15 Dollar Fountain and Update on Pressure Tank Install

We recently installed a new well pressure tank and pressure switch.  Absolutely love the increase in water pressure.  The tank is a 86 gallon tank and the pressure switch is a 40/60 psi switch.  

Our pressure tank is located in the basement of our garden shed which was the original pump house.  R took this time to clean up the wire situation down there.  He still wants to R & R the small Square D shutoff box that is down there.  The current one is rusty and the door doesn't shut properly.  The shutoff is there so that if you encounter a problem with the tank etc., you can shut off the power right there rather than climb the ladder and walk back to the house to flip the breaker.

R also R & R an outside brass hose faucet that had a crack in it.  So nice not to have that dripping anymore.  This repair was done at the same time as his copper repipe that went off without a hitch. He remove the mess of elbows and short sections and found a long piece of used copper pipe in his stash to replace them. In the end I purchased just a ball valve so we could shut off the exterior faucet in the winter.  

These ball valves are better than a gate valve because you don't have to worry about the packing needing replacement (crawl space area) and a quick visual will tell you whether the valve is open or closed. The valve in the photo is in the open position.  Notice the handle is inline with the pipe.  The closed position is when the handle is perpendicular to the pipe.  When you use a gate valve it is difficult to tell from a distance whether it is open or closed.  Since this is in a crawl space area it is nice to be able to look in and tell at a glance if you have shut the valve off for the winter.  The valve cost was less than 10 bucks if purchased in store at Ace Hardware.

I've been working on refurbing a $15 fountain that I purchased last year.  It's been painted a horrible copper color and the bowls have been painted a bright blue.  My intention is to paint it to look like concrete.  But first I need to remove old silicone caulk, scrub off the crud, and sand off loose paint.

Yesterday I filled it with water to see if there were any leaks and I found a small hole (dark spot in photo) in the top bowl and a small crack in another bowl.  Both easy fixes.

This fountain is the type where the water overflows out the top and in succession drips over the edge filling the next bowl.  It's a gentle dripping that makes a soothing sound rather than a dramatic squirting of water.

I'll replace the current electric pump with a solar pump because I do not want to deal with cords or spending $$$ on electricity.  

The next set of windows will be delivered on Wednesday morning, which is three weeks earlier than projected.  Yippee!!!