The Windmill

Today we turned on the windmill to begin filling the reservoir. We are very pleased with the performance we saw today. We'll return on Monday to get the results of from the weekend.

It's a beautiful structure rising out of nowhere on the edge of a dambo. Quite the sight to see!

The tank is fitted with an inflow pipe just above and overflow pipe. The overflow is directed back into the well to prevent excessive groundwater losses in the event that the tank is full and the farmer is not prepared to use any water.

Ideally, the farmer would begin irrigating before the tank overflows so as not to waste any wind energy cycling water through the tank.
 

Water flowing into the tank

Club members were all smiles seeing the pump fully operational. It isn't difficult to see its potential from this point, delighting even the skeptics in the group. The club intends to begin using the land around the tank as a community garden so that each farmer has an opportunity to learn how to irrigate from the tank.

Keep checking in next week to see the results!