Getting pressurized water from old irrigation well system

Question

We bought an old vineyard that has an existing well & irrigation system. There is a 3" pipe that comes up from the well at an angle. This leads into a vertical pipe which has a screen which then goes down into the ground and tees North and South supplying the entire vineyard. There is no pressure switch, tank, or any control system whatsoever other than a SPDT switch to power the pump. There are valves throughout the property along the mainline which turns off certain sections of the vineyard. The pressure gauge we installed on an existing garden hose valve shows 10PSI when the pump is running, though the irrigation system's drip lines have leaks all over the place. This vineyard is very old.

We're wanting to do other types of farming on this land as well as build a house and barn with normal water pressure. We don't like the manual method of turning the pump on and off and would like to have a pressure switch at least with possibly a tank, however most tee setups we see for pressurized systems are not for 3" pipe.
Can we "tap & thread" The components of a pressure system into this 3" pipe (pressure switch, gauge, pressure relief valve, maybe a good-sized pressure tank) to create the same result of the pump switching on when one of the valves get opened? The entire system provides irrigation for over 100 acres, so getting rid of the 3" pipe isn't an option...the high volume is necessary (I think).
There is also a valve coming off the pipe as seen in the photo. Could we maybe put a pressure tee there with the outlet capped? or does it need to feed back into the main pipe?
We thought about putting in a 2500 gallon tank with an auto-fill-shutoff valve and then having a second pump with a pressurization setup to supply pressurized water, but that still means someone has to physically activate the pump to make sure the 2500 gal tank doesn't go dry.
What is the best approach to get pressurized water from this well while still serving the irrigation needs of the farm?

George Anderson · Answer

Hoo Boy! You've got some work ahead of you.  You "could" add a 2,500 gallon storage tank, but why?   How much does the well produce? How deep is it? What is the static water level and how much does it drop when pumping?
If you did add a storage tank, the pump could be controlled by float valves or electrodes in the storage tank.
You really have two systems here:  One for domestic water and the other for large scale irrigation.   The simplest solution for domestic water would be a jet pump and pressure tank if the well is shallow enough or a submersible pump placed in the well if there is room leading to a pressure tank. Both would be controlled with a pressure switch.
I kinda hate to say it, but this is a large question for here and you may need to bring in a pro to evaluate what you have.  Most important are water levels (static and when being pumped and at what rate, what the well can produce.   This is big for a DIY effort. Just saying.
EDIT:  Thinking about this more, you should also get the water tested to be sure it's safe for human consumption.
Also, can you give us more information about the well?   Is it a drilled, steel cased well? A cistern? A surface well?   If we can help, i'm sure others will chime in.

Getting pressurized water from old irrigation well system

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