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Irrigation Virginia Gardening Southern Gardening

Pump/Hose/Sprinkler Setup for Uphill Irrigation

3 years ago

I'm trying to irrigate a garden plot that is 70' above and 700' away from a creek at the bottom of my land. I understand that I need a pump with over 70' total head in order to raise the water from the creek to the garden, but I'm wondering how much the output (GPM) and water pressure will be affected by the change in elevation.

I've considered building risers for some 300-gallon water tanks, filling them from the pump line and then running sprinklers from hoses attached to the outlet valves of those tanks, but I need to know whether the pressure from gravity-fed hoses will be sufficient to run impact sprinklers. Would it be a better idea to connect the pump down the hill directly to the sprinklers and skip the storage step altogether? If so, what specifications should I be looking for in a pump to deliver the required pressure?

One last question: Most pumps I've found that deliver 100+ gallons of water per minute have 2" inlets and outlets, but based on my research 700' of 2" poly pipe is going to put me out two or three times the price of a pump. The same length of 1" pipe costs significantly less, but will using adapters at the pump inlet/outlet and running smaller hose adversely affect the output of the pump?

Thanks,

David

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Dale, Your setup looks great. You can come work on mine anytime you like! How many square feet is that? Did you figure out how many emitters you can run at one time? I have about 3200 sq ft and can run that all at once though I like to keep some off sometimes (the reason for the valves on each line). I'm planning to expand to 4800 or even 6400 next year to plant some corn, and a few other veggies. I'll definitely need to run that area at a different time because of the limitiations of a 3/4" line. I'm thinking about trying dripline with integrated emitters for that area. Rick
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The amount of area you can water in a period of time is totally dependent on pressure and volume. (Car wash pumps put out thousands of psi but at only a few gallons per minute.) If you are on an average well you probably have pressure that varies between 30psi on the low end and 45 to 50psi on the high end. Your volume is probably around 6 to 10 gallons per minute. (Maybe less.) On a long hose this will run one impact sprinkler with an average size nozzle and still have a fair throw distance. There is no fix for your problem with any size pipe, hose, or anything else except a bigger water output. AKA, bigger more powerful well. With your current set up you can try 2 sprinklers but at low pressure they may quit working. I suggest one good sprinkler on a long hose and get ready to move it around a lot. Or...you can get a large diameter well like the farmers use that puts out a huge amount of water.
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Comments from Lowe's website: "Not as described. This pump would only work under siphon conditions i.e. if the water source was far higher than the drainage location. I returned it and purchased a higher quality pump that would pump up a few feet." and... "Piece of junk! Operates erratically. I've tried to contact the maker twice but they've never responded. The hose that comes with it collapses from the suction. You have to put vegetable oil (or mineral oil) in the thing everytime you use it. This thing is definitely going back!" Your problem with such an arrangement as you describe is loss of head pressure/flow trying to get water to your misters. In order to maintain the pressure you need to operate the misters so they perform up-to-spec, you'd need a much larger, heavier-duty pump...that'd cost hundreds. Most misting heads need 30-50psi to operate properly...the more, the better. The best you'd get with that pump from Lowe's is maybe a bit of dribbling. I wouldn't know how to do it, but it may be possible to run a water line from your house to a pressure tank, and have the pressure tank move the water from your barrel. But this is additional expense, and I'm not sure it's worth it. -Bruce
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What size well casing? Is it a shallow (driven/jetted) well? Is your area experiencing a drought? Problem could be a faulty checkvalve/footvalve if you are losing prime. Water level in the aquifer could have dropped below the well screen. Check valve should be on well side of pump just after pump. Or it is at the bottom of the well (footvalve) if it has a draw pipe.
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