Now that the weather is beginning to stabilize, The list of
outdoor projects is mounting. Way up on the priority list is
water security, which I may have touched on in previous posts.
In light of the heavy rains during the winter, it appears the
shallow 20' well on the lower far side of the property has been
performing well during the winter season keeping the storage tank
full.  The water table in that location is very close to the
surface as the vegetation in the area stays lush and green even
through the dry season when the rest of the vegetation has turned
brown.  Even during the dry season last year, the well was
providing sufficient water although we do have to be judicious in
our consumption.

I brought out a solar contractor to look into the feasibility of
installing a solar well pump.  Uninterrupted sun in that section
of the property is a bit of a challenge because of the trees.
Despite these shortcomings, the contractor believes that with
some minor trimming of trees, we should be able to put a panel on
a pole at the pump house and get 3 to 4 hours of sun.  This
should be sufficient to power a solar pump long enough to keep
the storage tank topped up. If his estimate is not a budget
buster, the plan would be to install a solar pump along side the
regular a/c pump since the 20" casing will easily accommodate 2
pumps.  The plumbing and electrical would be worked out in such a
way that in the event that circumstances required, we could
easily switch over to the a/c pump.  This arrangement would not
require any batteries or charge controller.

Although we do have grid power, our remote area does not get
priority status in the event of a power failure.  Thankfully PG&E
has been quite good at restoring power fairly quickly after a
failure, but there have been occasions after a major storm that
we have been without power for days.  In the house, we can manage
with a protracted outage (may be a blessing), but water is
critical which was the reason we chose to install a water tank.
Living out in the sticks, one learns these lessons quickly.

In the event the reader has not had enough of the government
propaganda machine, here is another morsel.  Evidence is strong
that the White House Report implicating the Syrian government in
the sarin gas attack in Khan Sheikhoun is either grossly
erroneous or just plain falsified:

http://tinyurl.com/mstuu2z

The U.S. has been doing a lot of saber rattling lately.  I am not
sure what this portends.

And in case the reader has not had enough doom porn.  This
article points out how disparities are usually balanced out in a
rather nasty fashion.

http://tinyurl.com/zcxe2bu

Have a nice day.