Well & Pump at a clinic in Haiti

[KeithWHare]

Why not just pump the higher tank and gravity feed the lower one from the upper one. Just add a float valve on the lower and a float switch on the upper.

That is a possibility, but it depends on a lot of things that not yet designed. However, the potential building will need its own power, so pump can be worked into its design if gravity is insufficient. I just need to make sure anything we do this summer can be expanded with minimal re-work.

In the mean time, anyone have suggestions for either a timer or switch controlled by the charge controller (Outback FM60) so that the pump only runs during daylight hours?

Keith

[Cariboocoot]

In the mean time, anyone have suggestions for either a timer or switch controlled by the charge controller (Outback FM60) so that the pump only runs during daylight hours?

Keith

The OB has an AUX function that can trigger a relay under programmed conditions such as the charger being in Absorb or Float mode. It would probably be more beneficial to use a Voltage-controlled switch to limit the pump, however. http://www.solar-electric.com/volcon.html

[mike95490]

...In the mean time, anyone have suggestions for either a timer or switch controlled by the charge controller (Outback FM60) so that the pump only runs during daylight hours? Keith

I used a standard intermatic timer (old style with clockwork AC motor, and trip levers) to control the AC to the Contactor Relay for my pump. I do worry if there are a couple of cloudy days, of killing my batteries at noon, with a big pump running with no sun.

[KeithWHare]

How does a the Grundfos float switch work? That is, is it possible to set the depth at which the float switch transitions from full to needs filling and back?



Thanks
Keith

[BB.]

Generally, that type of float switch works by anchoring the cord to the wall of the tank about a foot or so from the float...

As the water goes down, the cord end rises and the switch turns on. As the tank fills, the cord end is pulled level or down and the switch turns off.

Make sure you have clear room around the switch... If in a small diameter chamber or near an obstruction, the floats can be held underwater (and flood your furnace pit ).

If it is critical that the pump no run continuously (draw down battery bank, overfilled take floods building, etc.), then you should have an alarm (timer on the pump that turns on after 10 minutes, float or other high water level sensor alarm, etc.).

Assume that anything can fail--and what would be the results.

-Bill

[inetdog]

Generally, that type of float switch works by anchoring the cord to the wall of the tank about a foot or so from the float...

As the water goes down, the cord end rises and the switch turns on. As the tank fills, the cord end is pulled level or down and the switch turns off.

Make sure you have clear room around the switch... If in a small diameter chamber or near an obstruction, the floats can be held underwater (and flood your furnace pit ).

If it is critical that the pump no run continuously (draw down battery bank, overfilled take floods building, etc.), then you should have an alarm (timer on the pump that turns on after 10 minutes, float or other high water level sensor alarm, etc.).

Assume that anything can fail--and what would be the results

-Bill

See this thread for an example of what can go wrong.....

If you are trying to change the difference in level between turn-on and turn-off, changing the distance to the cord attachment *might* have an effect.

[KeithWHare]

Yet another configuration question...

We have a Grundfos 6 SQF-2 pump and the Grundfos CU200 control unit.

We are currently planning on running the pump off of the inverter, although this pump gives us the option of adding additional pv panels and running off of DC. The inverter (MS4024 sine wave) produces 120 volt AC.

There will be about 300 feet of #10 wire (one way distance) between the controller and the pump.

My current thought is:

120 volt -> CU200 -> 300 feet of wire -> pump

I also have a 120-240 volt auto transformer (Outback PSX-240) available, so I could do:

120 volt -> Transformer -> 240 volt -> CU200 -> 300 feet of wire -> pump

However, I am concerned that the transformer will add a parasitic load when the pump is not running. Can anyone tell me how much load an idle transformer would add?

Another option would be to put the transformer between the CU200 and the pump:

120 volt -> CU200 -> Transformer -> 240 volt ->300 feet of wire -> pump

Does anyone know if adding a transformer would prevent the CU2000 from getting whatever information it gets from the pump?

Keith

[KeithWHare]

We've now installed the Grundfos 6 SQF-2 at the clinic in Haiti.

Overall, the installation went very well, but there was one big surprise. I had been figuring on rolled black pipe, or schedule 80 PVC. We were unable to find either in Port au Prince, so we ended up using 1" galvanized pipe.

13 sections of 19' (5 meters) galvanized pipe.

We were not able to find a well service truck, so we used pipe wrenches and manual labor.

We started off with two large pipe wrenches and two smaller ones. With the pump and seven sections of pipe in the well, it became very clear that we needed more help, which meant we needed more pipe wrenches. So Paul made a trip to a plumbing supply store to purchase two additional large pipe wrenches. That trip took two hours, which is pretty good for a plumbing run in Port au Prince.

The extra pipe wrenches helped but the assembly was pretty heavy by the last section.

Starting the pump and first section


Adding another section


Last section and the well seal


Once we had the pump in place, getting it wired went pretty quickly. We started installing the pump on Monday morning. By 3:10 PM Monday afternoon, we were pumping water!

Water is flowing!


Getting the pump controller and the float switch wired took a bit longer, but that also came together fairly quickly. The pump starts up very softly and peaks at 470 to 480 watts pumping about 6 gallons per minute. Filling the 480 gallon roof tank took about 80 minutes.

470 watts pumping about 6 gallons per minute


The inverter (a Magnum MS4024) produces 120 volts, so we used a 120-240volt transformer to increase the voltage on the theory that the higher voltage results in less line loss and so balances out the overhead of the transformer. There was an existing #6 wire from the electrical panel and the corner of the building nearest the well. We used #10 wire between the building and the pump.

There was a ½” empty conduit from the roof into the electrical panel. This made it easy to run the float switch. The wires from the pump controller to the pump run back through the transformer conduit into the electrical panel. This meant we didn’t have to chisel out another chuck of concrete to get into the electrical panel.

The Grundfos 6 SQF-2 is capable of running on either AC (90 to 250 volts) or DC (30 to 300 volts). We used AC at this point, but the pump gives us the option of adding extra PV panels dedicated just to the pump.

We discussed using a mechanical clock timer to control when the pump could run, but decided against it for a couple of reasons. First, it would have made the setup more complicated. Second, if the inverter does hit the low voltage shutoff, the timer would shutoff and so would end up with the wrong time. By setting a reasonable low voltage shutoff, the worst case is the power shuts off until someone turns the inverter back on in the morning. If the power shuts off too frequently, people will learn to conserve.

Water flowing into the roof tank and the float switch


Once we got the roof tank filled, it was a simple matter of working with the plumber to track down leaks. We went through 750 to 1000 gallons before finding all of the leaks, but by the end of the week we had things in pretty good shape.

We added several gallons of bleach to the well early on, but since I know of a couple of other wells relatively close by that are open, I was not willing to drink the water. There is a group going down in October that will run tests on the water and look at the possibility of adding an UV purification system, probably in a separate building with a separate power source. Having water at the clinic is a big help as previously they were hauling water from about a mile away.

A local mason did a nice job of building an enclosure around the well head. A locking cover is in the works. We also installed a water meter so we can track how much water we are actually using.

[Cariboocoot]

I have to say I'm happy to read this conclusion!
Those of us who live in the lands of modern amenities all too often forget that much of the world does not enjoy such seemingly simple things as running water.

Success stories are always welcome here.

[KeithWHare]

I have to say I'm happy to read this conclusion!
Those of us who live in the lands of modern amenities all too often forget that much of the world does not enjoy such seemingly simple things as running water.

Success stories are always welcome here.

I'm relieved to be able to write about a success. It still scares me a bit to look at the pictures and think that we installed a pump 250 feet deep on galvanized pipe with pipe wrenches.

I was also relieved when all of our luggage showed up. I'd purchased the Grundfos pump and controller from our host, NAWS. We wrapped the pump in one leg each of two pair of old blue jeans. The duct tape we started with was replaced with TSA packaging tape, but it made the trip with no problem.

And to top it off, when we put it together, it actually pumped water! Obsessing on the details before hand, and reading everything I could find on this forum and in the Grundfos documentation paid off.

From watching the information the MagTap is posting to the Magnum web site, it looks like we are pumping every other day or so.

I was pleased with how the pump and controller worked. The power usage and gallons per minute I was estimating from looking at the Grundfos documentation were pretty accurate.

One of the fun things about a project like this is working with local people. There is no way we would have gotten the pump installed without a lot of help.

Keith