Dankoff Solar Force Piston Pump

[Striider]

Damian - totally understand the work thing.  Gotta make the ducats!  I am working on procuring some safety rope or wire.   I found a local well supply place that is very forthcoming with answers to my questions, and they have all the bits and pieces I have to make this work, including safety rope and the adapters for the top of the pump and splices and fittings.  They will be getting my business this week.

Ghurd - thanks!

Thanks guys - 200 psi poly core poly pipe is on order.  Should be in by this weekend.   A 300' roll is the longest I could find, and another 100', which I will have to splice.  Ordered from a landscaping company, and had them call the distributor to order, as they wouldn't sell to me directly.  I will be using extra long brass or stainless splice with double stainless hose clamps.

Also scored 700' of  used 10/4 well wire on craigslist for $450.  This was much less than buying 500' from the depot, and it is stranded wire vs solid.  I only need 10/3, but this allows me to put a (much cheaper) 220v pump in if I ever need to, and I couldn't pass up 65 cents a foot.

Thirteen - great advice on the documentation.  I have learned how handy photos and notes are while installing solar out there.  I have referred back to the photos I took of the labels on the back of the panels numerous times, and I plan to take lots of pictures of this project too.  As far as a well cap, I think I will be going with a PVC cap for now since I am running the pipe straight out the top to a spigot (with weep hole) temporarily.    The metal one they installed has no provision for a pipe to exit, but will go back on once I get a pitless adapter set up in there and start plumbing to the house directly.

Another strange note about this project...  I was up there this weekend and couldn't help but play around with the expensive hole in the ground.  I wanted to see what my static level was for sure, so I measured out 200' (what the driller told me) on my ice fishing pole/line, and folded a tiny piece of electrical tape around the line, and tied a lead weight on the end.  I slowly dropped the weight down the hole, and heard it go PLOP way before 200 feet.  I couldn't even see the tape on the spool yet, there was so much line still on it.  Well, it turns out my static level is sitting at 60' for some reason.  I am not even sure how the water gets in there, because the first piece of serrated casing isn't until around 200 feet down.  So it looks like I either way over-drilled, or am going to have a really deep reservoir of water down there, or both.

Thanks again for all the help along the way. 

Eric

[SteveCH]

Good news on the higher level. That means your well is making more water than you thought. Pushing the level up. Mine pushes all the way to the top of the stand pipe from 328 ft. below.... It will just make things easier on your pump, as you have much less head than you thought. I would go ahead and put the pump as low as you had planned. You do not know the refresh rate gpm as you draw water from the column. There are tests for this. But you have the materials to go ahead and drop the pump way down, and I would do that. You have a larger reservoir than you calculated. Assuming your refresh rate is good. It could be that the water level is able to creep up over time but would not stay at that higher level as you draw down the water level when pumping.

But it is always good news to find the level higher than you thought.

[Striider]

Put the pump down the well this weekend at 340 ft and am now pumping silty water.  It pumps about 4.5 gallons per minute, which after a certain amount of time (over an hour I think) will deplete my well.  I let it deplete, turned off the pump for a minute,  then filled a bucket with water to measure volume.  Sure enough, it's right at 3.5 gallons per minute yield just like the driller said it was.

So far, I have been able to run it for a total of about 2 hours, and it is starting to clear up, but still very grey silty water coming out.  Anyone know how long it takes usually to clear up?

Thanks!
Eric

[bergmanj]

Striider,

I don't mean to be flippant; but, "it depends!"  I've seen a few new water wells; and, every one is different.

My own newest well from 5 years ago will sometimes still silt-up a bit during the spring thaw for a couple of weeks (here in "tropical" NE Minesota), nowadays.  It took about 6-months initially to get really clear: Depends on the geology.

Regards,   JLB

[Striider]

Thanks Bergman... I won't worry too much yet I guess.

[Striider]

Update:  ran the well for a total of about 6 hours now, and the water is clearing up slowly.  It is still cloudy, but not completely murky like it was.  I even tasted some, and it tastes great, but mainly just watering trees with it until it clears a bit more.  Man, I had no idea this would take so long!  It empties itself in about an hour and 45 minutes, so I usually let it run for about an hour and a half then let it take a break.  Being there only on the weekends, my time to run it is limited, so I will keep you guys posted.

Sidenote:  the Grundfos is working great.  It pulls about 400-500 watts, and has a very soft startup.  With my set up and good sun (which is 90% of the time, this time of year), it seems I will have plenty of power.  This should be especially true once I get the water clear, and can run it only intermittently to fill a pressure tank.

Thanks again for all the help on this project, guys.  I know I promised you pictures, but they are on my wife's camera still.

As a teaser - here are the drilling day pictures:   https://picasaweb.google.com/109246410824374815367/WellDrillingDay?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIiVk-Gfl_qE8AE&feat=directlink

[XeonPony]

No  longer relivent comment