Best way to get water 300' away.

[Harvster]

This spring I'm putting in a 1/4 to 1/2 acre garden which will be approximately 300'-400' from the nearest faucet. That faucet is run by the house well pump. Previous owners have said there are no issues with supply even with filling the swimming pool all day long. But, I have a number of questions:

For running the water should I just string some hoses across the property down to the garden? Should I dig a trench and run either PVC or black poly tubing? Will the watering put unnecessary strain on the house well pump? Other possibilities I have not thought of?

p.s. I plan on having drip hoses along the rows.

Thank you,

Harvster

 

[Kendall69]

I would use pvc, the highest schedule you can afford.
The black stuff is a pain if you want to tap into it later and the fittings at least here are a pain.

I ran 600ft, of pvc, in and afternoon. Rent a ride on trencher, and it will do the trench in s few hours at the most, then just glue the pipe above ground with the heavy duty glue, not the medium stuff. Let it dry for a half hour, then push the whole thing in the trench. Connect then end and your good to go.

I added some fire hydrants, and some faucets here and there for future along with a stub out on the far end, if I want ti branch off.

It will not be a strain on your system, and once the 400ft is charged if becomes part of the closed system. Certainly the more faucets you have open will reduce pressure, but that's to be expected.

If that's a huge problem you can use a booster pump.

 

[Sberry]

Black poly and the size is determined by needs. If you are going to run drip a 1 inch would do it, you can buy one piece roll 300 ft long and its cheap, cheaper than garden hose. How big is the well, no use piping above the capacity of the well. Black rolled and common hose clamped fittings are plenty with normal well pressures.

 

[_RaT_]

This spring I'm putting in a 1/4 to 1/2 acre garden which will be approximately 300'-400' from the nearest faucet. That faucet is run by the house well pump. Previous owners have said there are no issues with supply even with filling the swimming pool all day long. But, I have a number of questions:

For running the water should I just string some hoses across the property down to the garden? Should I dig a trench and run either PVC or black poly tubing? Will the watering put unnecessary strain on the house well pump? Other possibilities I have not thought of?

p.s. I plan on having drip hoses along the rows.

Thank you,

Harvster

Either will work just fine. I lean towards PVC myself but am also more familiar with it. Buy 20' lengths of PVC schedule 40 is fine. For a run that distance, consider at least 1" even though you may be doing drip, it would be nice to run at least one Rainbird when needed and anything smaller then 1" in 300' with say 8 gpm will have a pretty significant pressure drops. Thats just off the top of my head, the pressure drop charts per 100' of line are easy to read and get online.

 

[Jimbrown]

I vote 1 in schedule 40 PVC buried and ectra faucets along the way you will not regret it. The poly stuff is cheaper but then thats what you get. Don't know what kind of pump or pressure tank you have. If you got room might add another pressure tank altough it will not hurt the pump to let it run.

 

[SPIKER]

I would buy one of the 300' rolls of the 1" black plastic poly not the sch40 glue together every seam has a failure chance. adding fittings later is as easy or easier than the pvc. digging up is same, all you need is a T fitting (brass usually but galv will work outside) cut line and slip T into each side. add the tap off it, been there done that..


soaker hoses are great less GPM more usable water into where you need it... stick with that idea. sprinkler heads are OK if you want to water weeds tops and all, but soaker's put it where it is needed...


markm

 

[moeh1]

Don't know what your weather is like, if black poly freezes you are OK later, not the same with PVC so go deep enough if you go that route.

 

[tawilson]

Here's my thoughts. I would use 3/4" black poly and get some of the battery operated timers ($25) so you are not trying to water the whole garden at the same time. I bought some nipples and tees and made a little header assembly and used them to cycle through the different sprayers around my wifes gardens. I would think it would be a lot easier on your well and pump. One thing you didn't mention is the elevation of your garden relative to your house. Could make a difference in size.

 

[CurlyDave]

For running the water should I just string some hoses across the property down to the garden? Should I dig a trench and run either PVC or black poly tubing? Will the watering put unnecessary strain on the house well pump? Other possibilities I have not thought of?

I would do this in two stages.

1. A temporary water line for this year -- fast & cheap.

2. A permanent one, once you have some experience with the garden.

Just lay the line on the ground for the first season, it won't freeze during growing season. Burry it in a trench next year, when you know better where you want the outlets, if you need more flow, etc.

 

[rdln]

hows about 3/4 poly into an elevated tank, fill it up at night and gravity feed drips during day. this way you can cheaply add fertilizer when you want