I can't go Green, and this is why:

[MossRoad]

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Moss, even if empty, once filled, a solar pump would keep it topped off indefinatly whenever the sun is out.

RD

What I'm getting at is that pump may not be big enough to overcome the evaporation rate, depending on the size of your pond, of course. As I mentioned, we have a 24' pool. It's surface area is approximately 450 sq. ft. If I leave the cover off, I can lose 1/8 inch a day to evaporation. That's approximately 60 cubic feet of water, or about 450 gallons. An 1100 gallon per day pump would only be able to keep up an approximately 1100 sq. ft. pond at the evaporation rate I experience. That's about a 38' diameter pond. I just don't want to see you buy a pump that is undersized for your needs, that's all.

Best of luck with your project.

 

[skent]

Moss, I think you're calculations are off a little. I have a similar sized pool (24' dia 48" deep) at 12000 for the total pool, it works out to about 250 gallons per inch of depth, (250 X 48" = 12,000) and I also lose 1/8 an inch a week for evaporation, and I usually need to run my hose (rated 4 gallons per minute) for about an hour a week to make up the loss. That works out to about 240 gallons a week. or around 34 gallons per day.

 

[MossRoad]

Moss, I think you're calculations are off a little. I have a similar sized pool (24' dia 48" deep) at 12000 for the total pool, it works out to about 250 gallons per inch of depth, (250 X 48" = 12,000) and I also lose 1/8 an inch a week for evaporation, and I usually need to run my hose (rated 4 gallons per minute) for about an hour a week to make up the loss. That works out to about 240 gallons a week. or around 34 gallons per day.

Hmm... could be. I ain't so good in math. I just don't want to see the guy spend thousands of dollars on a solar pump that may not be big enough for the pond size. That's all.

 

[RonMar]

Hmm... could be. I ain't so good in math. I just don't want to see the guy spend thousands of dollars on a solar pump that may not be big enough for the pond size. That's all.

A 1/8" thick by 24' diameter circle contains 8143 CU/IN or about 35 1/4 gallons...

 

[MotorSeven]

I hear ya Moss, and I have raised this question to the Robinson owner. He assures me that his system will be sufficient. It seems to be a very solid business that has been doing farm solar tank, pond & well pumping since the 80's. Their new brushless pump is rated for 20,000 hrs of use before re-build. As you can tell I am leaning in their (Robinsn)direction.
My permit to pump from the creek got lost>(, so I had to fill out a new one and drop off a drawing of the intended system. They(DNR) want a float switch to eliminate wasted water and/or overflow back to the creek. At least it's a cheap addition.
A gravity flow system would be the best way to go, but I calculate I would need 6' of grade upstream on the creek, and my guess is that would require well over 1500'(and across my neighbors pasture). I would have to put in a 1.5 inch pipe as opposed to a 1/2 inch for the solar which puts the cost somewhere in the $800 range for pipe alone....if gravity will work on my land.
I'll update when I pull the trigger.............

RD

 

[Redneck in training]

I was also considering getting wind turbine. I have the space to do it but not the money. I don't understand why the wind turbines are so expensive. They are simple machines with only few parts but they cost twice the cost of an average car that is composed of many complicated parts. I figured in my case it would take over 20 years to pay back the expense. I think if the cost of wind power would drop to half we would see thousands of them installed. I would need about 20 to 25 kW machine because my house is 100% electric except propane backup heating.

 

[Paystar]

I had a friend here local that was going to start a business selling personal windmills. He sourced motors from China (ya, I know, but it was the only way to make it economical) He had it down to 4 to 5 thousand to power a home. I don't know all the details or how it worked but long story short....drove out of business before he got started by local utility provider. You know how they say if you generate more power than you use, well the utility company had it so it would cost a homeowner $10,000.00 to tie his system into your home panel. Long story short he gave up on the idea knowing not many wouls sell with those kind of costs involved. ROI would take forever.
I'm not a fan of all this "green" stuff. Just like my big trucks. $10,000.00 more purchase price for all this new exhaust emmissions crap that takes some particulate matter out of the exhaust. What's the trade off you ask? New big rigs went from 8 to 3 mpg. Burn twice the fuel with an unreliable turd for a couple less parts per million of soot in the exhaust. Right on. Would it have not been just as easy to clean up the off road fuel and furnance oil to close the the ppm level of on road fuel to get the same net result? What a joke.
The governments want you to go green but all this crap is twice as expensive and they offer no incentives to make your investment worth while.

 

[RonMar]

I had a friend here local that was going to start a business selling personal windmills. He sourced motors from China (ya, I know, but it was the only way to make it economical) He had it down to 4 to 5 thousand to power a home. I don't know all the details or how it worked but long story short....drove out of business before he got started by local utility provider. You know how they say if you generate more power than you use, well the utility company had it so it would cost a homeowner $10,000.00 to tie his system into your home panel. Long story short he gave up on the idea knowing not many wouls sell with those kind of costs involved. ROI would take forever.
I'm not a fan of all this "green" stuff. Just like my big trucks. $10,000.00 more purchase price for all this new exhaust emmissions crap that takes some particulate matter out of the exhaust. What's the trade off you ask? New big rigs went from 8 to 3 mpg. Burn twice the fuel with an unreliable turd for a couple less parts per million of soot in the exhaust. Right on. Would it have not been just as easy to clean up the off road fuel and furnance oil to close the the ppm level of on road fuel to get the same net result? What a joke.
The governments want you to go green but all this crap is twice as expensive and they offer no incentives to make your investment worth while.

I agree, with the loss in efficiency that these new requirements cause, I can't possibly see how burning more of anything can be good for the environment...

 

[Redneck in training]

I had a friend here local that was going to start a business selling personal windmills. He sourced motors from China (ya, I know, but it was the only way to make it economical) He had it down to 4 to 5 thousand to power a home. I don't know all the details or how it worked but long story short....drove out of business before he got started by local utility provider. You know how they say if you generate more power than you use, well the utility company had it so it would cost a homeowner $10,000.00 to tie his system into your home panel. Long story short he gave up on the idea knowing not many wouls sell with those kind of costs involved. ROI would take forever.
I'm not a fan of all this "green" stuff. Just like my big trucks. $10,000.00 more purchase price for all this new exhaust emmissions crap that takes some particulate matter out of the exhaust. What's the trade off you ask? New big rigs went from 8 to 3 mpg. Burn twice the fuel with an unreliable turd for a couple less parts per million of soot in the exhaust. Right on. Would it have not been just as easy to clean up the off road fuel and furnance oil to close the the ppm level of on road fuel to get the same net result? What a joke.
The governments want you to go green but all this crap is twice as expensive and they offer no incentives to make your investment worth while.

I am definitely not for meaningless government programs but it seems to me that the change in fuel consumption from 8 to 3 mpg is unreal. Speaking about soot and similar particulates. I used to live in Rome about 23 years back. The air pollution was so bad that the air was just blue haze, burning your eyes and lungs. It was clearly poisonous. There was also resistance to catalytic converters etc but when I visited Rome few years later the traffic was about the same but the haze and stink was gone. So removing particulates matter I suppose. In the same time fuel consumption of modern cars (per unit of mass) is better than ever before. Don't know about big rigs though.