Long term water solutions

[Lowdown3]

Check the amperage of the pumps, that will give you a ballpark.

We have part of our water system on a similar type setup. A 110 volt RV "on demand" pressure pump provides a boost in pressure for the houses. Without it, you have to stand almost under the shower head.

It's 110 because we have an AE system, inverter, etc. They make 12 volt on demand pumps also. Don't buy a cheapie harbor freight one, a good Shurflo one will only set you back about $89. at Northern Tool and it will be considerably better quality than the $49. china freight one.

Their is an old post of mine here about AG tanks. They are relatively inexpensive and last a long time. You would need to reinforce or provide cover for it though as they are just plastic.

A group up north I've consulted for a couple times have a year round spring. They have a couple of nice concrete cisterns where the springs are fed. They just happen to be slightly uphill from their structures. They get water pressure without any work.

I was not that lucky :(

[tarheelsman71]

Solar.

You got it. I want to put the water in a cistern above my retreat. My retreat is actually at the peak of the hill so I want to build a raised platform on top of the hill and have a 250 gal or better yet a 500 gal container up on top so we can have water pressure. I am going to test the theory this weekend. I am gonna get 2 rubbermaid containers and put water in the one and pump into the other from an elevated position and see how much water and elevation I can get from one pump. My question, since none of my group members are electricians etc., How much solar would we need to power those devices?

[Lowdown3]

Sounds workable but often times we have found what seems or sounds workable doesn't always work out the best. At least that's my experience with things.

Your looking to pump it back up the hill so you can have some water pressure from the drop? Or you need it up the hill but the water source isn't up the hill?

[Lowdown3]

Sounds workable but often times we have found what seems or sounds workable doesn't always work out the best. At least that's my experience with things.

Your looking to pump it back up the hill so you can have some water pressure from the drop? Or you need it up the hill but the water source isn't up the hill?

[Tofu]

Tarheel: It sounds like it would work. But like many things the more complex the system the more likely things will break. You might consider a cistern system capturing rain water.

[tarheelsman71]

Need some feedback...

My next venture at the retreat is getting water up the 275' to the top of the mountain/hill from where our water shed is located. Since we are planning for a grid down scenario, the 220 volt pump could be used with a big generator. But not for long. My thoughts (and no testing) on this are as follows. What about using those 55 gallon water barrels setup at different stages heading up to the retreat, and at each stage have a pond style pump pulling small amounts of water up the hill to the each stage. Something like this... "smartpond 30 - 45 GPH Water Garden Fountain Pump " available at Lowes. At the top of the hill, have large cistern 500 gal setup on a raised tower (maybe 8 ft using telephone poles) like a miniature water tower. Fill all the containers at the stages using the generator, and then have solar trickle chargers and batteries housed in deer feeder kits to power the little pumps. Use the small 3/8" hoses to pull water so it is always in a constant state of filling up the water supply. My friends wife has had one of these pumps running submerged for 2 years in her little rock garden and it hasn't failed yet. Then just buy a bunch of spare part for all. So what do you guys think. What would be the show stopping roadblock with this plan?

[Lowdown3]

We are pulling water from about 200' with this one. Problem is that it's a dedicated hand pump only well. We could pull the head and drop pipe, etc. and put a standard submersible pump in there, but it's not much of a DIY'er type project at least for me.... LOL

[monkeybird]

Rice paddy, I have the same problem. My well is 265 - 270 feet. I understand that hand pumping is not possible with that depth. Let me know how you solve it.

[rice paddy daddy]

Water is the weak point for us. We live in the country with a well and septic setup. Our well is 225 feet deep and has a 220 volt pump, the well guy showed me how to "switch" it to 110 using a homemade pig tail so I could run it off a generator in case of a power outage.
My goal is to have some kind of solar backup instead of a generator. I didn't know there was a hand pump capable of pulling that deep. Sounds like I'd get pretty worn out watering our dogs, chickens and horses, though.
I'm an old soldier and don't really need elecricity to live, but we can't do without water.

[Lowdown3]

Bill- might have just been something we were doing wrong also, I really don't know on the "drill your own" kit deal. We dug down with a backhoe as far as we could and then drove the remaining difference. We followed all the instructions. Dunno.

[Bill Foster]

One of the many good things about GA is plenty of water. It filters down through limestone and sits on top of big quartz rocks. It's cold and tastes great. I'm glad you said something about the pump not working in clay however as I own a couple of acres of it. I was thinking of a shallow sand well for my garden (if I ever get to plant it this year). Good info.

[Lowdown3]

Good idea, thanks! I keep telling all the dogs in my "wolf pack" that I have to find them jobs ;)

[Hidden Agenda]

I don't know if it will be able to be seen in the pics, but my BIL showed me a hole drilled in the huge bar that goes up and down as you pump- "this is for attaching to a windmill" he said. Cool! Never knew you could do that.

That would definitely be the way to go, and he said he has installed similar setups with windmills for cattle ranchers to fill water tanks in the field for their cows.

Lowdown3

You could also (with some research, engineering and motivation) rig a variety of human/livestock/pet powered mechanical devices. It may be a bit of a challenge calculating the pulley/wheel/gear ratios to the mechanical advantage needed (depending up the power source...i.e: a mule -vs- a medium to large dog), but the benefits could be great.

OIC. Makes sense. 10-4

<blushes>

[Lowdown3]

OMG...no doubt! LOL

I must humbly admit. I not only envy your pump an set up but I also envy hitting water at just 23'!

I'm in southern california. You're lucky if you hit water at 175 feet and the recommend digging as far as 300 feet for bad droubts. bleh

That was the "drill your own well" kit from Lehman's that didn't work. This well in the pics is over 200'