building drip irrigation system with a pump

14 years ago

Hello,

I am trying to build a pump-powered drip irrigation system on my balcony, which has an electric outlet but no water hook-up.

I've done hours of research on the Internet and haven't found much advice from anyone who has actually done this, which seems strange because the problem of no water hook-up on a balcony seems to be a common one.

I'm looking for any tips or advice, and am also happy to share what I've figured out so far (although I have no idea if this is going to work).

Here's what I think I've got down:

I plan to connect a regular drip-irrigation system for container plants to a pump designed for garden fountains. My balcony is small, so I don't think I will need a big pump. I am going to plug the pump into my electric outlet and a christmas-tree timer that will control the on-time by the minute. I'll figure out how long it needs to stay on once I have the thing running.

It seems like the most important thing I need to figure out is the pump size. The measurements I've seen for pump powers are: gallons-per-hour, psi, and how many feet you want the water to rise.(if you are interested, there are a lot of explainers on the Internet showing how to calculate psi.)

I'm pretty sure I don't need to worry about gallons per hour because I'm not going to pump that much water, and I'm hoping the timer and the pressure-gauge on the irrigation system will help control how much I am pumping.

It seems the most important thing I need is a pump that has enough power to propell the water up the hose--I'm going to put the tank on the ground and snake the feeder hose to the balcony overhang, which is about 8 feet up. I want to attach smaller drip hoses from there to my three hanging baskets, two window boxes and about 10 potted plants.

So I think I need a pump with about 3.59 psi, or about a 9-foot rise (just to be safe.) I have done a little browsing on the internet, and it looks like the safest bet would be to get a pump that can operate in and out of the water--just in case I can't check the water level and the water runs below the pump or something). I found one that fits all those requirements for about $40.

I'm going to pump the water from a standard 5 or 8 gallon bucket--I don't have room for anything bigger, so I'm going to monitor the water level daily (and hope it will hold enough water to last for a few days or more when I go out of town). I think I need to put a lid on the bucket to keep debris from falling in and clogging my pump and drill holes in the lid for my tubing and electrical cord. I think I also need to drill an air hole--I read that somewhere but I forgot why. I'm not sure if I need any additional filtration.

I'm about to buy all the parts for this and was wondering if anyone could tell me if I'm on the right track? From my estimation, it looks like I can put this together for about $100. If I can have a whole summer with all (or most) of my plants surviving, I think it will more than justify the expense. (I like to go out of town for the weekends and hate coming back to dead plants--also it seems that even when I am home and can water every day, some of my plants invariably shrivel up during the hotter part of the summer when I can't monitor them all day long.)

Does anybody have any idea if this will work???

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Comments (2)

gringojay
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi stephanieelaine,
If you put the pump inside the bucket it must be submersible; if it is outside the bucket then centrifugal will do.
A centrifugal pump can be mounted on the balcony itself & will easily draw the water up 10 feet from your tank. You can probably wire & monitor it better from the growing balcony as will be checking on plants there. You can run a centrifugal pump dry, but if the impeller is plastic it can eventually deform from the friction heat.
If your water supply is an outdoor faucet near that proposed 5 gallon bucket placement site you can probably plumb it to a centrifugal pump sitting up on your balcony & wire the timer in to the pump.
Submersibles are not meant to run dry for long stretches; sorry don't know particulars on your chosen brand.
You usually use a check valve in the water tank that is connected to the feed pipe going into the pump; to keep from having to prime the pump every time go to use it.
Put a screw on filter housing (so can clean inner screen out) somewhere before any water actually reaches the drip emitters to keep from clogging up.
Use a pressure regulator at the outflow end of the pump. Match the regulator of the water pressure to the ratings of your drip emitters so you are not over powering their ability to release water from their holes.
This is pretty simple sizing of the elements in a system, so don't be put off.
I would say determine which pump can lift the water to the height you require & then work backward from the specifications of the total drip emitters you plan to use to size a pressure regulator.
Emitters with built in diaphragms assure it that you will receive equal water outflow, irregardless of the planting height differentials.
Put a removable end cap on the irrigation tube so can purge any algae that builds up inside, or it can block an emitter. If use an end cap that can be adjusted to bleed off some flowing water then it will let you release excess pressure if you find system design is flawed.
gringojay
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi S,
For your calculations:
low water pressure of 2 - 3 psi runs emitters rated 3.7 - 4.5 gph
medium pressure of 20 - 35 psi runs emitters rated 10.5 - 13 gph
high pressure 35 - 60 psi use pressure compensating emitters rated 0.5 - 2 gph
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Sem, If you go to a reputable hardware or plumbing store, they have literature or specific operation of the pumps working pressure. If they don't provide it then don't buy it. Most pump vendors have the pump curves for the pumps they sell. The pump curve will tell you the head in feet (feet of head to psi is 0.443 psi/ft)the pump produces at certain flows. Since you will not have to lift your irrigation water very high, the pump will give the maximum pressure the pump can generate. Unfortunately companies like Sears don't have knowledgeable staff that can find out the pumps pressure rating for you nor is it in the literature. My suggestion is to go HD or Loewes or Sears or the local landscaping/irrigation store and see if someones can get you the info you need to make a decision. Also let us know how many heads, flow rate, type and brand you are using. With the size of operation you have, I would buy a pump big enough (1/2 hp) that has excess flow and pressure and regulate it down to what you need instead of trying a size there is not much buyer demand and info on. JMHO Aloha
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jeff256, I am guessing here so please get an informed second opinion. Install a pressure regulating valve at the beginning of the drip zone and ahead of this device, make a bypass connection to the pump intake. Set the pressure regulating valve to the high and low settings and when the pressure from the pump is higher than the upper setting, the excess water would be shunted to the pump intake. But remember "one of the tragedies of life is the murder of a beautiful theory by a brutal set of facts".
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MB, Here is how I would look at this problem. 1. What is the water demand per day or week for your plants at maturity? My general estimate is about 1.0 gal per plant per week. If very arid climate say1.5 gal per week for 200 plants is 300 gal per week. That is equivalent to one of your tanks which is good storage capacity. Do you produce 300 gal per week in rainfall? 2. You need to find out the flow and pressure of your 1.5 HP pump. The outlet size does not matter at this point. The smaller the pipe size the more velocity in the pipe. Velocity is only harmful when it exceeds 5 fps and can cause water hammer(blowouts). You can look up a 1.5 hp pump that is similar to yours on Google and see what the pressure is. The pressure is important because you are using it directly for drip. 3. Size a pump that would put out 150 gals for 25 mins. That would be a 6-10 gpm pump with 10-15 psi operating pressure. I bet your pool pump would be a lot more than that. You probably would need a pressure reducer on you pool pump. and gate valve to restrict flow. 4. Let us know what you find out or have more questions. 5. Aloha
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building drip irrigation system with a pump

Comments (2)

gringojay

gringojay

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