I'm on 2 acres with a small (75' x 150' give or take) pond in the back that is about 6' deep in the middle. Essentially its just a hole in the swamp that the previous owner dug about 50 years ago. He took his backhoe into a wet area and started digging and mounded up the spoils on the low side, put an 8" overflow pipe in and since the pond is well below the water table it stays full year round. In the five years I've lived here I've seen it drop maybe 2-3" below the rim of the overflow. In any event, my daughters have really gotten into vegetable gardening and I don't see any reason to run my well pump (which is probably on borrowed time as it is) to water the garden when I've got nearly a quarter million gallons just downhill from the garden. The pond is about 200' from the garden and there is probably about a 30' difference in elevation between them. I have a small building right next to the garden that I could pull power from/use to house a pump. My questions are as follows:
- What kind of pump should I be looking at given the suction requirements?
- How large of a line should I be using from the pond to the pump? (Would 1" black poly work, etc...?)
- What kind of a strainer should I have on the end of the line? Obviously I don't want crud getting into the pump but I don't want to have to be constantly unclogging the inlet every time I want to water the garden either.
- I live in the Northeast-what should I plan to do with everything in winter? Obviously the pump should be winterized and most of the suction line should be empty, but I'm figuring I can locate my strainer rig close to the bottom where it won't freeze?
I should add that I'm not in a part of the country where water rights are an issue. We are blessed with an overabundance of water such that I don't need permits or language in my deed permitting me to draw from my pond, etc...