Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations sprinkler systems

ok, anybody out there know anything about sprinkler systems, using pond or lake as water source? i've searched the site, i couldn't find any topics on this in the past.

i need to pump water from a lake which is about 200 yards down the hill (i.e. need to pump uphill!)...not sure exactly the "foot head", but i'll figure out that soon. i've looked on websites about "booster pumps", and found a few at northerntool.com as well as other places.

i've read some books from "SCOTTS" on sprinkler systems.

anybody with experience in this, please reply, or email me at ilovefishingmark@yahoo.com

i can dig the ditches and lay pvc and attach the fittings and all that jazz, but i don't know how to compute what size/kind of pump to use, compression ratios and such. help.

mark

Mark, It's good to see you posting again!!
I know there have been at lease a couple of posts on irrigation but I searched & couldn't find them.
Local farmers use a pump powered by the pto on their tractor.
I may try to find out what pump they're using.

I used to irrigate about an acre with pond water. I used a 2 HP shallow well jet pump and had about 10 feet of head on the suction side. I had 40' 2 inch suction line and 300' of 1 1/2 inch supply line that T'eed into 3/4 inch sprinkler lines. I could run 10 sprinklers at a time and keep 35 psi on the line. I had two supply systems with a valve so I could run either one.

I didn't want to be sucking up fish, so I went to Home Depot knowing what I wanted, but not what I needed. I left with a cheap shower drain, which amounts to a funnel with a 1 1/2 inch hole on the small end and a perforated plastic cover on the big end. Worked great.

I have two photos for you Mark,I hope they show up good. The first is the pump set-up, I have had this installed now for about three years,it's the cheepo version but it has not gave me any problems yet. I used 1 1/2" pvc running 120'uphill (7ft rise) into a tee and then 40' on both ends to the watering stations.Flo-Tec brand pump sprinkler @ 1.5 hp,even with four hoses running at once I can maintain 40 psi and still have water blasting out of the overflo into the pond,( you may need the 2hp) it will disconnect in about five min. for winter storage.The second photo is one of the watering stations.Now a word of caution to anyone installing a pump.My wife is an avid gardener, she uses the pump constantly when its dry to water plants - She is also forgetful! the 20amp breaker to the pump is in the house, she just flips it on and heads outside to water, once she forgot to shut it off and it ran all night( where my boat motor and tackle were tied loosely to our dock...I'M GIVING HER A WEEK TO PACK!.. Paul Harvey..good day!

You could use A jet pump (like you would use on a shallow well less than 20 ft. deep) then a presure switch & tank. Just be sure to use a filter Y type (prevents trash stopping up sprinker nozzle) & 2 in. or 1 1/2 pipe is best to use till you get to the 1st value for your sprinker zone.(less presure loss). Also foot head
is just how much higher up in elvation the very end of the line is form the pump ( needs to be less than 20 ft for most pumps).

thanks to all....please check this everyonce in a while ...i'll have more questions, and sounds like some of you out there have some knowledge that i can use!!

i guess first thing i need to do is calcultate the height then go from there... i really think we are talking about a 100 feet or so! the bigger the pump, will probably be better. i'll check the internet.

ric, it's good to be back...had a hiatus there while buying more property and getting my now 11 mo old up and at em'. i would check in now and then, just didn't post much.

thanks all. i'll ask more questions later. mark

Mark,

I'll echo what Ric said, its nice to see you posting again! We'll be looking forward to some aerials of the new property!!

Russ

Here's a link to some pumps
http://www.goulds.com/master.asp?id=3

Here's the site I had posted before

http://www.irrigationtutorials.com/index.html

russ, it's good to be posting again. now that my little girl (turns 1 aug 29...hard to believe, huh?!!) is walking around, she can meander over to her toys and stay occupied for a few minutes, allowing me to sneak onto the computer for a few minutes now and then!!

i don't have any aerials of my new place, but if you go to www.lakenorfork.com you will get an idea. there is only one spot on the lake that houses can be built right on the water with docks etc. i think there are 50 lots. we were fortunate and got one with a house and dock. i kept my "pond house" as well, because it is my "baby"!! i'm going out there this weekend to work on a floating dock. much better fishing in my "tank" than in any public lake, of course. when my little girl gets older, i want to be able to take her out to the pond and actually catch fish!

thanks for all of the irrigation advice. that's one of my other projects i'm working on.

thanks all.