Solar well pump installation

[Lowdown3]

So I have a 4" drilled well, PVC casing, depth to water at approx 165'

Goes into the aquifer round these parts.

So a general flow chart for a solar submersible pump would be: (correct me and/or add in as necessary)-

Submersible pump- Similar to this http://www.sunpumps.com/products.php?Cat=54

connected to well pump power wire and drop pipe up to-

Controller- similar to this http://www.sunpumps.com/products.php?Cat=55


connected to power source-

Panel(s) or battery bank, or BOTH?

water drop pipe coming out of the well head to a:

*right to water need (to irrigation, home, etc.)
*water tank with float valve (think non pressurized tank)
*Pressurized water tank
*Elevated water tank

What am I missing here in the scheme of things?

[xdpatriot]

Not much. Spare parts? You have a cistern, that's smart. Congrats.

[Lowdown3]

Actually I'm kinda revamping our water system now. I'm looking to tie together a couple of wells in the system, go to a pressurized tank for storage versus a stock tank type arrangement and some minor changes here and there.

The well has been in for the solar, but the guy that was going to do it finally admitted he's never done a solar submersible..... The high dollar investment was the well being drilled has already been done, so I'm thinking of trying the pump install myself. Familiar enough with the solar side of things, but not the well/plumbing side of installing a pump.

[610Alpha]

Actually I'm kinda revamping our water system now. I'm looking to tie together a couple of wells in the system, go to a pressurized tank for storage versus a stock tank type arrangement and some minor changes here and there.

The well has been in for the solar, but the guy that was going to do it finally admitted he's never done a solar submersible..... The high dollar investment was the well being drilled has already been done, so I'm thinking of trying the pump install myself. Familiar enough with the solar side of things, but not the well/plumbing side of installing a pump.

Way to challenge yourself.

[SeldomSeenSlim]

Pressurizing from a solar pump is probably outside of what the pump can do. Maybe it can, but they are low flow at low pressure and I'm not sure if the result would be all that great. Pumping to a cistern and then pressurizing from there (either with a pressure pump or gravity) would be the way to go IMHO. I don't have the elevation to get good gravity pressure. Still just the head generated from the height of the cistern is enough to gravity feed water troughs, drip irrigation and the cistern over at the workshop. Heck most float valves and irrigation systems have pressure limiters anyway.

The only thing I think you're missing is a pressure switch if you plan on putting a float valve on the cistern. Or you could direct the overflow of the cistern to water the garden/trees/pond/whatever and skip that entirely. Don't want to waste it, but if the sun is out and you can put it to use then might as well get it out of the ground. I'd definitely go pressure switch over float switch. Float switch would require the cistern to be close to the well head or running wire. Pressure switch is much more flexible.

I personally wouldn't do batteries. Even at a gallon a minute you're looking at several hundred gallons a day. Just 4 hours of full voltage is roughly 240 gallons, plus a few hours on either side of partial voltage. If that's not enough water then a bigger pump would do better than longer pump time. Or figure out how you're going through 500gal of water a day. :)

Also unless you already have sticks of hard PVC or pipe to use, flexible PVC is the ticket. Much easier to handle getting the pump in and out, cheap, and only 2 connections so less to go wrong. Just buy it in a roll longer than you need and cut it to length.

Other tips:
- Nylon rope works well for the safety line, but I'd suggest putting stainless steel cable to the pump itself that's long enough so that the rope isn't under water.
- When gauging your safety rope requirements remember that the pump will have a check valve on it so account for the weight of the pump + pipe + water in the pipe. Then overkill it just to be safe.
- Use the flexible PVC to cover the distance, but not to connect to the pump or well head. For that use a small length of hard pipe. That way you can use some metal strapping from the hard pipe to the flexible to make sure things don't slip. Galvanized rafter ties/hurricane straps work well. Run the strapping vertically across the joint and secure with pipe clamps. Crimp the ends over the pipe clamps and tape the snot out of it.
- I like hard PVC to connect to the pump and steel at the well head (2' lengths of each) with the flexible in between. The weight of the pump+pipe+water is held by the steel pipe through the top of the well head. Not the safety rope. Another area to overkill. Schedule 80 steel pipe and a schedule 80 connector going through the top of the well head.
- There are waterproof electrical connectors to connect the leads of the pump to the drop wire. I also like to use waterproof electrical tape over top of those. And then regular electrical tape over top of that. A short means pulling the pump and tape is cheap.
- 165' isn't far. Two people could easily put that in/pull it by hand. Make up a holder for the pipe beforehand. A length of 2x4 to sit on the well casing had with a pipe clamp screwed to it. If the clamp is loose the pipe will slide up and down. If you need to stop for any reason you can tighten it down and it will hold it. One person holds the pipe and the other tightens it. Also works if you're doing this by yourself. Sucks to be standing there holding a well pump that's 100' in a hole in your hand and needing to go get a tool with no way to set it down.
- If you're using 20' sticks of PVC you'll want some sort of support above to keep it from waving around as you screw the sections together. A simple A frame will do. They aren't heavy, but they're awkward as hell.


Once you do it, you'll wonder why people pay money to have it done.

[thedreamers]

you could use your pump to a holding tank then use a marine water pump to pressurize your house. I know a few people around here that done it that way cause the marine pump come as a unit with set limits you set, and they pump more gpm than most on a 12v system.

[barfife]

I have been researching this for a while and found a good unit. Check out SimplePump.com. They have a great stainless steel (dc/solar)pump that can drop down next to your surmersible pump. If I remember correctly it can pump up to 250' deep and pressurize your home tank to 45 psi. It also has inexpensive leather valve seals that you would need to replace about every 5 yrs. No vested interest..YMMV.