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  1. #1
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    Default Solar Water Pumps - what's your experience?

    I have a 15m² shed roof plumbed so that it can feed to a tank, and I'll be building an extension onto it which will have about a 25m² roof catchment. This will be enough to supply the vege garden with water I think (and if not it will certainly reduce the tao consumption dramatically).

    My loose plan would be to have two tanks and fill one (a tall one, and higher up) from the other via a solar pump. This would still only be a couple of metres above the garden (the head of the water would be perhaps 3m above ground), but I reckon it should have enough pressure to supply a gentle water pressure sufficient for vege watering. I would still have the current mains supply connected for any task that requires higher pressure.

    So, the question is, what is your experience with Solar Pumps, and what is a reliable brand? It would be used I suppose once or twice per week when the water level drops to a point where the pressure is insufficient.

    Also could I use the pump for increasing the pressure to the garden, or is that fraught with difficulties in that the water would be on/off on/off all the time but the pump is still running?
    Regards, FenceFurniture

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  3. #2
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    I've had similar thoughts for a rainwater capture system for gardening. My current, and very nebulous, plan is to make use of a solar collector to charge a deep cycle 12v battery which would power an RV tank pump or a marine bilge pump.
    Innovations are those useful things that, by dint of chance, manage to survive the stupidity and destructive tendencies inherent in human nature.

  4. #3
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    A tank at 3m would easily provide enough pressure to water the garden. Especially if you watered via a drip system. (drip system = minimal water usage and less refilling of head tank.)
    The problem you will have is finding a decent pump that is capable of generating enough head pressure to fill the tank.
    A quick google search shows solar pumps costing thousands and thats just for the pump. There are decent DC pumps that could be run from a solar charged battery but you are still going to be paying over $1k for the whole system by the time you get a deep cycle battery and a solar panel.
    Anything like a cheap boat bilge pump will not generate enough head to fill the tank.
    I'll have a look and see if I can find something to do the job and not break the bank. What sort of budget are you thinking of?
    As an alternative, you could install a relatively in-expensive household pressure pump on the garden system. It would work automatically when either the tank or the garden tap called for water.
    Something like this https://www.bunnings.com.au/leader-p...-pump_p4813104 which will generate 38m of head.
    Those were the droids I was looking for.
    https://autoblastgates.com.au

  5. #4
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    Innovations are those useful things that, by dint of chance, manage to survive the stupidity and destructive tendencies inherent in human nature.

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    I live on a farm and all of my water is via pumps, 230v AC, 12v DC and petrol. None is by direct solar though I have solar panels for electricity and hot water.

    Just today I had to start the river pump (petrol) to fill one tank, walk 3k looking for why I wasn't getting any water, stop the pump to fix two splits in the pipe, restart the pump, start a transfer pump (elect) which failed to auto start, to move the water to a higher tank which gravity feeds the cattle troughs.

    Pumps are a PITA if you have to rely on them.

    I totally support NCArcher's suggestion that you use a cheap 230v pressure pump because by the time you pay for a solar/pump/battery installation with all of its control system you will never recover the cost in saved electricity charges. The pump doesn't use a lot of power and is not on for a long time.

    The pump's automatic control system will supply the water as required and protect the pump when the tank is empty. You can also us the pump to move water to a taller tank but this would only be necessary if your second tank is taller than the roof's guttering and I would not recommend this as it is better to leave the system not requiring your intervention.

    There is also a plumbing method to set the tank up so that when it runs out of water it automatically reverts to your mains supply. It is normally used on toilet flushing systems but would work in your case.

  7. #6
    FenceFurniture's Avatar
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    Thanks very much for your responses chaps.


    Quote Originally Posted by NCArcher View Post
    which will generate 38m of head.
    What does this mean? Is it the pressure that would result from a 38m high column of water (which would be very high pressure)?


    Quote Originally Posted by NCArcher View Post
    What sort of budget are you thinking of?
    Well a coupla hundred bucks would be reasonably cost effective. The water usage bill is about $65-85 per quarter without the vege garden. I don't really expect it to increase all that much because I water directly to the base of each plant, rather than an overall spread on the garden. I did get a Hoselink flow meter so I could measure how much water the garden consumes, but the bloody thing broke in first use (unusual for Hoselink quality to be so poor).

    Quote Originally Posted by Bohdan View Post
    you will never recover the cost in saved electricity charges.
    Yes, and this is the whole point of the exercise - saving money in the longer run. By the time I put in two tanks at maybe $500 each, plus a pump (say $250) plus some additional Sharkbite plumbing (say $100 for the joints and inline ball valve), I'm looking at around $1500. That buys a helluva lot of town water for vege garden use.

    Even if my water usage doubled (and it would be nothing like that at all), that's about $1 per day ($90 per quarter additional usage). So that's 1500 days, or 4 years before I save any dough.



    Realistically it would be ten years or more before any saving came through - and by then I won't be here in this property.

    Now I could look for second hand tanks, but they have to be reasonably local to here, and that would diminish the available market drastically.
    Regards, FenceFurniture

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    I used an unwanted above ground swimming pool covered with black plastic and bird wire as a water tank.
    CHRIS

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    I bought a 'seconds' 5kL tank from a manufacturer a few years ago. About 1/4 of the cost of a new tank. It just had an outlet in the wrong place.
    Might be worth ringing around.
    Those were the droids I was looking for.
    https://autoblastgates.com.au

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    Quote Originally Posted by FenceFurniture View Post
    What does this mean?
    Quote Originally Posted by NCArcher View Post
    which will generate 38m of head.
    Is it the pressure that would result from a 38m high column of water (which would be very high pressure)?
    it's the height to which the pump can pump some water.

    In practice you would not want to be trying to pump significant volume above about half that head.
    regards from Alberta, Canada

    ian

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    I recently re-purposed an old 1100L tank to use as a dedicated water supply for garden beds; as a FIFO worker I needed something totally automated and as bullet proof as I could design. I first built a concrete platform about 400mm off the ground and mounted the tank on top of that. The garden beds are raised and have plastic weed matting on the bottom to reduce water draining away and each bed has a ringmain of 1/2" poly pipe all around it with variable flow drippers plumbed in wherever I want water directing. Cane mulch slows down water evaporation. The irrigation is controlled by a basic battery operated timer suitable for low pressure gravity feed; about $40 from the Big Green Shed. The biggest cost was the couple of hundred bucks worth of concrete for the platform but again that could have been done cheaper by using old bricks or blocks from demolition works.

    Beds.jpgChillies.jpg

    You don't need high head pressure for irrigation; if the pressure is low use bigger bore pipe. Don't bother with sprayers; use drippers exactly where the water needs to go or use perforated hose buried under the soil to keep it damp; and don't forget to use mulch liberally.

    KISS; the hottest band in the world and a principle to live by.
    Last edited by Chief Tiff; 17th January 2017 at 04:50 PM. Reason: Photo's added
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