Installing the submersible pump in the well

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 October 3, 2022


Well, have you ever put off something for a while because you were dreading it?  That's me in this case.  It wasn't that it would be terribly hard, but I had never done it before and was a bit scared of the idea of maybe I'd bitten off more than I could chew.   

But last Friday I made the decision that today was the day to install the pump down in the well.   Part of the decision was because I just wanted to get it done and stop dreading it, and partly because the house is getting to the point where we have to hook some water up to it.   So Friday, I got my Architect/Manager to agree that he'd help me today and I got to the ranch about 9 and we jumped right in.

I already had the pump, and cables, and wiring, and pvc fittings and plenty of PVC tubes to reach down 13 meters.  We got those all out of the bodega and Salvador helped us carry it all down, and then . . .we jumped into the project.   To my great benefit, neither of them knew how to do it, so I didn't look like a complete idiot.  I knew in my mind how it was supposed to be done, and I just patiently took it step by step and they followed my lead, lent a hand when I needed it, and, thank goodness, helped me hold the things suspended in the hole while we lowered, and added another joint of 3m tubing, and then repeated the process 4 times to get it down to the bottom.  In the end, we had it down about 13 meters which put the pump in the water about 1 meter.  The bottom of the well is about 14.5m.  

When I bought the pump, (called in Spanish a "bomb") I had the company attach a strong cable to it.   The cable is tied off at the top now that it's suspended in the well, and so it's really just hanging there.  You can actually touch the tubing and it will sway.    Then coming out of the well, we had to elbow it do come over to the pressure tank.  The pump is set to come on when the pressure in the tank gets down to 30 psi and then it shuts off when the pressure builds up to 50 psi.  If we were perhaps running a water hose to water the planting beds, the pump might just sit and keep running the entire time.   Since the well is right next to the planting beds, I put in a T connection so that I can have a water hose faucet there at the well, and then another line that goes to the house.

I confess to having a little trouble using only my hands to tighten the joints of tubing together and had to use 2 pipe wrenches.  My palms were so sweaty from working and leaning over a large hole that just goes straight down for about 14.5 meters to the bottom.  Fortunately for me, my Mayana colleagues have no such apprehension and just worked over the top of the well helping me hold it in place and dangling their legs over the side like it was nothing.   :-)

Warning:  G rated photo below of me without my shirt.  It was 30C and I was drenched in sweat.  G rated for Gross.   lol      Which also leads me to think that the Mayans much have different sweat glands than me, because I looked like I stepped out of a shower all day, and they didn't show a sign.







Besides the well pump, we also made more progress on the stonework for the front porch and the masonry work on the solar bodega.  We're getting very close to finished.  Maybe this week and next?






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