Limited Water Supply
I recently received an email from a gentlemen who had a question about irrigating a 1/2 acre with a limited water supply. He told me that he has about 900 - 1000 gallons of water available from storm water run-off that is held in a holding tank every time after it rains.
He went on to ask me if this would be enough water to irrigate with. Well the answer is yes and no. The supply would be used up very fast, but here's what I told him he could do with it:
The "average" sprinkler system that we build down here is around 16 gpm's (gallons per minute). To cover 1/2 acre with 2.0 (2 gpm) rotors, you would need about 24 rotor heads. This would be three separate 16 gpm zones.
In sandy soil we run the rotors for 45 - 60 minutes approximately once every three days. I'm assuming that your soil has more of a clay base up there which means it isn't very permeable and running the rotors for 45 minutes would be inefficient due to run-off.
Let's say that you run your rotors for 20 minutes per zone. This is 320 gallons for each zone X 3, which equals 960 gallons per cycle. So, your 900 - 1000 gallons of water would be just about right for half of your yard.
I wouldn't go with any smaller rotor nozzles than 2.0's because you won't get enough distance out of them. I personally like using 3.0 rotor nozzles with my designs, but I use 2.0's when I am dealing with a limited water source.
I also wouldn't cut the run time per zone under 20 minutes for the rotors because it is better to water you lawn less frequently, but longer. This will saturate the soil and then encourage the roots to go deep for water. I always see people who water for short intervals, every day and this is not good. Watering short & frequently will cause the roots to stay shallow and makes for unhealthy grass.
As far as a pump goes, I would recommend a Sta-Rite 1&1/2 hp, horizontal centrifugal pump. The HMSF is a durable and reliable model. As long as it is not further than 20 vertical feet between the water and the input of the pump, it will not have a problem. If you have a long horizontal run of pipe, 10 feet of horizontal run is about equal to 1 foot of vertical lift.
I hope I've helped shed some light on this topic for some of you in a similar situation. Check out my ebook at the bottom of this page and can decide if you think it may have any more information that might help you with your particular situation.
Scott Young
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com
He went on to ask me if this would be enough water to irrigate with. Well the answer is yes and no. The supply would be used up very fast, but here's what I told him he could do with it:
The "average" sprinkler system that we build down here is around 16 gpm's (gallons per minute). To cover 1/2 acre with 2.0 (2 gpm) rotors, you would need about 24 rotor heads. This would be three separate 16 gpm zones.
In sandy soil we run the rotors for 45 - 60 minutes approximately once every three days. I'm assuming that your soil has more of a clay base up there which means it isn't very permeable and running the rotors for 45 minutes would be inefficient due to run-off.
Let's say that you run your rotors for 20 minutes per zone. This is 320 gallons for each zone X 3, which equals 960 gallons per cycle. So, your 900 - 1000 gallons of water would be just about right for half of your yard.
I wouldn't go with any smaller rotor nozzles than 2.0's because you won't get enough distance out of them. I personally like using 3.0 rotor nozzles with my designs, but I use 2.0's when I am dealing with a limited water source.
I also wouldn't cut the run time per zone under 20 minutes for the rotors because it is better to water you lawn less frequently, but longer. This will saturate the soil and then encourage the roots to go deep for water. I always see people who water for short intervals, every day and this is not good. Watering short & frequently will cause the roots to stay shallow and makes for unhealthy grass.
As far as a pump goes, I would recommend a Sta-Rite 1&1/2 hp, horizontal centrifugal pump. The HMSF is a durable and reliable model. As long as it is not further than 20 vertical feet between the water and the input of the pump, it will not have a problem. If you have a long horizontal run of pipe, 10 feet of horizontal run is about equal to 1 foot of vertical lift.
I hope I've helped shed some light on this topic for some of you in a similar situation. Check out my ebook at the bottom of this page and can decide if you think it may have any more information that might help you with your particular situation.
Scott Young
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com
posted by Irrigationman at
9:50 AM
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