milkmaid":iifvd97f said:
Can't you just put in a well at the house? We live in the country where everyone has their own well and the only connection we have to our neighbors is that most of us have tapped into the same aquifer (250+ feet down).
Haven't heard too much about solar, can't help you there. We do have a small solar panel that runs the electric fence and works well, but that's all I know.
There is already a LOW volume solar DC pump on a well there. We are planning on drilling a new well to use for livestock watering and limited pasture irrigation using a 220V probably 2 HP well pump. This well pump will be run off a generator when we need to fill tanks and do some limited watering.
The well water at the new location, according to well drillers, is very hard with a high calcium/magnesium component (aka "gyp" water) which they say is very adequate for livestock and farm irrigation. But, "they" say the water is "not good" to drink. Until I actually taste the water and have it tested at a Lab I can't offer an opinion one way or another on its actual quality. If, in fact, the water sand at the place is very hard then it would be difficult, inconvenient, expensive to treat it sufficiently for household faucets, appliances clear of mineral/scale buildup.
On a sidebar, "rainwater" collection in our neck of the woods is not feasible. Our "average" rainfall in our area between 2002 and 2008 that we've been around here has ranged from about 16 to 26" a year! Average is about 22" a year. We get hot in the Eastern Texas Panhandle, have lots of year around wind that discourages rain...lol. We can go 2 to 3 months without even a rain "shower" (when its needed the most for pastures, etc.)