Water Well ...
In our existing well, water is brought up to the surface by a submerged pump that operates on 230 volt electricity. The water is then forced into a 100 gallon pressure tank and from the pressure tank it is brought to the house.
Because the amount of energy (electricity) needed to draw the water up and to pressurize it is tremendous, we decided to install a new well that uses a 12 volt submergible pump to draw the water up to the surface and a 1000 gallon tank to store the water.
The 12 volt submergible pump would be operated by solar panels and the 1000 gallon tank would furnish us with plenty of water on those few days a year when the sky is overcast.
(Note: Shortly after completion, we added an additional 1000 gallon tank ... giving us a total of 2000 gallons)
As the water lines in our house travel through the attic we had to make a difficult decision. - To have adequate water pressure for showers, etc. we would have had to build a 40 to 50 foot high water tower ... or, we could opt for a small energy efficient electric pressure booster.
We, reluctantly, choose the small pressure booster pump method. - At first, we looked into 12 volt pressure boosters that could be operated by solar panels and batteries but soon found that they were not that efficient and the batteries would be a hassle to maintain.
After a number of attempts (and numerous errors) we finally found a super-efficient 120 volt water pressure booster that only turns on when the water is turned on in the house and automatically turns off as soon as the water is turned off.
Following are photos of various steps along the way .....
26 foot x 26 foot concrete pad surrounding 220 foot deep by 6 inch well.
Note gray vertical pipes that go down under the pad and up on the outside of the pad.
They will be used for garden sprinklers, etc.
Building material for well house.
View of finished 16 foot x 16 foot well house from the street.
Note that no doors or windows are visible.
Recessed roof with solar panels is not visible from the ground.
(people don't know what it is)
Another view of finished well house from the street.
(people still don't know what it is)
Another view of finished well house from the street.
(people still don't know what it is)
View of finished well house from the East.
(people still don't know what it is - it just looks like a big cube)
View of finished well house from the North East.
6 foot wide x 7 foot tall door.
View of finished well house from the North.
6 foot wide x 7 foot tall door.
View of interior well house.
The water on the floor is not from leaks - we had just emptied the tank to install the water pressure booster.
On the left is the water tank and pressure booster with horizontal pipe going to residence.
On the back wall is the "controller" that sends the electricity from the solar panels to the pump down in the well.
On the right is the dual ladder to the roof access.
On the right is the top of the well with the draw pipe going up to feed the tank.
On the right are "futures" - gray pipes that will bring water to garden, etc.
Here is a better photo of the tank and pressure booster. (just installed)
The model MQ pressure booster, made by Grundfos, came in this box.
View of roof access dual ladder and roof access door.
Grundfos MQ water pressure booster.
Pipe that brings water from well to tank.
Grundfos electricity controller and installation instructions.
View of South East corner of roof - access door.
Note that roof is recessed and inclined towards the South.
View of North East corner of roof with 3 solar panels.
View of finished well house.
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