Solar Power Well Pump Idea Thing
Hello, I've been thinking lately about moving out to the desert lately and living off the grid with a well, but I'm not sure my base idea for pulling up water from a well will actually work.
My idea is to have a line running up from the well (ending in a one way valve) to the bottom of essentially a steel water trough with a glass lip on top making it airtight. A pvc would run from a hole in the top to a water storage tank to move water vapors up there and condense them.
My hoped mechanism of action would be as the air heats up in the trough due to the sunlight it would force the water up from the well little by little and evaporate it.
My question is, will this actually pull up water from the well or would I have to buy a solar pump?
I don't need lots of water fast or high pressure, the water storage will gravity feeds and collect throughout each day.
My other idea which I'm pretty sure will work is having the showers, sinks, and washer (using a compost toilet) feed a one way line out to the hotbox too. If as little as 50% of the water makes it back into the lines that way then I will have cut my water usage in half.
What does everybody think?
Discussions
2 years ago
Out of curiosity, there is a sort of Stirling engine, called a Fluidyne, which can be used for applications like this, if I remember correctly. There are no moving parts but water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluidyne_engine
2 years ago
you could get an artisan well then you wouldn't need a pump
Answer 2 years ago
You probably do not live in a desert as I do..
The closest we have to artesian is boiling fumaroles with dissolved arsenic !!!
Some hot pools with undercut edges where cattle and curious city folk drop in to die !!!
Answer 2 years ago
oh....
2 years ago
That sounds good and not that hard, what do you guys think about reusing the house water and still evaporating the water to get it up to the water storage?
Answer 2 years ago
It gets tried at Burningman now and then with no potable success and a pungent sewer like stink.
2 years ago
One of the most efficient methods is , as Iceng says, use a submersible pump at the bottom to push the water out. A pump has to work to push the entire column of water up. A surface pump has to try and SUCK the water up, which is harder. The methods plants use is to evaporate the water at the top which then pulls the water up to replace what is evaporated. They make livestock pumps with solar power to keep water throughs full.
2 years ago
As the water evaporates in your airtight tank, the pressure will push any water back into the well source.
Desert dwellers are very careful not to contaminate any potable water.
Why don't you invest in a still-suit or get a small submersible electric water pump and a $30 solar panel to raise the water from your well to that shaded tank !