Thanks for your replies! I'm new to organic gardening and composting, but hooked on learning about it all. I'll probably use the massive piles of pond-like leaf debris from pool as compost in a flower garden where I also plan to plant fruit trees. The pool was empty in the listing photos when it was for sale, so I'm sure no chemicals have been used since it went on the market a year ago. I'm on day 3 of pumping (4-6 hours a day, 1600 gallons an hour) and getting down to what might be the last 2-3 feet, as the bottom cannot be seen through debris. The pool was half to 2/3 full to start and could probably hold 40,000 gallons. I'm trying not to drown neighbor's yards, and rain is in forecast over the next week! The hard work begins when pump finally clogs with debris and we climb in to do the rest by hand! It smells awful. Have at least 20 frogs, too many snails, and saw 2 turtles peeking up every now and then. At least it's been entertaining to see them swim, and I keep motivated dreaming of jumping into cool water on hot summer days!

sockmonkeyz6: Submersible pumps are not as efficient, but are easier to use: simple install - drop it in and run the tubing to your filter, falls, etc. Out of pond will require prefiltering or it too can clog, this filtering typically consisting of settling chamber > strainer before the pump. Out of pond pumps usually can be optioned with a strainer that fits in the pump suction port. But the entire arrangement is different if you are simply setting the submersible pump in the pond w/o a skimmer. Out of pond pumps NORMALLY rely on a skimmer and (usually) a bottom drain to draw water out. The "typical" flow for Out of pond arrangment: Skimmer/Bottom Drain > setting chamber > strainer/mechanical filter > pump > more filters including finer mechanical & bio filters. You can do an out of pond w/o skimmer & BD, but just need a large screened inlet over the suction line to keep big chunk & fish friends out. PLUS maybe a way to prime it (getting deeper and deeper i know). There are of course many variation to this flow and even more opinions. But for your situation, sounds like the elevation trick (inverted basket) is a good quick fix.

A, The hardest part is converting and understand what you are dealing with. Your system description says that you have 5 each 1/2" x 10 ft lines with each line a delivery rate of 0.024 gal per ft. Each ten feet delivers 0.24 gpm for a total of 5 x 0.24 gpm equals 1.2 gpm for that section. The next section uses 3 each 2.64 gpm drippers which equals 11 gpm. Therefore the system uses 12 plus gpm. The pressure is 200,000 pa equals 28 psi. You can find an electrical transfer pump that sits outside the barrel connected to the bottom of one or many barrels. The pump characteristics should be for 20 gpm at 30 to 40 psi which will be regulated by an inline pressure regulator. Check out past threads that talk about rain barrel systems. Hope this helps. Gday JMHO Aloha

one option would be to try and convince a 'development' organization to let you get a treadle pump or pedal pump. Otherwise hauling buckets might have to do. To make your buckets more efficient though, you might want to get a larger barrel and set it up on a short platform, just to raise it 3 or 4 feet off the ground. Drill a hole near the bottom and attach a hose connector there. You can then use gravity fed drip system throughout your garden to make the most targetted use of the water - you just have to haul and fill your barrel with water and gravity would then water for you. let us know what you figure out. there really aren't too many manual type of water pumps in the North American market.