Dr. Seeds' Granddaddy Purple: Coco Grow In Mars Hydro Tent Under TSW-2000

Hey @Old Salt ...

Just wanted to check-in and see how things are shaping up ...
 
Health wise, the pain and discomfort has receded.

In life, we had a load of water delivered and put into the well. As it went into the well it picked up a lot of grit that was pumped into the house, blocking the hot water coil in the furnace, and all of the faucets. Yesterday was spent opening up the lines and clearing them. While I was at it I added a 100 micron spin down sediment filter to prevent this from happening again, and a connection for a rainwater collection system. Today, I get to fix the one slow leak that developed, and return the hot water coil to the furnace. After that, it will be getting the rainwater collection / water storage system finished, starting with new gutters and downspouts.

When finished, the four 275 gallon totes for rainwater collection / water storage can be filled along with the well when we have water delivered. Whether I get one gallon, or 2000 the price is the same, so I may as well have them fill both. Hopefully one delivery along with the rainwater collected will last the year. I designed the collection system to be expandable so I can easily quadruple the storage capacity if needed.

All of this has taken priority over getting the new Mars Hydro tent and TSW-2000 into production.
 
Sounds like you’re In Control of the plumbing issues. Hats off to ya. :high-five:
Of course that comes first.
It often occurs to me how well named ‘pain’ is - coz that’s what pain is, isn’t it? A damn pain. Not making light of yours, OS, just an idle thought escaping.
:yummy: :cool:
 
PE636 said:
Glad you are feeling better over there! Just curious about putting water down the well? What does this do? Other than stir up dirt of course... I've never heard of such a thing I thought water was supposed to come out of wells?!
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We were able to get about 1/2 liter or quart of water per minute from the well. The water pressure was low, and I noticed some fibers in the faucet screens. I thought that the screen at the pump may have been clogged, so I called the well drillers to pull the pump and check it. To pull the pump they have to fill the well, so the water supports the pump, and makes it easier to pull. They filled the well, and within 15 minutes my 1000l pressure tank was at full pressure. That indicated that the problem was not clogging, but a lack of water.The well was essentially dry.

Filling wells is a normal fix when they run dry. Wells can get air-locked when they go dry, as the air makes its way into the aquifer. Filling the well, forces water back into the aquifer and allows the air to bubble out. Think of it as a reset. The reset works if there is water in the aquifer. If not, you have water until what you added is gone. I have neighbors, and a city sharing the the aquifer. Since the city started pumping the water from the aquifer, my well has gone dry at least once per year, usually no longer than a week or so. This year there has been little rain, so the aquifer is pretty much dry. The 1000 gallons it took to fill the well made its way into the aquifer, and was pumped out within a week by the city and my neighbors. Since I don't want to foot the bill for the city and my neighbors, I decided to put in a storage tank. Investigating the options an 1100 gal tank would have cost over $3500. Two hundred seventy five gallon totes cost $200 each, including connecting them together. Adding rainwater collection seems like a good idea to cut my water delivery costs. One inch of rain will give me over 400 gallons of rain water from my roof. Before winter sets in, I will pump the water from storage back into the well. With the expected rain this will take me through the winter, and the totes won't burst due to freezing. In the spring I hope the rain will once again fill the totes, so I won't need water deliveries.
 
Old Salt said:
We were able to get about 1/2 liter or quart of water per minute from the well. The water pressure was low, and I noticed some fibers in the faucet screens. I thought that the screen at the pump may have been clogged, so I called the well drillers to pull the pump and check it. To pull the pump they have to fill the well, so the water supports the pump, and makes it easier to pull. They filled the well, and within 15 minutes my 1000l pressure tank was at full pressure. That indicated that the problem was not clogging, but a lack of water.The well was essentially dry.

Filling wells is a normal fix when they run dry. Wells can get air-locked when they go dry, as the air makes its way into the aquifer. Filling the well, forces water back into the aquifer and allows the air to bubble out. Think of it as a reset. The reset works if there is water in the aquifer. If not, you have water until what you added is gone. I have neighbors, and a city sharing the the aquifer. Since the city started pumping the water from the aquifer, my well has gone dry at least once per year, usually no longer than a week or so. This year there has been little rain, so the aquifer is pretty much dry. The 1000 gallons it took to fill the well made its way into the aquifer, and was pumped out within a week by the city and my neighbors. Since I don't want to foot the bill for the city and my neighbors, I decided to put in a storage tank. Investigating the options an 1100 gal tank would have cost over $3500. Two hundred seventy five gallon totes cost $200 each, including connecting them together. Adding rainwater collection seems like a good idea to cut my water delivery costs. One inch of rain will give me over 400 gallons of rain water from my roof. Before winter sets in, I will pump the water from storage back into the well. With the expected rain this will take me through the winter, and the totes won't burst due to freezing. In the spring I hope the rain will once again fill the totes, so I won't need water deliveries.
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Wow that's a royal pain in the ass! Good thing you're handy or it would be even worse to deal with. I'm all set with water where I live, but in Charlottetown they are always running into low water supply and recently opened up a new well field which helped, but with the population growth going on its bound to be a problem and a big one at that.
I have a buddy in the western states and he isn't allowed to collect rainwater, as the law has earmarked it for the farming industry before it even falls from the sky. Your well must be quite deep is it... if the pump is that hard to pull? Mine is about 50 ft and our cottage is about 60 ft and I can haul it up myself by hand.
Anyways good luck with your project sounds like you have a good plan there!
 
PE636 said:
Wow that's a royal pain in the ass! Good thing you're handy or it would be even worse to deal with. I'm all set with water where I live, but in Charlottetown they are always running into low water supply and recently opened up a new well field which helped, but with the population growth going on its bound to be a problem and a big one at that.
I have a buddy in the western states and he isn't allowed to collect rainwater, as the law has earmarked it for the farming industry before it even falls from the sky. Your well must be quite deep is it... if the pump is that hard to pull? Mine is about 50 ft and our cottage is about 60 ft and I can haul it up myself by hand.
Anyways good luck with your project sounds like you have a good plan there!
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I paid for a well was supposed to be 585' deep. When they measured it when the pump blew , it was less than 480'. My pump is now at 430'. I spent $17,000 to get it drilled, and a new pump installed back in 2003. That price also included a 600' dry hole they drilled first. Four years ago we spent another $1750 as the pump went. Two years ago we spent another $1200, as the line to the pump blew out. The wiring to the pump in the well was replaced with a heavier gauge, The bottom 100' of pipe was replaced with pipe that has a higher pressure rating, and the pump was dropped another fifty feet to get down to 430'. This year it has cost another $290 to get the well inspected and filled. That's $20,240 for water over 15 years, or $1350 per year just for water. City folk get water AND sewage disposal for far less.
 
Old Salt said:
I paid for a well was supposed to be 585' deep. When they measured it when the pump blew , it was less than 480'. My pump is now at 430'. I spent $17,000 to get it drilled, and a new pump installed back in 2003. That price also included a 600' dry hole they drilled first. Four years ago we spent another $1750 as the pump went. Two years ago we spent another $1200, as the line to the pump blew out. The wiring to the pump in the well was replaced with a heavier gauge, The bottom 100' of pipe was replaced with pipe that has a higher pressure rating, and the pump was dropped another fifty feet to get down to 430'. This year it has cost another $290 to get the well inspected and filled. That's $20,240 for water over 15 years, or $1350 per year just for water. City folk get water AND sewage disposal for far less.
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That's terrible!! You may as well drill for oil at those depths at least there might be a return!
When we were setting up our house about 5 yrs ago our well and all associated goods like the pump, pressure tank, wiring, water lines etc came to around 3800. I think the well drilling itself was barely more than half of the cost. We were trying to save money of course, so I did the trenching/backfilling, wiring and installed the submersible pump, pressure tank, all the piping, set up a sediment filter and all that fun stuff myself as I happened to have some experience from a former career in carpentry and from dealing with our cottage water system, so I was lucky that way.. Almost pulled the wires out of the pump control panel when backfilling (oops) but got it done successfully..
Well, that explains why your pump is hard to get out, it must be a beast to lift/push water that high!
Hope you are getting some of this nice weather like here, always makes it more pleasant to be out working!
 
Yes, we are having some nice weather. It's too bad most of the work is inside for now.
 
Vegging Out, 40 Days after Germination

Due to the water problems the plants have not been getting the attention they need. I did manage to transplant them yesterday while I was waiting for the hardware store to open. Training needs to start very soon.

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Granddaddy Purple After Transplant​

I managed to get most of the inside work done yesterday on the water system. A 100 micron spin down sediment filter has been installed. The domestic hot water coil has been cleaned. All the faucets, and the shower head have been cleared. A connection for the water storage tanks has been installed. The only thing left is to clear the hot water line for the kitchen sink. That has been clogged by the dirt pumped up from the well.

I was hoping to get the rainwater collection system working enough to start collecting by today, as we are expecting more than an inch or 25mm of rain. It didn't happen, as the inside problems took precedence. I'm waiting for 2" (50mm) tees to connect the totes together forming a single tank. I can then place them in their final position.

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Four 275 Gallon / 1000 Liter IBC Totes for Water Storage and Rainwater Collection​
 
Lookin good OS!!
 
Stockin up on water is always a good thing! Nice job Salt!
 
Thanks. I've been working on a platform for the totes today. I'm done for the day. If I tried to do more I'd be done for the week.
 
Harness for Water Storage Totes Completed

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Harness to Connect Four Totes​

The harness connects the totes together forming a single storage tank, and provides the fill, drain, and pump connections. The harness consists of 2" EPDM hose, fittings, and cam-lock connectors for the totes. The fill/drain connection is a 2" male cam-lock connector, and the pump connection is a 1" male cam-lock. Both have isolation valves installed. The four totes hold a total of 4150 liters or 1100 US gallons of water.

Hopefully rainwater will be enough to get us through dry summers. If not, I won't be providing free water for the neighbors with each delivery anymore. The tanks will also help prevent more damage to our well. Filling the well with water washes grit down from the sides, filling it in and damaging the submersible pump.

Edit: The totes are available with 2" NPT threads, or 2" male cam-lock connectors. Be sure you know what you are getting. I chose cam-locks rather the plumbing and gluing everything together so I can move things around if needed. I'll also remove the harness in winter, so the hose won't freeze and burst.
 
Vegging Out, 49 Days after Germination

It's been very busy here since my last update. I'm still working at securing our water situation. The storage tanks are mounted, and connected together. Plumbing in the house has been modified to accept a second pump, and has had filters installed to keep the grit out. I need to gear up the pump, and install new gutters for rainwater collection.

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Storage Tanks Installed​


What about the plants you ask? Well they've been pretty much left to their own devices. All I've done is water them, and start their training. They seem to be doing well, in spite of my negligence.


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Front View of the Tent

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Center: Granddaddy Purple #1
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Left: Granddaddy Purple #3

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Right: Granddaddy Purple #2
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The plant on the right will need to be transplanted into a larger container later this week. Training must continue. Work on our water supply must continue while the weather is good enough to work outdoors. It will be a busy week again.
 
You’ve been fighting with your water situation for a while now... it just, can’t be easy can it?

Hopefully your luck spins around and into your favour soon! You deserve some good luck coming your way!:love:
 
Backlipslide said:
You’ve been fighting with your water situation for a while now... it just, can’t be easy can it?

Hopefully your luck spins around and into your favour soon! You deserve some good luck coming your way!:love:
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It's certainly not been a good summer as far as water goes.
  • domestic hot water coil plugged and fixed; then
  • well only produced 1/2 liter per minute, water pressure in the house dropped, used a/c & dehumidifier water for plants. Used RO drain water to flush the toilets.
  • tired of the water restrictions, had the well filled & inspected, resulting in all faucets, taps, and domestic hot water coil getting plugged with grit washed down from sides of the well
  • plumbing pipes, taps, faucets, and domestic hot water coil cleared
  • spin down sediment filter installed
  • second pump connection installed
  • water storage tanks installed

We're at the point now where we can take Hollywood rather than pusser's showers.
It takes two minutes to fill the sink for washing dishes, rather than 20.
We no longer have the "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." rule in the bathroom

So things are starting to look up. :D
 
my opinion only,, indeed,, keep the yellow mellow rule. water does not grow on trees i know you know
 
nivek said:
my opinion only,, indeed,, keep the yellow mellow rule. water does not grow on trees i know you know
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Yeah, but it's falling free from the sky now that we've entered the fall rainy season :D
We're getting about an inch (25mm) per week now. Soon that will rise to too much water! :rofl:
 
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