needing advise: well water pumping for pasture irrigation

airwolftruker · #1 07/09/12, 06:45 PM

Hello all!
I am currently on city water. But i have 2 wells. I dont know anything about them.
I dont have the pressure oncity water to operate more than 1 sprinkler head.
When i went to the big box store to look at sprinkler heads. The info that came with the heads only showed the coverage area that the head was capable of covering like. 4500,2500etc. In square feet. Not gallons per minute or gallons per hour.
i would like to have 3 heads going at the same time, but i could get by with 2.
6 heads total. 8 heads would be better operating in rotation. 3 to 4 hours per night.

I woul like to pump a1000 gallons in 20 hours. That seems like alot.
i live in Arkansas and were having a bad drought. If this was a fluke year i wouldn't consider going thru all this hassle.
Also i plan on watering at nite when temps are cooler and the water has a chance to get deep
any advise would be very helpful, thanks

Old Vet · #2 07/09/12, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by airwolftruker

Hello all!
I am currently on city water. But i have 2 wells. I dont know anything about them.
I dont have the pressure oncity water to operate more than 1 sprinkler head.
When i went to the big box store to look at sprinkler heads. The info that came with the heads only showed the coverage area that the head was capable of covering like. 4500,2500etc. In square feet. Not gallons per minute or gallons per hour.
i would like to have 3 heads going at the same time, but i could get by with 2.
6 heads total. 8 heads would be better operating in rotation. 3 to 4 hours per night.

I woul like to pump a1000 gallons in 20 hours. That seems like alot.
i live in Arkansas and were having a bad drought. If this was a fluke year i wouldn't consider going thru all this hassle.
Also i plan on watering at nite when temps are cooler and the water has a chance to get deep
any advise would be very helpful, thanks

Where are you in Arkansas? If you are in the north near the Ozarks you may not have enough water to irrigate your pasture. In the middle of the state you will have enough to water everything with out running out. In the south of the state you will probity have a arteian (SP) well and it will run for ever.
The next is what kind of well are you talking about(submersible or Jet). If you have a drilled well or just a sand point? If you have a drilled well and have a submersible pump in a 3/4 HP range and have more than one spigot you can run up to 6 sprinklers. But if you only have one 1/2 inch spigot you and run only 1 if you have a 3/4 inch spigot you can run 2 sprinklers on it. . If you have a Jet pump you can run as many as 2 on it. If you need more information PM me and I will give you my phone number so that you can ask anything you want. Using sprinklers is a good idea but there is more than just having a hydrant available.

agmantoo · #3 07/09/12, 08:29 PM

Do some research here

As far as 1000 gallons in 20 hours that may be sufficient for a large garden.

airwolftruker · #4 07/09/12, 09:09 PM

I live in eastern logan county, in newblaine.
The newer well i know had a submersible. What kind i dont lnow.know
my mom lives down the hill from me and she has a 50' well of course she is at a lower elevation
i would say my newer well is about 100+ ft.

Bearfootfarm · #5 07/10/12, 12:00 AM

Quote:

I woul like to pump a1000 gallons in 20 hours. That seems like alot.

It takes 27,154 gallons of water per acre to equal 1 inch of rainfall

You need a LOT more water than what you think if you really want to pump enough to make a difference on a pasture

rambler · #6 07/10/12, 03:40 AM

I think you will be woefully short of amounting to anything on a pasture size with the amount of water you are looking at.

It takes huge amounts of water to accomplish anything.

A good 3/4 submersable with a 1 inch pipe should put out 20 gallons a minute. 1000+ gallons in an hour. Will lose some with longer hose, restrictions and connections etc. So it will be less than that. Also depends if your well can possibly keep up with that.

--->Paul

MichaelK! · #7 07/10/12, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rambler

I think you will be woefully short of amounting to anything on a pasture size with the amount of water you are looking at.

A good 3/4 submersable with a 1 inch pipe should put out 20 gallons a minute. 1000+ gallons in an hour.

That's overly optimistic I think. My well has a new 1.5 hp pump and with a static water level of -100 feet I'm getting 6.5 gallons per minute. My well has 1" pipe.

airwolftruker · #8 07/17/12, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agmantoo

Do some research here
Pearson K line Short Video 2009 - YouTube

As far as 1000 gallons in 20 hours that may be sufficient for a large garden.

Thx,so much for the link. That design looks about as easy as it gets

jdrobison · #9 07/17/12, 05:47 PM

most of the 3/4 and 1 hp subs we install are rated 10 to 12 gallon per min. you can get higher gpm pumps but the cost goes way up

haypoint · #10 07/17/12, 09:32 PM

My well has wonderful water, but the flow is about 10 gal per minute. That is normal for a home use. Doesn't do any good to have a pump that pumps more than that as it will run out of water.

Calhoon · #11 07/19/12, 05:04 AM

As you said , that's a mighty dry state , even when it's raining everywhere else , , it's always been hot & dry in Arizona . . . with most of the Nation's Farmers ( the back-bone of our great nation ) in the worst drought in a century , , Arizona must be an oven right now . . . and like you say , you don't get much pressure or volume on city water . . . and , you've moved forward in your thinking towards re-activating your two private wells & putting in a well pump . . . smart thinking ... I'd prolly try and get a small quart sample of the water in each of the two wells ... don't taste the water .... just give it a sniff test ,,, how does it smell ? Good ? Bad ? What ?

Is the sample clear or muddy ? anything swimming around ? does the sample taken glow in the dark or exhibit any other unusual behavior ?

As far as the lawn watering , I'd consider a drip-hose spagetti line on a timer..

it'd be a green lawn at 1/4 the price ... and save a lot of water as well ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by airwolftruker

Hello all!
I am currently on city water. But i have 2 wells. I dont know anything about them.
I dont have the pressure oncity water to operate more than 1 sprinkler head.
When i went to the big box store to look at sprinkler heads. The info that came with the heads only showed the coverage area that the head was capable of covering like. 4500,2500etc. In square feet. Not gallons per minute or gallons per hour.
i would like to have 3 heads going at the same time, but i could get by with 2.
6 heads total. 8 heads would be better operating in rotation. 3 to 4 hours per night.

I woul like to pump a1000 gallons in 20 hours. That seems like alot.
i live in Arkansas and were having a bad drought. If this was a fluke year i wouldn't consider going thru all this hassle.
Also i plan on watering at nite when temps are cooler and the water has a chance to get deep
any advise would be very helpful, thanks

meddac · #12 07/19/12, 05:26 AM

To do more than a couple heads you will need bigger pipe or a whole lot a zones. You run into big time frictional losses with 3/4 pipe so the bigger the better. I have ponds and run a 2HP pump pushing 6K gallons/hr through 1.5" pipe and can run about 9 heads well. Not sure if a standard submersible which usually run 14 gallons/min is gonna even come close. Most nozzles come with tips from 3-10gal min. Rainbird 5000 are the bomb if you decide on something permanent.

copperkid3 · #13 07/19/12, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calhoon

As you said , that's a mighty dry state , even when it's raining everywhere else , , it's always been hot & dry in Arizona . . . with most of the Nation's Farmers ( the back-bone of our great nation ) in the worst drought in a century , , Arizona must be an oven right now . . . and like you say , you don't get much pressure or volume on city water . . . and , you've moved forward in your thinking towards re-activating your two private wells & putting in a well pump . . . smart thinking ... I'd prolly try and get a small quart sample of the water in each of the two wells ... don't taste the water .... just give it a sniff test ,,, how does it smell ? Good ? Bad ? What ?

Is the sample clear or muddy ? anything swimming around ? does the sample taken glow in the dark or exhibit any other unusual behavior ?

As far as the lawn watering , I'd consider a drip-hose spagetti line on a timer..

it'd be a green lawn at 1/4 the price ... and save a lot of water as well ...

*************
NOT Arizona! ! !

Try & keep up. . .

oregon woodsmok · #14 07/19/12, 12:50 PM

If you are going to set sprinklers with hoses, Gilmour makes an extra large rain bird type on a metal base with 3 big spikes on the bottom. That thing will cover a large area. I get mine at BiMart, but Lowes sells Gilmour products.

I've got some small genuine rainbird heads on tall raised stands that I got from an irrigation pipe company. Those things have amazing coverage.

I have 2 Gilmours and 3 of the tall Rainbirds and water 1/2 an acre without ever moving the sprinklers. I use a garden hose, municipal water, but I have to run the sprinklers one at a time. I can do the entire pasture in less than a day. 2 hours on each sprinkler.

It's desert here, hardly ever any rain. We get about 10 inches of rain a year.