Miraculous

Yesterday the well was put back into service.  It was nothing short of miraculous. 

This was the waterflow we had one week ago:

Notice the difference in output!  We are now pumping from 183', instead of 120'.  Our reach has extended as far as it will go for this particular well.  We pray the future holds rain, lots of rain.  The aquifer needs to be replenished.  If the level of the water table continues to drop, we may find ourselves needing to dig a new well.  Today's rate for digging a 12" well (what we currently have) is in the neighborhood of $120-$130/foot.  People are digging 400' and more, looking for water.  Pray for rain!  Yes, I know it's June.  God can do the impossible.

I was fascinated to see what the new pump looked like.  This was the old turbine pump:

We used the same head, but now it looks like this:

 This is what the new submersible pump looks like:

 It was inserted into the hole first:

The first new section of pipe was added:

The electrical wiring was  attached and put into place:

 And it was lowered into the hole piece by piece, until all 11 sections of pipe were sunk, with the head holding them secure on the pad.  It took about 4 hours to get the pipes into place.  Then the electrical needed to be hooked up, both at the meter and at the box.  This took another hour or so.

It was close to 4pm before he pushed the button.  We waited.  And waited.  And waited.

The old pump was VERY noisy.  It chugged and glugged and let us know how hard it was working.  The new one?  He pushed the button, and there was nary a sound.

And then...15 or 20 seconds later...there was a gurgle, and water burst forth into the standpipe!

From there, it travels to our underground irrigation system, and comes bubbling up under the trees.

Within 20 minutes, it had already traveled the length of three trees!

Everyone was happy!

The most thrilling thing was to be out there before the dogs joined us and to listen.  Birds went NUTS.  We saw them fly as quickly as possible from the house to the orchard.  I watched and listened as they drank and bathed and flew and celebrated.  They were SO excited!  I had my camera with me, but it was tough to capture any images.

All in all, it was a wonderful life-giving day.  The trees are happy,

The dogs are happy,

Everyone is happy.  May it last and carry us through until the rains come!