Temporary Power

The temporary power post and an extra water spigot has been installed at the top of the cul-de-sac.  I like the location of the boulders around the facilties to create a protective barrier.

Electric System

The most expensive part of the infrastructure was the electrical. We thought this would be the easy part since we had power lines right on our lot along Pope Lane. Unfortunately, you have to get the power from the lines to the ground first. And deal with the power company. It was like pulling teeth to get the power company to come out to the lot and give us an estimate on what had to be done and how much it was going to cost. In the end, we were able to tie into our neighbor's transformer and only had to pay the power company a hook up fee. But we still had to run over 200 feet of electrical lines to the meter base out by the road and then another 300 feet of line up to the house site. Oh, and we had to run another 300 feet of electrical lines out to the well site to run the pump! We are just glad to have it all hooked up.

Spigot

As part of the water system, they put in this great orange spigot.  We now have actual access to our own water...well, almost...as soon as the concrete dries and the trench is backfilled.  And, it is only January!

Trenches

In order to get the water from the well site to the cabin, we had to dig some pretty deep and long trenches.  I think it was about 300 feet of trenching from the well to the cabin for the water lines.  Electrical lines were run from the cabin back to the well in the same trench to power the well pump.  We also had them drop the phone and internet lines into this trench, which will eventually go out to the northeast corner of the lot and tie into the phone company facilities along Castle Valley Drive. I like this photo which really adds perspective to the significant trenching that had to be done.

Pressure Tank

As part of the water system, we had an 86 gallon pressure tank installed.  The tank is located in a pit dug into the ground to avoid freezing.  The system and fittings look pristine at this stage.  I'm sure the pit will soon be filled with tarantulas, scorpions and other frightening desert creatures, but for now, it looks beautiful.

Water System

The well site is located in the eastern corner of the lot about 100' in from each property line.  We had to install a pressure tank system out by the well site and then run the water lines to the cabin site. It took a lot of trenching since the well was in the lower eastern corner of the lot and the cabin site is up in the upper western corner of the lot. The pressure tank sytem looks great. They dug a big pit and installed the system about six feet down to keep it below freezing level.  Water sytems specifications include: 1 HP 10 GPM submersible pump, 12 awg pump wire, 86 gallon pressure tank, frost free hydrant, 5x5 galvanized well pit with used lid.

We Have Water !!!

Before installing the water system facilities, they hooked a pump up to a generator to see what kind of water we had in the well.  As mentioned before, we had the well drilled years ago and it has just been sitting there rusting in the sun ever since.  We were a little nervous to check the water since there appeared to be a "bend" in the casing and maybe some "collapse" of the surrounding formations during the drilling process.  These are not comforting words to water well neophytes.  Alas, all worries were dissipated as the roaring hum of the generator pumped out deliciously cold water.  The water isn't crystal clear, but we are hoping it will clear with use.  Looks like our slice of heaven will have plenty of water to keep us happy and self-sufficient for years to come.