Solar Water Pumps?

[edkemper]

What I want is a well pump that will operate off a dedicated Solar Panel?

The subject property is in South Central Oregon. A reported excellent place for solar. I have season river front property so the well won't be extremely deep. I have a seasonal duck pond I'd like to make year round by pump during the dry months. This well will also supply the house.

It'd be nice to keep the pond a year round feature.

Any help would be excellent and very appreciated.

edkemper

[StressMan79]

First thing you will need is a solar panel. Actually two will be best, as my single is not good enough for the lifts I want--has enough watts (power), just not enough volts. 2@30W would work good for me. I got my 55W unit with a charge panel for 100 bucks. Keep your eye out, solar stuff goes quick.

Next you need "linear current booster." these allow the pump to start at less than full sun. Basically it swaps some voltage for current to get the pump started. I don't know where to get these cheaply. They have $10 worth of circuits in them but cost $400+/each. The good news is that most of the prebought ones interface with your float switches (a minor component)

And of course you need a pump. I recommend a low power DC pump that feeds a holding tank and the duck pond. You will likely want a higher power pump for the house to draw from that tank. I like "positive displacement" (i.e. piston) pumps as opposed to vane or centrifugal pumps. The latter will be cheaper--you can get a plastic pump module for a drill at HF for $10, but generally have low suction values (head they can suck up). Again, you pay for what you get, I have seen low power DC pumps for ~400. Again, not cheap, but if you are living there all year and need more flow than I do (I only need an average of 10 gallons/day - I haven't found a pump that small yet that is a decent quality unit).

Anyway, good luck. find my email in the member's area.

[edkemper]

StressMan,

> find my email in the member's area.

I guess I haven't figured out the search feature cause I couldn't find it. Help?

eddie

[StressMan79]

bam!

[Rush]

Hi,
I'm New.
Shurflo dc water pump.
Cheap! You can buy a small 20 watt panel, Hook it up directly to the water pump. The pump will fill your holding tank when the Sun is up. The RV World has lots of 12 V hardware ( Pressure Boosters, Small Gas Hot water heaters, etc) that works well off grid.

Lots of trial and error when it comes to solar. Can answer questions.


M.

[loghousenut]

edkemper wrote:

I have a seasonal duck pond I'd like to make year round by pump during the dry months. This well will also supply the house.
It'd be nice to keep the pond a year round feature.
edkemper[/quote]


Ed, I don't think the law will let you fill a pond with ground water. I could easily be wrong but I've heard it more than once.

[rreidnauer]

Despite the legality, and depending on the size of the pond, it may just not even be possible. I read somewhere, the evaporation rates of water for a given area/temperature/humidity, and the numbers are surprisingly high. I highly doubt a solar powered pump could keep up with anything but the smallest ponds.

I just did a quick search, and read in a forum, a guy was averaging a loss of 19 gallons an hour in his 560 square foot garden pond!!!!

Just a consideration worth considering!

[spiralsands]

I have a pond on my property that I do believe was man-made. I also saw a pond on a property in Oklahoma that also was man-made. Apparently the pond makers plowed up the dirt to make one big pile at one side to block it in and then created a shallow area at the other end where, when it rains, I guess the field drains into the pond. I didn't think something like that would hold water and I thought that the water captured would just soak back into the ground. Do you think having a high water table makes it easier to make a pond?

Frances

[GENE13]

Ed, your duck pond isn't really a pond, it's a low lying area that gets flooded once a year.

What is causing it to flood? snow melt, spring rains?

A pond must have two things going for it.
1. A natural clay or artificial liner
2. A steady water source

Without a liner, it's just a hole in the ground.

Without a steady water source, evaporation will suck it dry.

In addition there is a long TO DO LIST in keeping a pond healthy. Hope this helps.............. :-)

[edkemper]

This is why this place is so great. One can ask what appears to be such a simple question and what you end up with is feeling like I may be trying to bite off more than I thought. The wealth of people and the depth of their knowledge and experience is simply awesome.

I was looking into a pond liners, far more cost than the benefits warrant. Evaporation? Never thought of it. My parents had 40 acres with an acre pond that was kept topped off by a leaking municipal water line. I guess it leaked more than I realized.

As for keeping it healthy? Damn if when the parents sold the property the Bass were getting to the 5 pound range. Used to pull 30+ inch catfish out of it. The most labor was dealing with the beavers that stayed until they had cut all trees down around the pond then moved on.

Maybe I'll just enjoy the pond during the season. Thanks for the excellent education.

edkemper

[GENE13]

Mr. Ed, I have never seen the 40 acres your parents use to own, however, without the advantage of looking at it I can still assure you of two (2) things, 1: The pond had a natural clay "possible stone" liner and 2: There was some water source feeding the pond, creek, underground spring, natural runoff, gutter, etc.

As far as the fish size you mentioned "except for the catfish, 30+ inches, they were introduced into the pond" that is very possible with bass as they are very fierce competitors. All in all it sounds as though there was a very balance eco system in place during the time your parents had the property. I have know idea how old the pond would be now, however, unless someone is watching and caring over it and tending to the backfill problems, winter fish kills, water pollutants, algae take over, droughts, and pressures from anglers, it to will eventually be a mud hole. All ponds go through stages and most ponds are eventually done in by erosion.

Your original question was concerning pumping water into what you referred to as a seasonal duck pond using a solar pump. Ponds are somewhat a forte of mine, so I felt the urge to be helpful, I didn't want you to get all carried away about pumping water when you didn't even have the main ingredient "a hole in the ground that can contain water" I guess in your case trial by error would seemed appropriate.