Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink.

My day went a lot like that. When last we visited I had my water tanks installed and already half fuull of water. The farm is dotted with thousands and thousands of holes for new coffee trees. I have a trench dug for water pipes and two people calling me, poised and ready to sell me thousands of new coffee trees to fill said holes.

A few days ago the irrigation guy came by and started unrolling my Driscoll pipe. This is a very thick and durable black plastic water pipe, 2 inches in diameter and perhaps almost 1/4 inch thick. Although many people run this above ground, mine must be buried as I have to drive a tractor across where it will run. Others can use giant hose clamps to hold it where I had to have mine fused (melted together) so I can bury it and not worry about leaks.

The trench is 1000 feet long from the bottom of the farm top the top. In that trench are twp Driscoll lines parallel to each other. The main line branches 5 times and there are valves at each branch. That second Driscoll has all saddles attached every place there will be a row of coffee trees. Right now there is a riser (vertical tube with a cap) at each row. That allows me to fill the trench without getting dirt in the riser. After the trench is filled, the riser will be trimmed and a right angle PVC attached and then a special adapter. To the adapter will be a long line of drip tubing stretching down a row of coffee trees.

I opted to build a concrete base with bolts to hold the pump steady. A friend HIGHLY SUGGESTED that I place a piece of PVC through the concrete to run the electric wire through it. I did that and was very happy with the construction. well, until the pump was finally lowered into place. The bolts were a bit too short afterall and the pipe is in exactly the wrong place tfor where the power needs to be (I had the pump mounted backwards because the arrow on the pump seems to show shaft rotation, not water flow direction. Still, not a big deal.

To power the pump I needed 220 volts in an area of the farm where there is no power. I temporarily run romex (plastic coated outdoor wire) from the house to the pump and to keep it off the ground and out of the way, suspended it by propping it up with PVC poles. At the pump I temporarily attached a relay which is controlled by 25 volt AC power. This is the same power used for outdoor yard sprinkler systems. The 25 volt low power wires supply the current to pull in a big relay that switches 220 volts to the pump. The other end of that high voltage wire had to be connected to a current supply. Rather than open the circuit breaker box, I opted to cheaply rig a different solution for the test. I purchased a dryer cord and connected the wire to it and plugged it in place of the dryer. It did the job for my test.

Today we completed the attachment of risers and caps, placement of the water pump and finally the pressure testing of the water lines! Only 3 riser leaked and they were quickly fixed.This is another major milestone! I now can supply water under pressure from the bottom tank to any of the 5 zones of coffee trees. With a bit more PVC pipes I can also fill the top 3 water tanks from the bottom tank. Once those few pipes are in place I will also be able to irrigate specific zones from the top 3 tanks too.

Weather permitting on Tuesday I will put the PVC pipe in the tank besides the 2 Driscoll lines. At each zone is a valve mentioned a minute ago and the wire in that PVC will allow me to remotely control each valve.

A co-worker from the condos was supposed to come by last Tuesday and give me a quote on extending my roof and attaching the needed gutters to direct rainwater into the bottom tank. ight now the tanks are all filled slowly with whatever water falls on top of each tank and seeps throught the shade cloth on top. Soon all of the water hitting my house and garage will run into a gutter, then a pipe and into the bottom water tank, From there it is pumped up the property.

As you can see, this pressure testing is a major part of the project.

So to recap:

I have to get the roof extended and gutters and pipes run. This may take the carpenter a day or two.

I have to glue PVC and some connectors for the control wires and expect this to be done Tuesda and perhaps in the trench that same day.

With the PVC in the trench and covered with sufficient sand (which I need to order), I can begin filling the trench (that may be Thursday). Although I have a tractor and front end loader, I will need people with shovels to move the sand and dirt with shovels. Still, Thursday looks good for that.

With people here those days, I might as well run the tractor around the property and have them load it with rocks kicked up from the new holes. I can also have them start unrolling the drip lines down the rows of the top 2 or 3 zones. At the end of each row will be a small bleeder valve.

I doubt they can do it the same day but perhaps Friday (oh gosh Friday?) they might be able to start planting coffee trees! That means I may have to have the trees delivered Thursday. That may be rushing things, but it is about then I need to have them here. About $8,000 will get those trees here and will about cut off the flow of money into the farm. Hopefully a year or two from now, the new trees will start the flow of money back into my accounts. Hopefully :-)

I need to schedule a blessing of the land.

To rework an old quote, "The light at the end of the tunnel is NOT the headlight of an oncoming train!"