Solar Powered Water Pump

OnDtown

Hi,
Has anyone any experience in setting up a solar powered water pump for a well?
We have a block of land which does have access to a private water scheme but last years bill for water >€2000!
I Need to try & find an alternative source for water. There is a well onsite but has been closed up for a long time now but I was hoping I could open this again and setup some type of solar powered water pump???
There are a few videos from American ranches on Youtube but are these solar Panels going to get enough power in Irelands climate?
Anyone else have any experience with this?

blue5000

How about wind power?

OnDtown

blue5000 wrote: »

How about wind power?

It could be an option but the location of the well is in a hallow & to get to the top of the nearest hill with a wind turbine, is several hundred yards away.
The solar option would be preferred if possible.

Have you any experience with the wind power?

Carrigogunnell

I priced one at the ploughing. I tink it was 1650 don't quote me now but some were round dat. How much land how many water points. Wat I was lookin at was normal solar pump with none return valve into a ibc up off the ground and gravity flow to tanks.

gctest50

Takes a good bit of power to move water

try carrying 25litres of water on your back up a ladder - then repeat that for say 2 hours

you might be better off pumping it up to a tank on "high ground" at night-time ( on night-rate electricity - 1/3 the price )



and then making use of gravity to provide a nice feed of water to your house

a few pros : if the pump fails you should have a few days out of it - takes the pressure off
few cons of having it in a tank : freezing in winter, lifeforms growing in it, rodents

OnDtown

OK, didn't think they were all that price! Still would be cheaper in the long run!
It's about 15 Acres with a single water Point. Do you know the Name of the company that does these?
Is it possible to get a submersible pump with a pressure Switch? Would remove the need for a header tank?

OnDtown

you might be better off pumping it up to a tank on "high ground" at night-time ( on night-rate electricity)


Thats the problem, no electricity available onsite and I don't thnk it's worth getting a new ESB Connection just to run a water pump.
There is no house or anything else onsite, just a single field.

mickdw

But a cheap generator and a small pump. Fill tanks whenever you go to the field.

ford 5600

What sort of stock numbers are you grazing there? Any thoughts on a nose pump, also known as a pasture pump? I have had up to 45 yearlings on 1 of them, but that was probably too many, especially if weather was hot. 30 would be fine. A new Lister one, sold by many co-ops is 360 euro. I bought a s/h one off DD lately for 80 euro. Nothing much to go wrong, only the foot valve or a rubber diaphrahm, both of which should last years.

Farmer

Something's wrong if you're using over two grand's worth of water to service 15 acres. Have you checked for leaks or checked meter readings when there are no cattle present?

Mac Taylor

Farmer wrote: »

Something's wrong if you're using over two grand's worth of water to service 15 acres. Have you checked for leaks or checked meter readings when there are no cattle present?

I agree. Was involved in local group water scheme many moons ago and leakages was the biggest issue. I'd check for leaks first, 2k for 15 acres seems like an awful lot. Another problem we encountered was lads sharing water pipes, no issue before meters etc different story now. Might be worth looking into that aswell.

OnDtown

We're only grazing 15-25 at any one time, maybe grazed for 2-4 weeks, then closed for 2-4 weeks again.
I couldn't believe the bill when I received it this year, appealed it to the council and they sent out people to look into it, they confirmed that the meter was working correctly and we have dug up all the piping to confirm there's no leak anywhere, unfortunately! Really couldn't believe the bill but we have taking the metre readings & can't offer any explaination other than it is been used by the cattle.

The pasture pump may be an option but as these cattle would be on meal at all times (Beef finishing farm here) I hate restricting their access to water, it is a key Point to feeding cattle, unrestriced Access to water, which may go to explaining my high water bill!

djmc

Their are solar water pumps on eBay for under 150 euro might be worth a try.
If you could get a diviner to find a spring at the top part of the land and dig a hole with a digger then pipe gravity flow to a big tank with outlet to a water trough
I would do the same with a solar pump and the bigger the holding tank the better.
Are there any dykes or soft spots on the land

ford2600

OnDtown wrote: »

We're only grazing 15-25 at any one time, maybe grazed for 2-4 weeks, then closed for 2-4 weeks again.
I couldn't believe the bill when I received it this year, appealed it to the council and they sent out people to look into it, they confirmed that the meter was working correctly and we have dug up all the piping to confirm there's no leak anywhere, unfortunately! Really couldn't believe the bill but we have taking the metre readings & can't offer any explaination other than it is been used by the cattle.

The pasture pump may be an option but as these cattle would be on meal at all times (Beef finishing farm here) I hate restricting their access to water, it is a key Point to feeding cattle, unrestriced Access to water, which may go to explaining my high water bill!

So 25 cattle, 100 days aggregate occupancy by 30Litres/animal/day?

75,000 Litres consumed give or take.

€26/1000L, sounds dear to me.

What is rate and what was consumption according to meter?

You have very thirsty animals, very expensive rate, a leak, defective meter or Local Authority made mistake.

Investigate your costs first before looking for new solution

Midfield9

That bill for that much land doesn't make sense to me. Should be in low hundreds I would of thought if I compare to what we use/pay

Carrigogunnell

It was Connacht agri that I got that price bit pricey been honest there are surly other brands on the Internet and put in your own none return valve. I have dikes so that is we're I'm getting water same situation no power and 30 acres there are places for them to drink from dike not gone on dat tho and dried up last summer