Well, Well, Well…

What a journey we’ve been on — the latest addition to our off-grid homestead: fresh water, drawn from a brand new 190-foot deep well.

It started back in the spring of 2021. We knew we’d want water at this magical mountain spot, after a toilet. The weird part is we already had a well, that didn’t belong to us. The neighbor, from years past, had an easement to the existing well at the Lode. We found the old logs from that well and contacted the same well drilling company that had drilled up there already. After a couple of site visits from a well digging pro, we got ourselves on a five year wait list. With the increased price of building supplies (the pipe we’d need) during the pandemic, we didn’t mind a little wait. Plus, we’re used to hauling water up, and the tank behind The Queen holds plenty of hot water during the winter.

Fast forward to the summer of 2024. There was an opening in the drilling schedule. The first snafu, we needed permits. Not only did we need a permit for the well, but we also needed a permit for septic (which we never intended to have). With no disrespect to our county, permitting requirements need some serious updating. We have a better composting toilet than the approved versions, but we’d have to buy a new toilet to be within the required guidelines, for a septic permit.

I’m here to talk about water though, so let’s get back on track. The well needed to be 100 feet from the existing well cap and 100 feet from the creek. There was really only one spot, and that’s where she lives. We got everything all mapped out and approved by the county, next step was scheduling our drill date.

Drilling

On September 3, 2024 the magic of Simon’s 20th birthday brought the humongous drilling truck up the winding mountain road. I was warned, that during the drilling process things get a bit messy. At the yurt, messy is commonplace. The disturbance of the earth is never something I take lightly. In my brain, Mother Nature has her own process. Drilling nearly 200 feet into the earth didn’t feel like a gift to the earth, but doing so, gives us access to groundwater that we can hopefully use to reciprocate. I still spent the morning before the trucks arrived, talking to the earth and apologizing for the disturbance.

Disturbance it was. Golly, drilling into 180 feet of rock is loud. This baller 1992 drilling rig got ‘er done.

This drilling lasted for two whole days. They soldered the pipe piece by piece while drilling it into the earth. Welding, drilling, sweating and spewing mud/rock/gravel/water into the air. I was anticipating a huge pile of rock and debris, but really it was mostly drippy gravel and mud spit at some trees alongside the outhouse. There were a few expensive snags along the way, like when part of the hole and pipe they’d drilled filled in overnight. But, 48 hours (and 3+ years) later the Lode has a new water source.

However, at this point in the process, we couldn’t actually get the water out of the earth. Up next, a pump.

Waiting

Winter was en route and we’d need to hire an excavator to get the pump set up. Life got busy and it really felt like the ground would freeze before we’d have time to get everything sorted and scheduled, so we decided to wait until spring. Plus, each of these steps cost money, so spreading that out also made a lot of sense. We needed a 6 foot trench (frost free zone) to get the pitless pump adapter installed. This isn’t how every well is set up, but this had to be the set-up for us. We don’t have power at Sovereign Lode, we live completely off-grid, which means every part of our off-grid water system has to be self-reliant. This means we don’t have heat to ensure water pipes don’t freeze. This six foot hole was our answer.

Pump Install

How do we power the pump? Well, that is where things got a lot more complicated than I fully understood at the time. So, we waited until the spring and we ended up hiring an excavating pal who helped us with our original build. Do you remember Mike Mulligan and His Steam Excavator? He cares. He’s kind. He’s thoughtful and I cannot even express how grateful I was that he was there with me on pump install day.

I have an embarrassing amount of repetitive notes from multiple phone calls with the pump company, trying to really understand how this whole process would work. I needed to know what to have ready to make this shit happen. You know how sometimes when you’re venturing into the unknown, you don’t want to slip up because you weren’t listening closely enough? “You can’t leave the hydrant open. Do everything in this exact order. If you mix up the order the whole thing can freeze and will need to be replaced.” Eek, I hope that never happens.

Mike dug a trench from the well cap right over to the bottom of the ramp on our deck to place the frost free hydrant in about 45 minutes. The trench was finished just as the person arrived to install the pump. ‘The pump guy’ drilled into the bottom of the well to install that pitless adapter. What is that? Good question. It is a plumbing fitting used in water well systems that allows the water to exit the well casing below the frost line. With this in place we don’t need a well pit. And, since it is six feet under, it shouldn’t freeze.

In the Trench

Next the conduit was rolled out from the pitless adapter to the bottom of the ramp and we ran the electrical alongside that conduit. This is when I saw Mike’s vision. This excavated hole was only supposed to be right beside the well cap, but Mike knew we’d want that pump at the bottom of our ramp, especially when we have 10 feet of snow.

The next bit of ingenuity was configuring where to place the power box and control panel. I was told many many times I’d need a board to attach these things to, but what if we just attach them to the deck? Another Mike idea! Easy access, and protection from the elements. This is about the time we discovered that Honda generator, behind Mike’s nap wasn’t going to power this sucka. We’d need a different generator, so we wouldn’t see water on this day. I really try not to get my hopes up too high at the yurt. Sovereign Lode is where processes unfold more slowly. Waiting is a good practice for us in a world full of instant gratification.

The Generator

How would we figure out this power puzzle? Oddly, we had a 240 generator in our garage. It had been sitting there for a few years. It’s as heavy as a car and huge, but we crossed our fingers it would do the trick. We hadn’t been successful at starting it, but Mother’s Day was the magical day. Turns out all you need is an old farmer’s trick, spray some gas from a spray bottle into the air filter while you start it. Psst: that’ll sometimes work and this isn’t a recommendation. OR, a month later, just go ahead and replace the freakin’ battery on the generator and she starts up with a button now. We hauled this giant generator up the mountain, with some help from our strong kids. Would we see water in May? Nope. But not for lack of trying.

The Power Cord

Our next obstacle was the power cord. I’ll spare you ALL of the details and let you know that our really rad electrician friend, Andy, helped us figure out exactly what we needed. We tried a few things before I called him – mind you this means a few trips up the mountain and more unsuccessful trials. He didn’t even have to come up the mountain. He was able to troubleshoot via pictures, videos and text. We ordered the burliest power cord I’ve laid eyes on from Home Depot. Shane cut the end off, capped the white wire (we didn’t need that one) and attached the green, red and black to the proper spots in the power box and we were in business. We thought. Almost. We could make the pump turn on – we were ecstatic – but it would shut itself off 5 seconds later.

I called ‘The pump guy’ again and he helped me troubleshoot. I needed to reset the pump. That meant opening the box that I was told I shouldn’t open and turning a teeny dial with my fingernail. Obviously.

Water Day: Off-Grid Well Pump Success

We headed up the mountain on the morning of June 1st, feeling hopeful. We did the fingernail reset trick, opened the frost-free hydrant, powered up the generator, plugged the cord in, and pushed up the power switch and sweet sweet water POURED from our hydrant. Sweet Success! We let the pump run for a few hours the first time we saw water to clear drilling gunk, metal, and mud.

We’ll have to power the pump with a generator for the foreseeable future, but we’re looking forward to clean hands, outdoor showers 🚿, soaks in our stock tank and new outdoor clawfoot tub. Soon.💧💙

Follow along for more off-grid adventures, plant love and more. Up next restoration of a clawfoot tub, for forest bathing, and the maiden voyage of a cowboy hot tub.