Hydroelectric Turbine and Highlifter Pump Pictures

We are still connected this morning and decided to download pictures before we disconnected and packed up the computers.

Here are some pictures of the hydroelectric turbine and highlifter pump in action. In the first pictures, Dane is checking the pressure gauge on the inlet pump.

The turbine is inside the white part below the blue motor which generates 380 volt, 3-phase electricity. The highlifter pump is the long skinny thing with the white hose attached to it on the right.

This picture shows water entering the 1000 liter tank here at the house. It used to take 2-3 days for us to use all the water in the tank for our daily use and the highlifter fills it completely in about 15 hours. With the continuous water being pumped up now, the tank is almost always full.

Final Update

We have been running on hydroelectric power since last Thursday or Friday. Yipee!! It works great. We can run both computers, the lights, the internet tower and all the internet equipment on it and the equipment here at the house all at the same time and still the batteries are charging. We can only run the clothes agitator intermittently, but more batteries would take care of that. It has been a lot more quiet around here without having to start the motor to charge the batteries. We are very thankful that the Lord allowed Dane to see this project through, and up and running well, before we left! Dane also was able to get the highlifter pump installed and so water is pumping continuously to the house from the creek 300 meters below us. It is so awesome having electricity and water all powered by the running water on the property. No more gasoline expenses for having those things at the house. I do have some pictures of the turbine and pump working, but they will have to wait until a later time.



Time here is getting short and we still have so much to do to get ready to leave. We will be shutting everything down either tonight or tomorrow morning. That means no more phone or email for a while.



Lord willing, I will post again when time allows after we arrive in the states on October 22nd. Hopefully then I can include the turbine and pump pictures.



Please pray for us as we travel to Paraguay, Bolivia, Florida, and then onward to Kentucky.



Have a blessed day,



Jessica

Saying Goodbye to the Animals

Hector Dos Santos, the man who made the yoke for our oxen, agreed to keep all the cows and goats for Ralph until he can find a caretaker for the farm, so yesterday, we said goodbye to them.

In the morning, Dos Santos came on his horse and took the oxen. Elijah, David, and Abigail accompanied him the two miles to his farm.



Goodbye Broncito and Hierrito.


In the afternoon, Dos Santos and his sons, David and Maxi, Elijah, David, and Abigail returned with Dos Santos's oxen and a cart in which to carry the goats.

They loaded up the goats and tied the remaining cows and little bull behind it. All the children and Dane accompanied the caravan up to the main road to help and to say goodbye.

Goodbye brown kid, white kid, Pintada, Paloma, Teri, and Tito.

Sabbath Day

On the Sabbath, we took some pictures around the farm.



This is a passion flower vine that the children found.

View from the upper field.

After lunch, we made what will probably be our final trip down to the river. We went on the road that Dane had been making during the drought and that he had hoped to get a bulldozer down. Abigail took some pictures along the way.

The path had grown up some, so Dane and Ralph led the way with their machetes.

At the river. Much to the children's dismay, the water was too cold to swim, but they did get wet up to their waists.

Ralph, cooling his aching knee.

Enjoying the water and the views.

The dogs came down with us too.

Farm Projects

Dane, Ralph, and Javier have been working to get some projects wrapped up before we leave late next week.



They got all the columns set in concrete for the barn.

The children thought the columns made nice climbing apparatuses. If you look closely, you can see that they are each perched on one.

Orlando Klein, the builder, and his crew came out yesterday to put up the beams. They will return on Friday to put the roof on.

And here is the "heart" of the hydroelectric plant, the turbine, that Dane hopes to have installed this week.

Today it is rainy, but the rain has let up some this afternoon so the guys are down at the spring trying to get the highlifter pump for pumping water up to the house installed.

Lord willing, these projects will be completed before we leave. Check back for an update later this week or next.

Jessica