The Windmill
The mighty Aermotor windmill on Butternut Ridge Farm still stands watch over the farm's well. Water pumped from the well goes into an underground cistern, which in turn, supplies water to the farmhouse and barns.
In the old days, water was pumped from the ground by hand or by using the windmill to operate the hand pump. The windmill no longer pumps the farm's water, however. The windmill’s job was taken over by a pump jack powered by an electric motor. In 2007, I replaced the worn out pump jack with a modern electric in-ground pump. The well still terminates in the old-style hand pump. To the casual observer it looks like it could still pump water the old fashioned way. However, the modern pump takes care of this task just like the old pump jack and the windmill before it. The new pump is a real time and energy saver!
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