Ok, so I thought of this crazy idea when I was watering today.
We have about 30 sq meters of garden space, consisting roughly of 4 rows. We rent the house, so don't want to do any permanent or expensive garden remodels, because we are hoping, we won't be renting forever.
Right now we have a 55 g rain barrel, that is not hooked up to any gutters, a 20 g bin that catches all our AC water runoff on the side of the house, and about 6 5-g Home Depot buckets to catch rain water and carry the water to the garden, which is about 50' from the house (and rain barrels).
I had this idea of getting the drip system tubing, and a very small water pump that I could dip the end of the tubing in the 5 g bucket. Then snake the tubing around in my rows. This would give me an above ground drip system effect, where I could water the rows the most effective way, and not have to break my back leaning over with a watering can.
I realize that I will have to 'replace' the water in the 5g bucket, for I usually use about 4-5 buckets worth when watering. But I could have them lined up, and then just 'dip' the hose in one until it is finished, and then move on to the next bucket. Seems a whole lot less work for me!
Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Or have tried this? Know of any inexpensive little water pumps that would work this way? The only thing I can find are pond pumps that need to be submersed. I'm trying to think of cost effective, energy effective (as in my energy) to water these plants, where it is also the most beneficial for them.
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TheWaterbug
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What's the elevation change between the 55 gallon barrel and the garden? You might be able to do this with just a gravity feed, and forget about the pump entirely.
This 1/4" dripline tubing will allegedly work with as little as 10 PSI pressure, which I'm thinking you could get without too much elevation.
Put a valve on it, and you'd be able to water any time with little effort. Put a timer on it, and it'd be no effort at all!
This 1/4" dripline tubing will allegedly work with as little as 10 PSI pressure, which I'm thinking you could get without too much elevation.
Put a valve on it, and you'd be able to water any time with little effort. Put a timer on it, and it'd be no effort at all!
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TheWaterbug
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Hmmm. More than I thought. According to this page (which I believe to be correct) you need 2.31' of height for each desired PSI of pressure, so you'd need 23.1' of elevation change to get 10 PSI.TheWaterbug wrote:This 1/4" dripline tubing will allegedly work with as little as 10 PSI pressure, which I'm thinking you could get without too much elevation.
That said, the dripline may work with less than 10 PSI pressure.
More good information.
The higher you can elevate the barrel the better. Drip tubing can be connected to a tap at the bottom of the barrel and run out to the garden. Long runs increase resistance and decrease flow but it will be like using a slow drip system. The pump will empty the barrel and buckets faster. You can use a screw clamp to control the flow and a small pond or fountain pump for the motor. It still needs an electrical connection unless you have battery powered pump. You could go pump less if your barrels are elevated higher than the garden and you have a way to connect and disconnect your tubing from the drip tubing.
You would use a siphon method, no pump needed. Fill a garden hose with water in the barrel. One end must stay under water and cap off the other end until you are ready. Use the screw clamp to control flow. Open the cap and the water should be coming out. It actually works better to furrow water as it is messy to have to connect to a soaker or drip line even with a quick connect. It also takes two people since both ends of the hose need to be monitored and air cannot get into the hose or you have to start over and the end that goes to the garden must always be lower than the end in the barrel or air will get in and stop the siphon.
You would use a siphon method, no pump needed. Fill a garden hose with water in the barrel. One end must stay under water and cap off the other end until you are ready. Use the screw clamp to control flow. Open the cap and the water should be coming out. It actually works better to furrow water as it is messy to have to connect to a soaker or drip line even with a quick connect. It also takes two people since both ends of the hose need to be monitored and air cannot get into the hose or you have to start over and the end that goes to the garden must always be lower than the end in the barrel or air will get in and stop the siphon.
Thanks for the tips guys!
But yes, unfortunately we are pretty flat out here, from barrel to garden.
And it would be nice to have the rain barrel close to the garden, but they are a bout 100'ish apart from one another.
It hasnt rained in almost a month now, and everyday this week has been 103F or above. I say this every summer that I am not going to try anymore, I'm just going to let it die!
But yes, unfortunately we are pretty flat out here, from barrel to garden.
And it would be nice to have the rain barrel close to the garden, but they are a bout 100'ish apart from one another.
It hasnt rained in almost a month now, and everyday this week has been 103F or above. I say this every summer that I am not going to try anymore, I'm just going to let it die!