The Context
In 2007 we bought our land. In 2007 and 2008, we irrigated the fields from an old dug well. The guy we bought our land from said "It never runs dry."
At first, we dunked buckets in the well and carried it uphill to the fields. (See the happy photo at right). A royal pain, not to mention a good way to injure neck and back muscles. I really began to feel for those women in Africa.
Then Dave rigged up a rather ingenious system for not much money. A gas-powered pump pumped the water uphill through piping to a massive Rubbermaid container (350 gallons) elevated on old railroad ties. Irrigation pipes gravity fed the water to our fields when necessary.
Still a pain, but better than the bucket system. Until the well ran dry. OK, not completely. But in the summer we could only fill the container once a day. And it was a long, hot, dry summer. Dave ended up loading the 350-gallon container in the back of the truck in search of puddles. No joke. We drew water from a nearby pond and from our neighbours´ old dug well.
Enough, we said. In 2008, we drilled two wells. Why two? Because the first 500+ foot well got mighty expensive and didn't hit enough water to supply a farm. So we cut our losses and decided to drill elsewhere. For the second well, we got a dowser. I don't believe in them, but our dowser is a friend and he offered his services for free. Why not, I thought?
He pointed to the spot where he said three veins of water intersected. He said we'd hit the first vein at 27 feet, the second at 90 feet, and the third at 290 feet for a combined 15 gallons a minute.
We sent the driller in again. After 450 feet, not a drop. Dave was suicidal. Finally, at 500 feet, we got 13 gallons a minute, which is enough. Needless to say, I still don't believe in dowsing.
So we had water. But you can't use a drilled well without a pump and piping. We had neither.
The Pump and Its Installation
Full play-by-play, with photos!
At the Common Ground Fair in 2008, just before the economy tanked, we ordered a fancy-dancy Bison hand pump, made right here in Maine (Houlton, even farther north than we are). See photo at left - ain't she a beaut? We thought the price could only go up. We haven't checked since just in case the price went down. The pump and the related contraptions sat in our garage all winter.
So imagine the excitement that abounded when one day in July 2009 Dave said, "Mark* and I are going to install the pump next week." (Conjure up Handel here. Not to be confused with handle, as in a pump).
(*Mark Llewellyn is our carpenter, former neighbour and general "Man of the Hour" when it comes to construction.)
I can clearly hear you asking, "How the heck do you install a pump?" I was wondering exactly the same thing, so I insisted on documenting the action when Dave and Mark put ours in.
Some questions I had:
How deep does the damn thing have to go?
(Depends on how deep the well is. Duh.)
But if it has to go down 60-feet or so, how do you stand up a 60-foot length of pipe and then lower it in?
(You don't. You connect rods inside the pipe together, and lower them down in sections.)
How do you keep the pump and the pipe from falling in before you connect the next piece?
(The very smart engineers at Bison came up with numerous ways to make this unlikely, if not impossible.)
What happens if it falls in anyway?
(You're in trouble. And out a fair bit of cash. DO NOT let it fall in. Repeat: DO NOT let it fall in.)
What happens if you get it in and then have to pull it out again?
(It can be done. But it is heavy and we recommend three people and a ladder. We only had to pull out the last length because we forgot to drill a tiny little hole in the pipe to protect against freezing.)
