Wild West in Galicia – New solar pump experiment
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Here in the Ribeira Sacra we had only a couple of drops of rain in the last 8 or more weeks.
The lush green of pasture is replaced by a more barren, brownish look.
Given the right “find” a suitable fence post and one can easily believe to be in the Wild West rather than the Ribeira Sacra.
The demand on water has reached its peak as the ground is now realy dry and even established plants do struggle to get their roots down far enough.
Fortunately this year, so far, we have had no serious fires nearby but it is still an anxious time to come and every time the fire planes do fly one inevitable has a good look round.
Due to the demand on water I have now dug out an abandoned well at the far end of our land. This well always showed water except in the dry time.
When I cut back the surrounding bushes, I got nicely stung by nettles but managed to lower myself down. Poking with the spade in the mud the reward was immediate and just clearing out a bit of the collected debris and mud I had water.
This well is presently about 2 Meters deep and between 50 to 75 Meters distant from where we need the water.
The total maximum lift is 5 Meters and I installed a second solenoid pump.
If you are interested in such sollutions please have a look here - Eco water – Solar pumping Galicia
As I’m writing this the pump delivers 1.5Liters/Minute during peak hours (12-5pm) and about half this for a couple of hours before and after. This is due to the angle and position of the solar panel. Again with a slight angle to the sun and a white background this seem to be the optimal position. Overall we gain about 5-600Liters / day and this pump keeps our second tank nicely topped up.
Overall Barbara now has about 1100 Liters/day to play with, which is at present a bit more than we need but after this year success with vegetables we have already decided to clear a new additional patch for vegetables and for this it was important to check that we have enough solar pumping capacity.
Now I have to leave this ost and water my 5 olive trees (in the making). Olives surprisingly need water in August / September when the fruit set and grown. Although only 18 month old three litle trees already show olives – not enough to think about an olive press – but nice.
So long
Expat
PS This weekend Saturday 10:30pm is Dance under Moonlight – Bailar la luz da lua – Sober – Be there!
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