# Alternative energy for deep well pump



## bonsai jim (Jul 22, 2005)

Long term water access in any scenario is my main concern. While I have access to an old irrigation canal I can not control what happens up stream. If the flow remains, there is still the turbidity, potential pollutant and sterility issues.

Has anyone rigged a system for maintaining power to their deep well pump? Our well is 450' making hand pumping impractical. 

I'd like a permanent solution that would replace the current grid system...I'm thinking broadly on this kind of setup...

Solar/wind charged battery system to pump into large holding tank then into the pressurized bladder. 

I'm not sure of the details required and would appreciate any direction.

Jim


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## YoungOne (Aug 22, 2006)

12V solar pump will probably be cheapest option. That said, if I understood correctly the water level is 450' which would make an old jack pump a good option. I say old because I am unaware of any modern jack pumps that can pump from those depths.


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Too deep for 12vdc

Grundfos 3SQF-3 can handle wells to 600'. Is the 450' the well depth or distance to water level?

http://store.solar-electric.com/grsqpu.html

A solar setup for that deep will not be cheap. Might want to look into a basic windmill setup.

By Grundfos chart it looks like you would want about 400 watts in solar panels. That would give you just over 2 gallons a min. Yes the way to do it would be have thw solar pump supply a cistern (sp?) and a second pump to pressurise the house. It would be better if the cistern were mounted high enough the it could gravity feed to pressurise the system.

Solar king has complete systems http://kingsolar.com/catalog/cat/systems/index.html (bottom of page)

There are also wind setups that used compressed air to pump the water.


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

We have a deep well pump that runs off the inverter that runs everything else. I see that Grundfos makes some 230 volt deep well pumps good for 500+ feet that draw 9.8 amps at 230 volts, and my SW4024 inverter would run that okay. Of course this kind of system involves a battery set, PV panels or wind generator, controls, and inverter, but the pump is just a regular pump sized for the kind of well you would have, and selected to use the least power of the available options. The advantage is that the wind/PV system also runs the rest of the house, too.


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## bonsai jim (Jul 22, 2005)

WisJim said:


> We have a deep well pump that runs off the inverter that runs everything else. I see that Grundfos makes some 230 volt deep well pumps good for 500+ feet that draw 9.8 amps at 230 volts, and my SW4024 inverter would run that okay. Of course this kind of system involves a battery set, PV panels or wind generator, controls, and inverter, but the pump is just a regular pump sized for the kind of well you would have, and selected to use the least power of the available options. The advantage is that the wind/PV system also runs the rest of the house, too.


This sounds like what I had in mind. The pump and pressure tank is already there. The well depth is is 450', I think... I did not drill it. I'm going off the former owner's statements.


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## Bois d'Arc (Mar 5, 2008)

I have had some experience with both PV solar pumps and windmill powered air water pumps. The PV system is vastly superior, pumping more water with less maintainence. I currently have three Grundfos pumps powered by solar panels, one for household water and the other two for orchard and garden. The beauty of these pumps is they can use standard 220 from the grid or from a generator, or run on 12 volt from solar or even from a vehicle and jumper cables! Solar, at least in Texas or similar sunny area, is tailor-made for water systems, as when the sun shines you're storing water rather than trying to store electricity in batteries. The well pumps into a holding tank with a float valve. When the tank is full, the valve shuts off and the increased pressure in the line turns off the standard pressure switch on the well. The whole set-up is about the same cost as a standard windmill, and pumps a lot more water. Even on a very cloudy day, two 170 watt panels pump a couple of gallons a minute from 150 feet.

The holding tank can be either gravity flow, which is ideal, or piped to a small pump and pressure tank, which can also be solar. At least in our area, such a system supplies plenty of water and is one of the best investments you can make in self-sufficiency.

Bois d'Arc


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