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12V bilge pump
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Happy growing!
we have a really beautiful sunny day today and I’m doing some work in our little cattle panel High tunnel yes this thing is still here I made a video I’ll try to link to it here of the original build still the original plastic still the same structure cost $150 was it 8 years ago maybe even longer um anyway what I’m trying to do today is get this place prepped so that I can plant hot peppers to grow for the season I want to share some notes on ways of taking collected rainwater and being a little bit more effective in how we can send that water into a space most folks that watch this channel know that we work pretty much exclusively with collected rain water we use solar panels and pumps to move water around in fact this water just a quick quick side detour bear with me if you already know this just past the pups Lenny and tableman George is the origin of that water which are those rain tanks there rainwaters collected off of our roof down through the gutters into the tank very very very slowly slowly across this hose it eases its way slightly up slope but not fully up slope to this tank and then we’ve got these float valves I’ll talk about those in more detail for the most part the way this works is I have a watering can we dip in we fill the watering can we water in the high tunnel now this space has been not abandoned but left to its own devices for quite a while this season the north side is beautiful with rose Campion and um mioga Ginger the south side is where the hot peppers go it needs a lot of irrigation and for me right now to fill this can 20 times and Hike it in I think I’d like to have a pump help me I’m going to look in the front at another high tunnel where we’ve been experimenting with an improvement on this idea right now I’m walking through the jungle of our front yard to the same size High tunnel uh cattle panel High tunnel this is four cattle panels and this year this space is producing uh just finally getting up to speed so slow so beautiful um turmeric got a whole pile in here and we’ve got some on the south side we’re allowing the kale that was in here to keep growing and slowly transitioning it to turmeric it takes a lot of water to have these happy so up until recently I will show you exactly how we dealt with watering we took this old watering can this has a leak or two but nothing too bad nothing little tape can’t help and we’ve got this 55 gallon plastic drum cut off it’s got a float valve it’s got some mosquito larvae but that’s just more protein to feed the turmeric you can see the float valve lets the water refill you can see the leak water stuff on the way and here I go with one gallon two gallons of water walking through the sun chokes carrying it now Sasha does a allow this watering too she’s holding Zelda A lot of the time we water that’s why we like cutting these off cuz they flow more easily and that lets me water in here that lets us water in here but each time time we we have to walk out of the high tunnel we have to dip in we have to carry it back over and there we go I need about eight of these to do this tunnel nicely there’s a better way so you can see I’ve got this hose here this was a decent quality hose that we invested in a ways back that is threaded onto in fact I’ll show this in more detail in a bit but let me demonstrate for now we’ve got a 12vt buge pump I’ve talked about these in the past we can do deeper Dives on this I’m just giving an over VI in this one uh $20 pump 12vt DC and it’s wired up you can see I’ve got it in this container so that’s a little bit easier to manage it and we let that container go nice and into the tank very elegantly wired together it’s a low voltage situation so I’m not worried about shocking or anything like that we got a fuse just in case there’s an issue and you can see the float valve is refilling this automa ically and I’m using a used battery we looked online found on eBay somebody was selling used lithium iron phosphate batteries they’re like 40 bucks a pop we can recharge from our solar array but I could also just hook this directly to a solar panel but anyway so 12vt battery this could be an old truck battery it could be a lot of different things doesn’t have to be Anderson power pole it could be little alligator clips you name it but a battery or a solar panel is now running that pump that is in that tank that’s Auto automatically refilling and I’m wasting water now cuz I’ve got a fullon beautiful jet of water so Sasha when she’s with Zelda can use one hand and water really comfortably and we can water up to 45 or 50 gallons before that tank is empty then we just simply unplug give it a few hours to recharge we really don’t need more than about 20 gallons at a time to extremely high at this space a turmeric is a very thirsty crop as far as we understand and seems to really respond to this ample watering so this is an upgrade of saying okay we’ve got these little rainwater collection spaces throughout we’ve got these little tanks with float valves that keep them topped off I’ll put notes in the description for some of the details of what you can search for but then for $20 for the pump $4 for a battery or it could have been a free battery could just be a used solar panel or one with cracks in it who cares 12vt system lets us pump the water very comfortably while we get the soil in here extremely hydrated B has been really thoroughly hydrated the other day so it doesn’t actually need it so I’m going to take the battery I’m going to take this $2 watering wand I got at the reuse store that gives us a rose water so we can spread the water out a little bit instead of beating up the soil and we’ll take the pump and migrate it into the back and put it in the other tank this will be the first time I’m using it back here so it may may not work I have a feeling it will it’s a pretty simple idea uh pretty straightforward if this was extremely Mucky soil like bottom of a pond or really really algae or mud we’d want a better filter around that pump but Bill pumps are pretty good at handling a fair bit of debris and this tank is relatively clean George likes drinking out of it don’t you George he’s being shy but anyway so that’s in there I can bring the hose in I’m really leaning towards the idea of a dedicated pump for this tunnel and I can just cut the hose and put an end on it that’s the exact length of the tunnel instead of hiking all this extra but let me get the hose in let me get the rose water and I will plug it in and see how it works and share it as we go George you excited not really okay the hose has the rose water on the end so I’m hooking up the battery and that’s pumping nice definitely more hose than we need here it’s kind of a mess but that’s fine this is proof of concept I can hear some promising sounds are going and now I can just hang out in here and chat with you lovely folks while I get to rehydrate the heck out of this soil so I’m going to focus the hydration mainly on the areas where we’re going to be planting Peppers so like it’s in the middle of the beds I want to make sure if I run out of time or bandwidth that these are the areas that get it first but this basically is good as having a well system our whole Farm has run off grid um at least the farming aspects our home isn’t but our farm is and so the rain water it’s been almost entirely hauling by hand and at 8 lb a gallon I like the idea of little upgrades like this um by all means it could be used pumps you can go to a local Marine uh store if you live near a body of water and see what’s there you can find them online but those are not too expensive uh as a new thing the hose you can definitely get for free or cheap and repair these sorts of heads you can get from local reuse stores and see um wiring you can do from scrap wire it’s a very low voltage low energy system so lots of opportunity there and the battery like I said we’re using a battery uh lithium iron phosphate because it’s a little bit lighter and uh more portable but you could definitely just use a UPS battery or an old truck battery we can go into some more details on this if there’s interest it’s a little bit of a lift for me to take the time and like record a video making them from scratch but if there’s real interest I can show how we wire all this stuff together it’s janky it works but here I am watering in this High tunnel like a regular waterer it’s pretty pleasurable so you can see all the ingredients here at play the battery providing 12 VTS now it could be that instead of that I use a solar panel this one’s a little undersized for the pump I’m using the challenge is that we like to water early in the morning or in the evenings or overcast moments like right now and so there’s a variability You’ need a a solar panel that’s about twice as powerful as what the pump wants this one’s not powerful enough but that’s definitely an option and you can see as that pump is running this float valve $3 component I bought a whole pile of them and that allows the very slow flow of the rainwater tank to refill this it would absolutely not keep up with the rate of flow of the pump but my idea is to use this water down halfway or so or a little bit further nearly empty is fine and then we unplug and if it takes a day to refill that’s fine by me this is slow and small Solutions please share in the comments do you do things with moving water that you feel excited to share are there techniques or uh materials or resources or tools that you find particularly useful let us know we’re figuring this out as we go this whole rig that you’re seeing right here with the battery is about $60 $70 in total for all that could have been lower price um but that’s not too bad to be able to move water with energy stored and a battery that was uh recharged from the Sun quick shout out this is from Hector hot peppers so if you’re anywhere in the fingerlakes area Hector or fingerlakes national forest area of the fingerlakes they’ve got some really amazing hot peppers uh as plants for sale I think these were 250 a piece which is pretty reasonable for the size and lots of crops that they offer in the fall I brought each of the little containers and soaked them in rainwater first just to get them really high hydrated it also lets me rinse the containers so I can give them back to the nursery it’s kind of a nice move when you can I’ll plug in the last time here pardon my awkward plug there it goes and I’m not going to try to drain this down to nothing but I’ll use another 20 gallons or so cuz why not we’ve got eight beautiful hot peppers there’s some jalapenos some fish peppers and some Habaneros and Sasha makes beautiful hot sauce in the fall if we can get some Basils in here are some other companions maybe aums as a ground cover something other than bare soil that would be nice but point of this video is being able to water as though you’re fancy for pretty cheap I deal with this Moga next thanks for watching have a lovely day take care
38 Comments
Purslane
You and my intrepid neighbor inspire me. I've been struggling with mental health and when I missed my (believed) window for planting my balcony garden I gave up. But my neighbors been planting with SEEDS , perhaps naively, very late, directly into a very shady and frankly untreated ground. And while I would never discourage him by pointing at the flaws in his plan, I have had internal worries about his garden efforts. Bu t his seeds have germinated and he's so excited. (And so am I for him) And I keep thinking Sean would find a way to make this work. I hope he finds success. And he may, because so much of success is just trying to see if ir works. The next time I see him in I'll mention your channel. I feel like he's got the same scrappy "use what you got and adapt to context" mentality you have. I hope he doesn't get discouraged. But he's already building on his previous untraditional use of pots, where he planted a bunch of leggy grwing tall cosmo in the pots flanking the building entrance. It was such a happy gift to see when I came home in the evening. But no landscaper would consider filling a 50 lb planter with only leggy flowers from seed. I think your biggest gift to your viewers is the " Do it, it might work and if it doesn't learn from it" attitude.
You should throw some guppies or something in those water collectors. Bloodborne illness is no joke. You might think that you don't live in the correct latitude, but international travel and climate change is turning that knowledge on its head.
Yes please I would love to see the wiring details
Love low complexity use of tech! How is the flow valve refill put together?
Sean, your large water containers I forget what they're called the big boys do they survive through the winter okay? No drainage needed?
Love it! I have a hoop house modeled after yours, and because I'm supremely distractible I set up a hose right from my 275 gallon rainwater tote connected to a 2-way splitter that sits in the far end of the greenhouse. I ran a length of hose from that down the middle of each side bed, folded and clamped off at the ends, and drilled little holes all the way down – I can just open up the tap on the tote and set a timer to remind me to turn it off. (Yep, I've drained all 275 gallons into the greenhouse by accident – totally fine, but a waste.)
My setup works fine off of gravity, so I wonder if you couldn't do that with the pump too? You'd get awesome water pressure. You'd just have to put the holes in a good spot, like low along both sides of the hose. I put all mine in the top and the little jets of water can go a little haywire. Or maybe you could use actual soaker hose or drip tape.
Water solutions are inspiring
Yes! Very interested in off-grid water setup. We have 11 acres of seasonal marsh/meadow/woods IN TOWN. It does not however have access to city sewer and water (due to high water table) and no electric service yet (no house yet). I've been following your channel for a while now, and am learning so much! Thanks so much!
I'm ALWAYS interested in janky. (I call it creative problem solving!)
I love it. I could probably figure it out without a video, but I'll watch it if you have the time to make it
i use 12v rv fresh water pumps the pump make up to 30 pounds pressure looks like city water very nice squart.
Lets see a design with some layed out hose with holes punched in it so you can just turn it on and walk away for a tea break!
You always come up with great resourceful ideas, thank you!!
Would absolutely love an in depth video on the making and wiring of these systems.
Right now I'm making compost tea in buckets near a power source and hauling it across the property to water everything with cans. I'd love a solar/battery setup demonstration because I'd like to be able to make a large volume of compost tea right next to my garden and water it in with my hose/sprinklers.
Toss some mosquito dunks in your water barrels!
i use a 5.5gpm/20.8lpm 12v ebay pump connected to a 16.5amp 12v xbox 360 power supply, i used to water everything with watering cans but it was too much work.
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It's a trope in permaculture and the world's energy grids: Store water as high as possible and pump up when the sun shines.
I put storage up top and use gravity to water. If needed, I would pump from a lower water reservoir with direct solar energy to effectively store water "energy". This is pumped hydro (for electricity) (which has just been surpassed by battery storage as the word's biggest source of electricity). This is analogous to storing water on a support at the level of roof gutters…so there's enough potential energy to water things downhill. The pumping during sunny times puts water back to the high storage so you don't even need the LiFePO4/lead acid battery for low light times.
I like very much the video ❤ I would also like the details of the wiring. Thanks so much Sean!
Thanks for sharing. Figuring out a similar situation myself. Four thoughts.
1. I guess you considered raising the water tanks to about waist height, and perhaps uphill … wondering why you decided against that? If I guess the volume of that galvanized tub correctly, should be in the neighborhood of 1600 lbs or so. Could be raised with stout timbers, scrapyard steel, or a pile of sand, all of which might possibly end up being cheaper and or more hassle-free over time.
2. I like the Jobe Rojo valve. I have several, work flawless. It is the low flow model from Jobe. But … is about $35. I love them though.
3. I suppose you also considered a ram pump. One issue is the 1/5 to 1/3 waste flowing out. But seems this could be captured and routed back to main tank. Admittedly, the waste seems to make it infeasible for a rain collection application, but is something I have been pondering.
4. Galvanization. Im worried about it. The roof … the tub … what convinced you its okay for your application?
None are loaded questions, Im wondering these things myself and curious your thoughts. Thanks again, and best regards.
Edit .. p.s. … one more thought already lol … Im surprised that size solar panel isnt enough for the bilge pump, which I imagine consumes less than 3 amps? I guess its bc of the shade. I would think in full sun it would be more than enough. Thanks again.
Hello from rainy Netherlands!
Thank your for your time and dedication to show us your amazing solutions!
If you could make a short guide in setting up and wiring the system – that would be really great! H
I would very much like an instructional video on how to hook that up with solar. Thank you.
I would definitely enjoy a video on how you wire everything. I love watching all the videos. You guys come up with very creative ideas
12v bilge pumps really do punch higher than their cost eh? sent some 12v switches your way, in case yall get tired of unplugging/replugging
Great solution.
Another path..
Skip battery.
Small used solar…
tiny pump…
float valve to raised 3- 4 Cinder / Fly Ash blocks tub.
Filter Valve tub…
Use gravity for water flow and skip active high demand pump.
And minnows…
Fantastic video
This is without a doubt the best example of "Small and slow solutions" that I have seen!
I installed drip tape irrigation in all our gardens this year.
I put it on a mechanical timer. Also we are pumping from our ponds.
super well done
Why not use soaker hoses or drip irrigation to reduce the amount of effort even further? Do you really enjoy manual watering and want to keep doing that or is there another reason why automating this system further is undesirable?
I'm generally a big fan of your DIY/solar punk approach to solving a gardening problem, but around 5:25 you advise people to use a cracked solar panel. Studies have shown that a fully intact panel won't leach any harmful elements into its direct environment, but the results are less rosy for damaged ones. Until I accidentally stumbled onto such a study, I'd never have thought of it either. So this is just a heads up. I know there's no ill intent in your advice.
Would a very basic in line electric switch not save you all quite a bit of bending over and plugging? Even an old light switch or something?
I was so inspired when you did a video about a solar panel and the little bilge pump! I bought the supplies but my small solar panel just wasn't strong enough to work, so it all got put away. 😢 I would love an in depth video, please show how to do the clamps, connect the wiring plugs and give all measurments of pipe diameter. I ask this because I'll be figuring out how to do this with no ones help but yours! Long time channel subscriber😊.
Lol 😂 table man 😂
Very smart! I definitely have to find a similar way to use the water in an old stone well behind our house for watering plants, rather than using tap water or hauling buckets from a little stream (that sometimes dries up in summer). I am going to keep this video in the back of my head.
I like your solar powered pumps a lot, and have pointed many people toward your irrigation videos, but I'm kind of surprised to see them in this context,.
Because there is reservoir the next to each bed, I be inclined to install a hose at the bottom or each tank or trough and use the gravity to water.
Of course, this way is much faster, and only needs one set up to cover every trough/barrel.
would love to see a how too video!