Small reliable (low maintenance) irrigation system from pond?

[IHDiesel73L]

I'm on 2 acres with a small (75' x 150' give or take) pond in the back that is about 6' deep in the middle. Essentially its just a hole in the swamp that the previous owner dug about 50 years ago. He took his backhoe into a wet area and started digging and mounded up the spoils on the low side, put an 8" overflow pipe in and since the pond is well below the water table it stays full year round. In the five years I've lived here I've seen it drop maybe 2-3" below the rim of the overflow. In any event, my daughters have really gotten into vegetable gardening and I don't see any reason to run my well pump (which is probably on borrowed time as it is) to water the garden when I've got nearly a quarter million gallons just downhill from the garden. The pond is about 200' from the garden and there is probably about a 30' difference in elevation between them. I have a small building right next to the garden that I could pull power from/use to house a pump. My questions are as follows:

• What kind of pump should I be looking at given the suction requirements?
• How large of a line should I be using from the pond to the pump? (Would 1" black poly work, etc...?)
• What kind of a strainer should I have on the end of the line? Obviously I don't want crud getting into the pump but I don't want to have to be constantly unclogging the inlet every time I want to water the garden either.
• I live in the Northeast-what should I plan to do with everything in winter? Obviously the pump should be winterized and most of the suction line should be empty, but I'm figuring I can locate my strainer rig close to the bottom where it won't freeze?

I should add that I'm not in a part of the country where water rights are an issue. We are blessed with an overabundance of water such that I don't need permits or language in my deed permitting me to draw from my pond, etc...

 

[mapper]

Make a rainy well next to the pond. Dig a hole about 5-6' deep next to the pond put a 2'-3' perforated pipe vertically in the hole. Backfill around it with gravel. It will fill with water very quickly, if not connect it to the pond with a gravel filled ditch.
This will filter the water and give you a place to use either a submersible or shallow draft pump.

 

[bcp]

No pump will pull the water up 30 feet. It must be pushed.

Pump should be located at about halfway or more down to the pond.

Bruce

 

[jaxs]

The ONLY reason you should consider pulling water from the pond rather than the existing well is whether the well has a limited flow and might be pumped dry leaving house without water and that sounds unlikly with a 30' water table. You say the well pump is on borrowed time but a replacement is cheaper than a pump plus pipe,valves and other components to pull from the pond. Why are you not considering this route?

 

[jaxs]

No pump will pull the water up 30 feet. It must be pushed.

Pump should be located at about halfway or more down to the pond.

Bruce

I'm advocating irrigating from existing well but for benifit of our general knowledge bank why wouldn't a conventional deep well pump pull water from the pond? 30' of head seems easy considering how deep many wells are.

 

[mapper]

No pump will pull the water up 30 feet. It must be pushed.

Pump should be located at about halfway or more down to the pond.

Bruce

Theoretically you can lift water 33.9 feet at sea level. Your pump would need to pull a perfect vacuum to do so. Would also need a strong pipe to avoid collapsing it.
Much better to put the pump at the bottom and push the water uphill.

 

[ning]

I'm advocating irrigating from existing well but for benifit of our general knowledge bank why wouldn't a conventional deep well pump pull water from the pond? 30' of head seems easy considering how deep many wells are.

Well pumps are at the bottom of the well, not at the top.

 

[ning]

My experience with gardening on pond water is that everything will clog rapidly because pond water is filthy, even when it looks clear.

You can get high-flow filters in black housings which reduce filter clogging due to algal growth but it's still going to grow in your lines, as is other sludge.

Our land has water from a nearby irrigation canal (very clean) which fills a cistern via gravity; the land was originally (before my time) set up to pump water to the pond if needed, and another pump took water from the pond and irrigated with it. This was a mess, clogs etc even with a filter (which needed nonstop attention), I now irrigate directly with our tank water (and still filter it but the filter barely needs any cleaning).

Well water would be even cleaner.

Definitely use the well if it's at all reasonable.

 

[ehcrain]

I used a gas powered waste pump to irrigate from a pond, it's a 3" line with a 20' suction line that has a strainer on the end. Had aluminum 3"pipe in 20' sections that were coupled together and vertical sprinklers on 1" uprights every 40'. I could usually run 6 to 9 sprinklers depending on how far up from the pond the line ran, the furthest point from the pump was about 400' with a 10' elevation increase. The secret to cleaner water was to keep the strainer off of the pond bottom, a 2 to 3 foot rope attached to a couple of gallon jugs worked well.

I foolishly sold the aluminum pipe and will be getting a new setup soon using flexible discharge hose and a single rain gun. The hard pipe took up alot of room and was a bear to setup in the summer heat.

 

[ultrarunner]

Friends grow grapes in Napa valley and say pond water often is first pick because warmer than well water and more nutrients???

 

[Mendonsy]

I have a somewhat similar situation so maybe my setup will give you some ideas you can use. My wife has two gardens with raised beds which inevitably need regular watering during July and August. I get the water from a small stream that is about 200' away and 35' below the gardens.
I have four 275 gallon IBC tanks that I have set up about 5' above the gardens. I fill them as needed with a 2" trash pump that I set up near the stream to pump the water uphill.
Each of the raised beds has a PVC pipe with a garden hose adapter on one end and a pipe cap on the other end. I drilled 1/8" holes on 4 inch centers in each of the pipes and connect them to the tanks with garden hoses and shutoff valves.
The 5' drop from the tanks allows enough pressure to drip water each raised bed in about 5 minutes every couple of days as needed.

 

[Valveman]

A lot of people irrigate from rivers, ponds, lakes, etc. With drip you have to filter it. With sprinklers the sediment will just be pumped out the sprinklers. Always better to push water than draw water with a pump. So, a submersible well pump would be best. You can use some PVC sell casing and screen installed at a angle into the lake. Sliding the submersible down the casing makes it easy to install, and the well screen at the bottom keeps out the turtles, small fish, and most of the lake trash. Install the pump above the well screen or use a flow inducer sleeve to keep the motor cool.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've seen floating pump in a lake... avoids the bottom muck and top floatsum...

 

[Valveman]

Here is a picture of some floating submersibles with a control system that sits on the shore.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

You could also use one of these, either water by hand / hose, or tie it into a drip irrigation system.

1 HP Stainless Steel Shallow Well Pump and Tank with Pressure Control Switch - 950 GPH

Amazing deals on this 1Hp Stainless Steel Shallow Well Pump at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[ultrarunner]

My neighbor bought the Harbor Freight with extended warranty…

Said the warranty quickly paid for itself and then on his last visit they refunded all what he paid.

He would irrigate all day once a week which was too much for the pump…?

 

[Valveman]

You could also use one of these, either water by hand / hose, or tie it into a drip irrigation system.

1 HP Stainless Steel Shallow Well Pump and Tank with Pressure Control Switch - 950 GPH

Amazing deals on this 1Hp Stainless Steel Shallow Well Pump at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

Every tool and box store is selling that pump. It is the only pump I have seen that says, "Not for Continuous Use". What the heck is the duty cycle then? Is it only OK to run for two minutes or ten minutes at a time? Then how long does it need to cool down before restarting. As was said, they don't last very long. I would not use one for irrigation. They might last a while supplying water to an RV or something that uses water very sparingly.

 

[Yander]

Shed roof next to your garden... setup a rain barrel or two. Or Mendosy's idea seems like it would be economical.

 

[jaxs]

My neighbor bought the Harbor Freight with extended warranty…

Said the warranty quickly paid for itself and then on his last visit they refunded all what he paid.

He would irrigate all day once a week which was too much for the pump…?

Despite there being countless brands of better quility tools available,someone always recommends Harbor Freight. Seriously can anyone name a single brand or source recommended just half as often as Harbor Freight?
While you are messing with exchanging the pump you can lose your crop.
One more instance where HF warranty can cost more in damages than a quality product to begin with.

 

[JasperFrank]

We are all now in a Harbor Freight world. Its the Wall Mart, of Chinese made stuff. At least they are honest about it. And you may pay a premium of something you think is made in Germany or in the USA, only to find out later, its really a china made product any way. Every one sold out to the cheap labor. This is how international Corporations work. They find least cost. Regarless of the social implications, that they don't care about. In 20 years, all of our cars will be made in China and we will think nothing of it.