claim it will be efficient. (im not sold though). I was actually there to inquire on the bladder tank that you mentioned. maybe that will be my option.. been googling about this cps and not everybody eagerly recommend it.

im also thinking of tinkering with the pressure switch and adjust it to 30-50 psi cycle. advisable kaya?
bestank guy said all switches are preset to the usual 20-40 psi.. although in US its available in 30-50 even 40-60. my supply is from manila water and my pressure tank is the small 42 gallon stainless. i do have an extra storage tank (same level as the 2nd floor) right above the pump location where my pump draws water. sabi sa bestank baka daw di kaya ng tank ko higher pressure?? i was assuming those tank can easily handle 60 psi.
hope somebody can share their experience on increasing the pressure switch adjustments.

thanks ulit

there is an old thread here in PHM related to exploding water tank. i would advice you to read it from statt to end.

as for the local pressure tank, most are rated at 45psi. with the quality of work and material of some local manufacturer, i would recommend not to exceed 35psi. in my case, my setting is 30psi and the pump starts running at 20psi.

increasing the psi will not help you solve your problem as it won't add that much capacity in your tank. added to that, high psi can cause other problems with your home water piping, baka hindi makaya ang too much pressure.

from my understanding, most auto sprinklers will work at 20-25 psi, so anything higher than 25 psi will already work fine in a house, e.g. 30 psi.

from your explanation, the problem may not be with the tank but with the supply of water - the pump is not getting enough water resulting in air just being pump into the tank instead of water.

when we where staying in tandang sora QC before, i also have a problem with low water supply + low water pressure. at that time, MWSS was the one supplying the water.

to solve the 2 problems, besides installing the pressure tank, (1) i installed 2 bestank 5000L tank for my water reserve (good for 1 day) this is where the motor is getting water in its normal operation. (2) i also made some design changes to the water pump pipes using some ball valves. the objective was to be able to switch the source of the water pump to either my own water reserve or MWSS. when the source is MWSS, i use the water pump to fill the 2 bestank 5000L, it will take about less than 1 hour which i do every morning (while reading the newspaper and drinking my coffee) before going to work. before leaving the house, i just manually switch the ball valves again for the water pump to use my water reserve as the water source for the whole day.

the 2 bestank tanks are at ground level and are connected in series with each other with the last unit going to the water pump. thats about 45 drums of water everyday for my wife to use for the house 🙂

something similar to the above setup may be the solution to your problem ... cheers

Boo!

thanks sa info regarding normal pressure capacity of our local tanks.
sa tabi tabi lang kasi nila ginagawa yan so i'm not sure of the max capacity and i dont think they even pressure test it.

anyway it seems the best solution for me is the bladder type. aquaflo yung brand na andun sa bestank
medyo pricey pala. 31k yung slightly bigger na tiningnan ko. may babaguhin din sa piping since 1 lang butas nito

salamat..

, i do agree, that's the best option for you to take, but the price is so expensive.

you mentioned that the water source for your pump is the water tank above it. i would recommend that before you buy the bladder tank, do some computation to see if the capacity of the new bladder tank will match the current capacity of your (above) water tank taking into consideration the rate of flow of water from manila water to refill your (above) water tank.

just consider a worst scenario for your computation, like:
- above water tank is say half full.
- manila water is available and currently refilling the (above) water tank.
- bladder tank psi goes to 20psi and pump starts to draw water from the (above) water tank.
- check the nameplate attached to your water pump, it shows some info on how many liters/minute it can pump water which you can use for your computation together with the remaining capacity of the bladder tank.
- also get an approximate measure of the liters/minute of how long to refill your (above) water tank which you can also use for your computation.
determine at which point (level of water in your above water tank) will it happen that the pump will still be running but there is no more water in the (above) water tank. this will happen if the pump rate is > than refill rate of above tank and taking into consideration the available water in the tank when the pump started.
if it will never happen, then your OK. if it can happen, then you need to take this into consideration before buying the bladder tank.

hope this info helps ... cheers

Boo!

Boo...
thanks sa tip.. not really worried of my reserve tank capacity..besides my pressure pump/tank normally service only the 2nd floor.
I laid out my piping in such a way that the 1st and 2nd floor are entirely separate. I just have a bypass valve to connect the 2.
if im using the normal flow from MW, i have the option of supplying only the ground floor or both
same when im using the pressure pump. just have to open and close some gate valves

our normal operation is natural flow to ground floor and pressure pump to 2nd floor

thanks again