How to Pump Water From a Lake Into a Motor Home

Pumping water directly from a lake into a motor home can eliminate the need to make countless trips down to the lake with gallon jugs. Installing a temporary pump system won't take more than an hour and the portability of the parts allows the entire system to be stored in a 4-foot-by-2-foot compartment. Using a solar panel to power the pump eliminates the need to draw extra juice from the motor home's battery.

Water pump system - (suction hose, filter, pump, check valve)
Tape measure
Hose or PV tubing
Solar power source and installation stake
Pipe cutter for PV pipe
Override switch
Screwdrivers with Philips and standard heads
Hammer
Coupling joints

Instructions

- 1
  Purchase a lake water pump system or the components necessary to build one yourself.
- 2
  Measure the distance that the water needs to travel to get to the water intake on the motor home. Cut off this much hosing or PV piping with the pipe cutter. If the length is greater than that of one piece of hose or pipe use coupling joints to connect them. This will be your water run.
- 3
  Connect one end of the hose to the motor home's water intake.
- 4
  Install the check valve on the other end of the hose or pipe. The valves are usually threaded and come with a clamping mechanism that can be closed with two screws or integrated twist nuts similar to what is found on a garden-hose attachment system.
- 5
  Connect the other end of the check valve to the water pump system. The check pump prevents water from backing up or overflowing, so it is essential.
- 6
  Wire the solar panel to the manual override switch.
- 7
  Wire the motor (or power inverter) of the water pump to the solar panel system. This is a direct 12-volt DC wire job, so the red wire from the solar panel should be connected to the positive input on the motor while the black (or black and white) wire should be attached to the grounding nut.
- 8
  Stake the solar panel in place with the installation stake. Make sure the panel faces south and gets a good amount of sun exposure.
- 9
  Place the water-pump system's hose into the lake and turn the system on.

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