Solar Water pumping

[chrisser]

Our property is very hilly.

At the absolute lowest point is a natural spring. Hauling that water uphill gets old real fast.

Right now, we spend a weekend or two a month, and maybe 2 weeks per year during 3 seasons at the property. I'm hoping to get our camper down there this spring/summer - up to this point we've been tent camping.

I looked at a topographic map and a rough estimate is I need to get the water about 150' vertically (up to the level of the camp site, plus a few extra feet for gravity feed) and perhaps another 150' horizontally.

There is currently no electricity on the property.

What I would like to do is get one of those ~300 gallon water tanks. The cube shaped ones in the metal cage. Put that inside a little wooden roofed structure to keep it protected.

http://images.craigslist.org/5T55Ka5H23Kc3F73L2c16ec681849f3911683.jpg

Put that on a hill above the campsite/cabin site.

Then once I have spring box around the spring, I'll need a way to get the water into my storage cube from the spring box.

Since we're not going to be there very often, I only really need a trickle of flow, and I would only run this setup when there is no danger of freezing. I think if I could get something like a gallon every couple of hours during sunny days, that would be plenty of water for us now.

This would be at Latitude: 38.971224 Longitude: -81.402185. However, even the higher elevations where I would put the panels and tank are behind a significant hill. Again, using the topographic map, I'd estimate it is 100' high, 500' away in all southerly directions.

I could get the panels higher up so the hill was less of an issue, but then I'm assuming the line losses might outweigh any benefit.

Looking for advice on how to design a solar system that would work (of course, as cheaply as possible).

I think I have a rudimentary understanding of what I need, but I need guidance on how to work out the specifics.

Also would appreciate any advice on how I might more accurately measure the vertical distance from the spring to the storage cube site.

[grumble]

When you said 150' lift, that took away any chance of a cheap and simple system. You either need a pretty large pump and panels to supply it, or multiple stages.

IIRC, for 150' of lift, you're going to need 120 psi of pressure just to get a dribble of water at the top. 150 psi + is more likely to get anything useful. You can do it in stages, but that's going to mean multiple solar panels going up the hill. For just one DC pump to do all the pushing, it will have to be a pretty healthy pump. Probably one designed as a submersible for a well, with all the wattage needed to drive it.

Easy way to get a good elevation measurement is with a good GPS, one that gets altitude from the satellites instead of barometric altitude. Alternative is how they did it in the old days, using a 10' "idiot stick" and either a transit or a string level.

[chrisser]

Here's another thought...

How about putting the storage cube at the spring site and basically have it filled naturally by the spring.

Then get another cube up the hill.

When we show up for a visit, fire up a gasoline powered pump or generator attached to an electric pump and transfer from the lower tank to the upper.


Actually, if I could rig up a hand pump somehow at the same level as the cabin site, that would still be a heckuva improvement to hauling water up the hill in buckets.

[grumble]

Sure, that would work. The problem with pumping is the same, namely the pressure (150 psi+) needed to get the wet stuff up the hill.

Any chance of mounting your water tank on a trailer and just towing it up the hill?

[chrisser]

Unfortunately, the hill's too steep for anything but walking. I could barely push a lawnmower (push mower) back out when I cut a path.

I found this pump while Googling.

http://nemosolar.com/dcsubmersiblepumps/id1.html


Pretty impressive performance for the price (230' max head for $250).

With 24volts@ 162' head, it draws <4amps. It will run at lower voltage at a reduced flow.

[grumble]

Hey, that looks like just the thing! I especially like the replaceable parts, like brushes and diaphragms. Good find!

[HuntingHawk]

I'm not expert on this but here's something to think about: Lets say the output diameter of the pump is a 1" fitting. At 50ft up the hill taper down to 3/4". And at 100ft taper down to 1/2". Doing this will reduce volume but increase pressure to get the water up the hill.

Ross

[Jezcruzen]

You guys are forgetting one critical factor - friction loss.

While a lift of 150' is stated, how long is the actual pipe lay from spring to camper? Could be hundreds of feet, right?

It takes 65psi to lift water 150' (one pound of pressure will lift water 2.31') But that doesn't begin to figure in the pressure loss from friction through several hundred feet of 1" pipe, which will be horrendous!

[grumble]

Depends on the flow rate. If the water is static, there is no friction loss. As more and more water flows, the friction increases exponentially.

[chrisser]

150' vertically x 150' horizontally is a 45 degree right triangle.

Using 1 x 1 x SQRT(2), roughly 212 feet of piping would be needed.

[Fridge]

Our property is very hilly.

At the absolute lowest point is a natural spring. Hauling that water uphill gets old real fast.

Right now, we spend a weekend or two a month, and maybe 2 weeks per year during 3 seasons at the property. I'm hoping to get our camper down there this spring/summer - up to this point we've been tent camping.

I looked at a topographic map and a rough estimate is I need to get the water about 150' vertically (up to the level of the camp site, plus a few extra feet for gravity feed) and perhaps another 150' horizontally.


There is currently no electricity on the property.

What I would like to do is get one of those ~300 gallon water tanks. The cube shaped ones in the metal cage. Put that inside a little wooden roofed structure to keep it protected.

http://images.craigslist.org/5T55Ka5H23Kc3F73L2c16ec681849f3911683.jpg

Put that on a hill above the campsite/cabin site.

Then once I have spring box around the spring, I'll need a way to get the water into my storage cube from the spring box.

Since we're not going to be there very often, I only really need a trickle of flow, and I would only run this setup when there is no danger of freezing. I think if I could get something like a gallon every couple of hours during sunny days, that would be plenty of water for us now.

This would be at Latitude: 38.971224 Longitude: -81.402185. However, even the higher elevations where I would put the panels and tank are behind a significant hill. Again, using the topographic map, I'd estimate it is 100' high, 500' away in all southerly directions.

I could get the panels higher up so the hill was less of an issue, but then I'm assuming the line losses might outweigh any benefit.

Looking for advice on how to design a solar system that would work (of course, as cheaply as possible).

I think I have a rudimentary understanding of what I need, but I need guidance on how to work out the specifics.

Also would appreciate any advice on how I might more accurately measure the vertical distance from the spring to the storage cube site.

My Log home is 3,500 ft elevation at the base of Mt Rogers VA. My well is 180 ft deep and static line at 90 feet. I have purchased one of these
http://www.flojak.com/ (http://www.flojak.com/)
Although I have a 1 HP pump for my Home I also hooked this up to give me some peace of mind having access to water without Electricity. I am very pleased with this pump.