I could use some input. I'm thinking in terms of irrigation for several areas, none of which are easily hooked to a well or city water connection. Water storage isn't that difficult. And drip lines are really cheap and easy to deal with. But, I need something that can supply the water evenly over a fairly long period of time.
I'm kinda the oddball in that I don't need a high volume of water pumped quickly and at high pressure. I need a lower volume of water at low pressure and it's just fine if it takes hours to accomplish that. It's probably better if drip lines are run for extended periods of time anyway because it gives a chance for the water to soak into the ground more deeply rather than running off.
Most pumps seem to be great at pumping a lot of water fast and usually at a pretty high pressure. Some don't want to be run continuously, though. I had thought about a typical RV style pump but they are not meant for continuous use and will get really hot after the first 10 minutes or so. Longevity would be questionable. I thought about a shallow jet well pump and a pressure tank. And I thought about a cheap submersible pump but don't really know how that would hold up with it being made to pump huge volumes of water compared to what I need to move. (Would it be hard on it to run continuously with only say 2 gallons of water being allowed to flow through every minute?
The pressure in these systems is like 15psi. And I'd be watering small enough areas that I probably wouldn't want it dumping more than maybe 1 to 2 gallons of water a minute, probably not even that much if I wanna water individual garden rows.
The one other grower in the area that's doing drip irrigation lines is just hooked to city water, screw the headaches, and pay the bill. I wouldn't want his water bill. But he does sell 5 figures worth of strawberries every spring.
I don't have enough elevation differences to try to put a tank on a high spot of the property with no pump at all.
Dunno. I can see several possibilities. But I thought maybe I'd throw it out there and see whether any of you have an idea that might work well.
I'm using primarily a pond for irrigation at this point, mostly hand watering, which his a pain, but so far, it has gotten me by. (That and rain.) But I'm in the process of adding a 30 x 96 high tunnel but even with rain catchment, I need some way of getting the water where I need it when I need it, rain won't help there, except to fill a reservoir.
Thanks for the thoughts!
I'm kinda the oddball in that I don't need a high volume of water pumped quickly and at high pressure. I need a lower volume of water at low pressure and it's just fine if it takes hours to accomplish that. It's probably better if drip lines are run for extended periods of time anyway because it gives a chance for the water to soak into the ground more deeply rather than running off.
Most pumps seem to be great at pumping a lot of water fast and usually at a pretty high pressure. Some don't want to be run continuously, though. I had thought about a typical RV style pump but they are not meant for continuous use and will get really hot after the first 10 minutes or so. Longevity would be questionable. I thought about a shallow jet well pump and a pressure tank. And I thought about a cheap submersible pump but don't really know how that would hold up with it being made to pump huge volumes of water compared to what I need to move. (Would it be hard on it to run continuously with only say 2 gallons of water being allowed to flow through every minute?
The pressure in these systems is like 15psi. And I'd be watering small enough areas that I probably wouldn't want it dumping more than maybe 1 to 2 gallons of water a minute, probably not even that much if I wanna water individual garden rows.
The one other grower in the area that's doing drip irrigation lines is just hooked to city water, screw the headaches, and pay the bill. I wouldn't want his water bill. But he does sell 5 figures worth of strawberries every spring.
I don't have enough elevation differences to try to put a tank on a high spot of the property with no pump at all.
Dunno. I can see several possibilities. But I thought maybe I'd throw it out there and see whether any of you have an idea that might work well.
I'm using primarily a pond for irrigation at this point, mostly hand watering, which his a pain, but so far, it has gotten me by. (That and rain.) But I'm in the process of adding a 30 x 96 high tunnel but even with rain catchment, I need some way of getting the water where I need it when I need it, rain won't help there, except to fill a reservoir.
Thanks for the thoughts!
