solar powered deep well pump ?

[Plate plinker]

How far will your power company get install a meter for free? Here it’s 150’. Put your well near that point and trench black poly (cheap) to wherever you need the water. Water pipe is wayyyyyy cheaper than copper cable.

Another question would be what future buildings might be built? And where?

[CLAYPOOL]

I HAULED 60 loads a year for 15 years. 1/2 ton pick up with helper springs. I could get apx. 390 gals in the tank. Finnaly got a old used 1 ton dump...MUCH BETTER.tilt to unload. DIG A SMALL POND..

[bedbugbilly]

I'm not an expert so just asking - how viable is solar in Ohio - I'm from Michigan where the number of sunny days pretty much equals overcast days at times.

I'd be looking at a generator and a elevated storage tank where gravity is free. Plumb into the overhead tank for a metal sink below to wash hands, etc. If you need to wash things down - a gas powered pressure washer hooked with a hose to the overhead storage tank. In the winter time the tank could be drained and water lines blown out to prevent freezing.

I'm assuming that you are looking at a deep well, but what about driving a shallow well? It wouldn't cost anything to talk with someone who is familiar with the area where your range is located in regards to putting in a shallow well, what you'd need for a pump and storage tank, etc. It might end up being a less costly route to go.

[shooterg]

Useta be power companies gave a break to folks for a "farm drop" . Not any more here BUT checked into power to a back field where the creek was not accessible to the Black Angus we had. Was expensive straight up but when asked if we stuck a trailer for my brother on site it would be next to nothing ! Maybe you need a 14' wide "clubhouse !

[rancher1913]

on one of my remote pastures we have electricity for a stock well and the power company actually charges me a fee because we dont use enough electricity, this is on top of the 50 bucks a month fee just to have a meter, thats one reason I am going all solar, might be an upfront fee but after that its all free.

[KYCaster]

Get an estimate from the electric utility. 850 ft. of service shouldn't be outrageous compared to the cost of the well and solar power.
Call the local water company and ask how much to install a meter on your property. Plumbing permit, trencher rent and material cost to install a yard hydrant should be less than $1K.

Now call a well driller and get an estimate on the well, pump, pipe and wire to the well head. I think you'll be surprised at which is the more attractive.

Only down side to this plan is... you can't get a home owner's plumbing permit for a commercial property so you'll need to find a friendly plumbing contractor to work with you in exchange for a club membership.

Factor in long term maintenance and future expansion, you're way ahead with the utilities.

Just My (not so humble) Opinion
Jerry

[MaryB]

Option is meter just into the property edge so the utility drop is short then trench in 240 the 800 feet(there are voltage drop tables to get the needed wire size). For an 850 foot run and a 30 amp circuit you would need 4/0 copper or 6/0 aluminum to keep the voltage drop around 3%. Menards 4/0 aluminum which had a little over 4% voltage drop(3% is nominal... if you can deal with low voltage it would work) is $3.49 a foot so looking at a chunk of change for the wire alone.

Price wise it is a tossup with solar panels and a small battery bank and an inverter to run 120 volt loads plus the DC well pump can be ran straight from the battery bank. Just make sure you integrate a low voltage disconnect and don't take the batteries below 24 volts! That is 50% discharged. That is the trade off point between battery life and usable charge. Do NOT use the low voltage shutoff in the inverter. No clue why but they are almost always 22 volts, aka totally dead battery and that is how you kill a battery bank fast. Can skip batteries/inverter/low voltage disconnect if you only need the well pump.

[Mal Paso]

AC pumps are usually 230 Volt and if your utility is like mine rural drops run a little hot like 248 Volts. It helps with the Line Loss Mary mentioned.

If it's less than 120' those DC submersible pulse pumps last fairly well.

[Czech_too]

A brief update on this idea/project.
I'm starting to get estimates on drilling the well itself and their a little bit higher than I expected. $5800 just to drill the well, then there's the $425 permit.
For the coming year, or until we have a better idea of how many members are going to renew, we're probably going to go with an elevated IBC tote. The tote can be incorporated into whatever setup is later decided on. When we get to the point where we have a covered firing line, rain barrels connected to gutters will probably be the way to go there.

Ain't nothin' cheap anymore but quality.

[Petrol & Powder]

Czech_too - It appears you now have a better grasp on the big picture. Lots of good advice/information on this thread.

I think you already know this but whatever route you take, you must run the numbers first.

Just a few points that came up on this thread that I think are worth repeating:
The cost of drilling the well was higher than you expected. I think you could get that cost down with some competing bids but it will still be a significant expense.
The cost of running power to the site may be considerably less than all of the other options. I would at least explore that.
The idea of collecting water off of structures and storing it in rainwater barrels has its own set of problems. You will need significant roof surface area, regular rain, a way to store the water without algae/mosquitos/etc. And if you need a pump to get the rain water up to an elevated tank, you might as well skip the elevated tank and just use the pump when needed.
Solar power has some real advantages, particularly in remote locations BUT there are significant initial costs.
A hand pump can be installed in a well deeper than 25' but the pump must be at the bottom of the well. (the "pump" at the top is merely a handle and linkage to operate the pump at the bottom of the well). However, that doesn't eliminate the need to drill a well and a hand pump will not provide a lot of volume on demand.
Don't forget the possibility of simply trucking in water when you need it. It may be the lowest cost solution for a situation where you only need water for short periods of time.


RUN THE NUMBERS FIRST !!!!

Good Luck

[Hossfly]

Yep there’s an app for that, rain water harvest app, if you don’t want to do the math. Will calculate how much water you can expect to get off a given area of roof.

Of course in La. you will get from 40-70’’ a year in an open bucket most years.

[MaryB]

Czech_too - It appears you now have a better grasp on the big picture. Lots of good advice/information on this thread.

I think you already know this but whatever route you take, you must run the numbers first.

Just a few points that came up on this thread that I think are worth repeating:
The cost of drilling the well was higher than you expected. I think you could get that cost down with some competing bids but it will still be a significant expense.
The cost of running power to the site may be considerably less than all of the other options. I would at least explore that.
The idea of collecting water off of structures and storing it in rainwater barrels has its own set of problems. You will need significant roof surface area, regular rain, a way to store the water without algae/mosquitos/etc. And if you need a pump to get the rain water up to an elevated tank, you might as well skip the elevated tank and just use the pump when needed.
Solar power has some real advantages, particularly in remote locations BUT there are significant initial costs.
A hand pump can be installed in a well deeper than 25' but the pump must be at the bottom of the well. (the "pump" at the top is merely a handle and linkage to operate the pump at the bottom of the well). However, that doesn't eliminate the need to drill a well and a hand pump will not provide a lot of volume on demand.
Don't forget the possibility of simply trucking in water when you need it. It may be the lowest cost solution for a situation where you only need water for short periods of time.


RUN THE NUMBERS FIRST !!!!

Good Luck

A small pump to move water from a rain collection barrel to a roof tank would only need 1 solar panel so cost would be pretty cheap, add a 100 amp hour battery and a small charge controller and you could run a couple LED lights if you need to be there at night.