# Off grid irrigation



## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

We are getting the acre next to us, which used to have a mobile home on it. It is bare and dry. There is a well with standard casing, but someone stole the submersible pump. So far I don't really want to turn on the electric and pay the minimum fee every month, since we want the land for more garden and maybe poultry pasture. Summers here are very dry and gardens and pasture need watered. I can get the water out of the well with several methods, like airlift. 

I thought of getting a bulk tank somewhere and pump into that when the wind blows and a small windmill runs a compressor to lift water. I might spring for a small solar pump to fill the bulk tank. Then how to water the acre? 

If the well is like ours, and it should be, it is around 55 feet deep with water at about 25 feet down.


----------



## Micahn (Nov 19, 2005)

Well as your thinking of getting a tank anyway why not build a little water tower ? then you could use gravity for watering.


----------



## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Yep, Elevate the tank and gravity feed into a drip system/soaker hoses for the garden. There's even little battery powered water timers that could make the watering system automatic.


----------



## 12vman (Feb 17, 2004)

"standard casing".. 4".. 6"..?

The water tower is a good idea but may need to be drained for the winter..


----------



## pixelphotograph (Apr 8, 2007)

There are cheap 12 volt pumps that can work off a small solar panel that would work just fine. Check Northern Tool catalog. There are lots of other places but thats the first one off the top of my head.
GAIM is another.


----------



## Michael Kawalek (Jun 21, 2007)

Hello Ed
Our homestead has a generator powered well pump and above ground storage tanks. We have 5000 gallon steel tanks about 200 vertical feet above the well head. We pump water into the tanks for an hour or two, shut off the generator, then enjoy high pressure water 24/7. We are in zone 7/8, but don't drain the system in winter, we fill it completely. The large thermal mass keeps the water in the tank from freezing even though the winter lows drop to 10-15F. Still, draining the system in your area is no big deal, just plan to use up your water by the time freezing weather approaches. 

Is there a hill nearby where you can position a tank? That's the easiest thing to do an gives the highest vertical height. You can pump water out of the well and up a tower, but a 20' tower will only give you 10 psi of water pressure. Not enough for regular irrigation, by maybe a drip would work. Does your area have more sun or wind? I myself and looking at a solar system and here are two websites that feature solar electric water pumping.

www.solarwellpumps.com/solar.htm 
www.etaengineering.com/waterpumping/well_kits.shtml

The costs of the systems are based on how much water you want, and how many vertical feet it has to be pumped. Remember to add the vertical feet above ground to your tank from the bottom of your well.

For my orchard trees I originally hooked up a drip system with battery operated irrigation timers. Ground squirrels eat through the tubing, and I lost thousands of gallons of water by the time I found out. This year I've switched to hard PVC pipe with the same controllers. I'm not altogether pleased. Water seems to be used up at a phenomenal rate, and again, lost thousands of gallons of water, because I think the valves might be leaking. Some trees got saturated, while others were bone dry. I'm going to gut the whole system and start out with a new style of valve next year.


----------



## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

6" casing.

The land is flat. Many years ago it was an alfalfa field, probably flood irrigated, but the land is so flat, I can't even tell which way it slopes. No hills available. 

We usually have some wind in the spring and early summer then is stops. Full sun, long days, all summer. I would try to combine wind and solar.

I'm looking at all the options given. Thanks for the replies.


----------



## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

I did some experimenting with drip irrigation and found that some of the low pressure emitters worked with very low water pressure. I took a 5 gallon plastic pail and connected a piece of drip tubing to the bottom at the side, using one of the tubing connectors and a small dab of silicone caulk, and ran it to an emitter. It would drain the bucket in a day or so. If the bucket was up even a foot or so (set on another upside down bucket), it drained overnight or a bit longer. So you might get enough pressure just by having the tank mostly full. Might be worth getting some tubing, connectors and emitters and doing some experimenting.


----------

