Spring Feed Irrigation Project

[Airic]

I'm looking to add a no cost operation drip irrigation system to my back two acres for a start up of small tree farm/plant garden and food plot, hobby for the most part. I have a natural spring that currently feeds into a very small pond at about a 25' higher elevation than this field. The field runs about 300'-400' beyond the pond and is about 150x200 wide. The lower field drops elevation farther you go back. I know there are more efficient ways that will allow for a higher pressured system but I think this would be pretty cool and add character. I'll be utilizing .5 psi drip emitters so this is a very low pressure system. I have attached a ruff illustration of what I have in mind. I'm looking to put in approximately 6 water stands consisting of one wood barrel stacked on top of another, the bottom one will most likely be filled with sand. The barrel heights will be approximately 4' to 5' above finish grade as these also will sit on a high point in the center of the field. I will add more stands as necessary. My question is, will this concept work? I would hate to spend my summer and dollars to setting this up and not have it work. Let me know what you think.

[MarkV]

Interesting idea and I will look forward to seeing how it develops. I was curious as to how you are going to install the pipe through the bottom of the dam? If the pipe is existing then I get it. If not won't you have to drain the pond and divert the spring feed to get below summer pool? I would be concerned that a new penetration in the dam could create a weak spot.

MarkV

[Airic]

Nope, pipe didn't exist, I'm putting one in. This is my first step. Started my process yesterday and dug out the back of the pond and dug my drain line trench. That was fun, watching all that water come gushing out was really cool. I'm going to first start out with putting in the main clean out. This will keep the pond empty while I do some cleanup work. I just purchase a bunch of stone for a large retaining wall around the pond for esthetics and creating water bog planting areas. This clean out will be connected with a shut off valve and on normal operation it will come from a skimmer and route via stream or to the barrels via another valve. I think I will utilize a solenoid valve for this one. I'll continue to post as I move along.

[RichNJKubota]

I set up a simple version of what you are doing. I had a spring and piped it down the hill a bit a few years ago. Just the other day I put a cap on the pipe with a garden hose fitting in it. 2 holes above the hose fitting allow anything not going into the garden hose to spill out. The hose runs about 200 ft down the hill to the 10 trees I just planted. Each tree has a garden hose T and valve on it and then the hose goes to the next tree. The end of the hose goes off into a ditch where the water would have run any way. Works great.

[Airic]

Here is my progress at the moment for my pond/irrigation project. At this time I'm doing a fill durration test and spring discharge elevation test. It appears that there are no leaks and the water discharge on the skimmer has remained constant. I still have a bit to go on the excavation and construction of the dam and then I start bringing in the rocks. It amazes me how fast this pond fills. More to follow.

[RonMar]

Looks interesting. I use gravity feed irrigation from an irrigation ditch that crosses at the highest point on my property. I have about 60' of head down to the yard area where I use it. It will run at least 3 sprinklers 24/7. I havn't had need or tried more yet, but the potential is there as the three I run have no noticeable effect on the others.

My question to you would be: Why the barrels? It would seem to me that you loose some of the benefit of your situation by using them. It also makes it a little more complex if you use them. If you have 25' of head, that should feed the low flow drip irrigators, even if the pipe down the hill isn't that large. Unless kept full, the barrels are going to dry out and leak every time they are filled untill they swell. And of course that 25' of head ends at the barrels and you are left with just the height of the barrels feeding the drip nozzels. Then you need to control the filling of the barrels... The beauty of gravity feed is simplicity. No pumps, no wiring, no electric bill! You might not like it so much if it requires a lot of your time to keep it operating properly.

If I were going to do it your way, I would put a simple farm tank float valve in each barrels to keep them topped off, and only put a large gate or ball valve up at the dam and skip the solenoid valve. A gate or ball valve would restrict the flow less than a solenoid valve(you may want more/better flow someday). Drip irrigators have small orifices, and open ponds collect debris, so don't forget to add some inline filtration. I would put a filter at the outlet of each barrel before the water enters the drip lines. It is far easier to flush a filter than it is to clean each and every drip nozzel on a regular basis... If I were doing it my way, I would probably skip the barrels and run a main pipe with taps off at various spots. To these taps/"Ts" I would connect a filter and the drip distribution manifold for that areas drip nozzels.

Good luck with your project.

[Airic]

I definitely here you and completely agree. Appreciate your response. I've been wrestling this concept for some time with the utilization of the barrels. It really came down to the esthetics and cool looking factor that got me interested from seeing other gravity feed systems. Form should definitely follow function on this design. Loosing pressure potential is a big issue and I should design to keep it at its peak potential. I think you have me convinced to go with traditional solution.

In addition, good filtration system is definitly on my shopping list.