2665 new to the forum

Hi Sara - and welcome!

Tell us a bit about yourself....;)

Lesley

Hi Sara,
Are you living in Puglia at the moment or trying to restore the trullo from afar? We know a couple of people who`ve put wells in but it costs thousands (I presume you mean a proper well right down to the water table?). Or do you mean a cisterna to gather rainwater? Cisterne have to be filled during the summer when there`s little rain. Are you a long way from the aquaduct or is there the possibility of connecting to it?

Hi 'Smiths in Puglia'
I did write quite a long winded reply to your response to my requests for 'well' info. Being new to this internet forum stuff and being a bit of a technophobe i think i may have pressed the wrong key or something as i cannot see my reply on the thread so i will submit this and if it appears i will rewrite my reply! sorry

Eureka!
Unfortunately i do not live in Puglia although i hope to one day. I did mean a proper well although i'm sure i have a cisterne. I wonder if you can tell me what is the procedure and rough cost of having it topped up for the summer months. I don't know where the aquaduct is in relation to my trullo but i would prefer not to have ground dug up for pipes etc - minimum impact on the surrounding environment which has been such a tranquil place for hundreds of years. Are you able to give me a rough guide to the cost of your friends well.

[LEFT]Hi Sara

We too have a trullo near Ostuni which we bought this summer. We have our own well and have had the pump replaced. Its no mean job - the pump was 180m down the well and 27 x 25m lengths of pipe had to be removed to get to it. All the wells seem to be very very deep. Replacing the pump cost around E1000 so to dig a new well I would imagine would be expensive. If you would like the name of our contractor (from Carovigno, let me know).

We also live near you in the UK - will send you a PM.

Hope you have lots of fun and peace in your trullo - we are thrilled with our's.[/LEFT]

Hi Sara,

We are about to have a well dug and the cost is 15,000 euros for everything, including pump and electricity connection.

I am pretty sure that this is overpriced but our limited Italian and inability to oversee the work means that we pay a premium, which is fair enough in my opinion. However we are going 50/50 with our neighbours which makes it a bit more reasonable. Is this something you could consider?

Jo

jo... i think they do have to drill quite deeply and i know from living in devon and having a bore hole there which had to be redrilled and relined that its expensive.... and ten years or so ago there for drilling into quite sandy rock and only about 30 meters down ..we already had the pump it was about half what you have quoted ...so i wouldnt feel too bad... i wouldnt think its too overpriced

Hi Jo
Thanks for your comments. I would be looking to use a solar pump and i don't plan to have electricity connected but i imagine whatever kind of pump you are istalling you need to arrange it for the same time that the well is being bored, otherwise i presume it would incur further installation costs. I dont have any immediate neighbours so i dont think sharing the cost will be an option for me.
Sara

[QUOTE=sara]Hi Jo
Thanks for your comments. I would be looking to use a solar pump and i don't plan to have electricity connected but i imagine whatever kind of pump you are istalling you need to arrange it for the same time that the well is being bored, otherwise i presume it would incur further installation costs. I dont have any immediate neighbours so i dont think sharing the cost will be an option for me.
Sara[/QUOTE]
Sara, I wish you good luck with your project, the cost of a solar powered pump is likely to be astronomical especially if you need to pump to any height from the water's level, it may be worth looking into other options, bio diesel pump, or generator, you seem to be clued up on the green alternatives, start asking around the "green sites", you will need to know the height the pump needs to lift the water, referred to as the "head" to get advice.:)

Thank you GeorgeS
I will look at those sites. My father, an inventor of sorts, has made his own solar panels and is always looking for a new challenge so i will get him on the case!

Cost of a 75m bore hole in Yorkshire around £10,000 - £15,000 probably, depending on what kind of water treatment plant is needed.

Unfortunately it seems that water treatment for iron and other chemicals is often needed. There are some informative websites in the UK if you search for bore hole drilling. Of course, I don't know what is required in Italy or what the water table is like in your area. I believe water divining is alive and well too.

[quote=sara]Thank you GeorgeS
I will look at those sites. My father, an inventor of sorts, has made his own solar panels and is always looking for a new challenge so i will get him on the case![/quote]

Hi Sara, When your father comes up with some answers we would be interested! :)

Hi GeorgeS
In the context of a project like this i am really just learning about the green way forward! It is so important that in view of the fact that i will certainly be using air travel more than i would had i not purchased a property in Italy that i try in everyway possible to make up for that in some way when i am there. I think you may be right about the cost of a solar pump although i have seen books about solar pump technology in the bookshop of the Centre for Alternative Technology ([url]www.cat.org.uk)which[/url] i really need to research I may however have to think of an alternative if it proves too hideously expensive. How does a bio diesel pump work?
Sara

I am no expert, but, the pump is basically a diesel powered conventional pump, running on the reclaimed bio diesel. have a look around some of the sites linked to [url]www.motherearthnews.com[/url] I understand and applaud your wanting to choose methods which impact as little as possible on nature and wish you well.

Hi Sara -

Re your thoughts of having a well with a solar-powered pump: it's quite common in Australia to use a windmill to pump water from a well. The technology is well-established (no pun intended) and there is a company called Southern Cross which makes simple equipment for this purpose. Their website is [url]www.southcross.com.au/windmills[/url].

A windmill would have somewhat of a visual impact on the environment, but then so would solar panels.

John

Thank you John
I hadn't thought of windmills, i really quite like the idea. I have taken a look at Southern Cross website and if it works in Oz i don't see why it shouldn't in Italy. I suspect it would need planning permission. From the bias perspective of someone who thinks windfarms are beautiful i would hope that a small windmill would always be preferable to an electricity pilon.
Sara

Totally agree Sara, we have recently bought a small house in Abruzzo and are looking to do the whole green package too. We do not want to connect to mains and are looking to use solar power, wind power, composting toilets etc are also something we are exploring, although our areas differ i'm sure it will be really useful for us to compare notes. keep us posted as I will when I can.
I agree re windfarms although many don't share our views, there are small roof type models available which we are looking into, not sure of planning implications although again this no doubt will vary from area to area.
Good luck with the green theme,
Michelle

Thanks Michelle
Likewise! All green tips will be gratefully shared. I would be very pleased to hear how your 'adventure' develops.
Sara

[QUOTE=sara]Thank you John
I hadn't thought of windmills, i really quite like the idea. I have taken a look at Southern Cross website and if it works in Oz i don't see why it shouldn't in Italy. I suspect it would need planning permission. From the bias perspective of someone who thinks windfarms are beautiful i would hope that a small windmill would always be preferable to an electricity pilon.
Sara[/QUOTE]
Whilst italy lags behind many parts of theworld in its APPLICATIONS of alternative energy systems it's companies are nevertheless in theforefront apparently one of the best companies producing wind -electrical generation equpiment is based inTaranto....so you may notneed to gotoAustralia to find these things that is if youhave enough wind where you are.....

Sebastiano -

I've no doubt that you are correct about wind-powered electrical generation. However, I was referring in my previous post to windmills which are erected directly over the well and directly operate a piston pump at the bottom of the well via a long connecting rod - a very simple and proven technology (without electrical intervention) dating back at least 100 years in its current form.

John

Well, what an interesting thread. Would it not also be a viable option to install a clean water cistern and have the water delivered ? Whilst renovating the original cistern for the collection of rainwater for the land the other would provide for your personal 'clean' water use. Surely a tanker of water,which seem to be reasonably priced,will last a fair while.Correct me if I'm wrong but I think with this method the pumping would be easier and you wouldn't have to fork out thousands of euros drilling down to the water table.
Incidentally I do think having your own well is a good idea but the financial implications frighten me and that's why I'm trying to explore other avenues.
Does anyone use the two cistern method ?
regards Gerard

I always being interested in Green Energy, but I’ve always found that the up front cost the problem, although cost are falling you can pick up a 6KW Grid Connected wind turbines for about £18,500 minus any grants, which includes delivery and installation in the UK, but excludes any foundation work which may need to be carried out, this still is well above our budget at the moment.

I don’t agree with grants, it’s usually the wealthy that are in the position to receive these grants.
If all government really what the make a difference to their Carbon Emissions, then Interest free loans for all Green Energy, any payment for KW returned to the grid should go to the loan company.

Oops, sorry about the rant, who left that soap box laying around?
Here’s the link for Proven Energy, hope it’s useful.

[url]http://www.provenenergy.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1[/url]

hi, this is how it works with solar panels: you install your own panels, and then sell the electricity you produce to ENEL and then they will take their cost of your electricity off their bill, this is the only way as far as I know.
Ottavio

Thank you for all these great responses
I think the cistern idea sound like a viable alternative to well boring, which is seeming to be quite a frighteningly expensive option when it really may not be necassary. It may be that the cisterne which is there is actually functioning anyway it was certainly full of water a little over a year ago.
ENEL definately have to be involved with any solar energy that is installed then? seems a bit off! How would they know (am i being naive here and missing somthing?)
Sorry for completely changing the subject here but i am travelling to Puglia 1st week of July and i was going to drive and tow a little caravan over for somewhere to stay while i do some 'cleaning' of my land. Some italian freinds who live in Brindisi have told me they may be able to find me a caravan over there to save me driving. I thought i would put out a feeler, if there is anybody out there who has a caravan they want to sell i may be interested.
Thanks again for all the 'green' interest in this thread.