Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Using Pond water for garden (pumping)

We moved to a new home that has a nice 1/2 acre clay pit pond and some beautiful raised be gardens. There is no well or water close to the gardens. I am trying to figure out a plan. my options are

1. trench about 50 yards and connect to my well
2. Collect rainwater and use gravity to water
3. pump from the pond to water the garden

Not sure on costs of 3 or what it would involve. Any info on a pump to use or how to do it?

dchance, a 2" semi-trash pump with a hose end cap and 3/4" wye will easily run 4-6 large Rain Bird sprinklers.

The pump price just depends on the brand you buy. Most any of the Honda powered pumps are gonna be $400-500, and some of the cheaper NTool or HFreight pumps could be $200. Then factor in the price of the more expensive semi-rigid intake hose, and then however many feet you need of the more pliable discharge hose or hoses. That could be a couple hundred dollars as well.

Another issue pumping from the pond is trash in the waterlines. Although the pumps pass them easily, the sprinkler head nozzles often don't. When pumping out of my pond, I find I have to remove and clean the actual sprinklers nozzles every few weeks.

I'm a recent convert, but the long term price might be cheaper and far more efficient if you dig the trench and go drip irrigation. Much less wasted water, and the effort savings are incredible. That's what I'm doing on our raised beds.

DC,

First, I agree with everything my friend FireIsHot (Al) said. I live where we get more regular rainfall than he does (my run-off water ponds have been above full pool for 3 or 4 years at this point).

A number of years ago I bought a Chinese-made 2-inch semi-trash pump from Tractor Supply. I believe it is this pump: 2 inch semi-trash pump. I bought it during a holiday sale, which included this hose kit: 2-inch trash pump hose kit.

I added some additional hose and one of these foot valves so that I didn't have to prime the pump very often, which can be somewhat of a chore that can get you very wet. 2-inch trash pump foot valve

My garden is a fenced area about 100 x 200 feet. I bought two sprinklers like these: Tripod Sprinkler

The pump will easily push water out of two of these, when the sprinklers are set at about 4' feet off the ground, into my 100 x 200 foot space. Actually, I have it set to overlap quite a bit.

As Al mentioned above, the sprinklers will get clogged. I clean the sprinklers and their screen filters before each watering.

My garden is probably about 20-25 feet above my pond water level. The pump is located near the pond edge. With 50 feet of pump output hoses, and another 100 feet of garden hose, I have no problem covering the entire garden with the pump running at about half throttle. A tank of gas will run for at least 1-1/2 hours. I've never measured what that equals in equivalent rainfall, but it makes the soil pretty wet.

If my funds were more substantial, I would have preferred a pump with a Honda engine. But, this one has really taken a beating over at least five years.

Good luck,
Ken

I bought a 2" Harbor Freight clear water pump about a year ago, and have about 180 hours on it without a problem. Used it for initial filling and to combat leaks early this year. I have been faithful to change the engine oil about every 20 hours run time, and use a fine (under 1/16" mesh) filter over the top of the strainer. When it wears out, I will buy a semi trash type of better quality.
I believe the Red Lion pumps use an engine that is a made in China Honda clone, as does my HF pump.