The Well

I have been considering putting in solar for the entire house.  That would be quite a project, and one that I don't have the money to do.  The voltage for the well is different than the rest of the house.  Solar would be cheaper if I didn't have this issue. 

I spoke with Chris from Real Goods and he said that for about $1800 I could get a kit that would include a new well pump, solar panel, controller, and a storage tank.  He said that this would pump about 500 gallons a day.  He said the next size larger would pump two to three times as much for $5000.  I guess I need to figure out how much water we actually use.  It's easy for someone who has a water meter.  I was told that I could purchase an in-line meter to count the gallons. 

Another way to take care of the water issue would be to get a large storage tank and capture the water that comes off the barn room during the rain.  We get about 10-12 inches of rain here per year.  If the barn is 2400 square feet and you get 600 gallons per 1000 square feet per inch of rain, then I could capture about 1500 gallons per inch of rain.  That would be 15000 gallons per year.  Sounds good to me except that's an awful big tank.  We wouldn't be able to have a 5000 gallon tank and call it good with the expectation that it would refill as we use it because our rain falls within a three month period. 

Unfortunately I have NO CLUE about how much water we use.  I know in a survival situation they say to expect to use one gallon per person per day.  We also have animals who need water year round.  The garden and fruit trees need water during the late spring, summer, and fall.  Whichever way I go, this will be taken care of by next summer.  Hopefully I will not be too late...