help with irrigating

[Kenneth Flippen]

My well can't take the pressure of watering the garden for some reason. I have a creek about 100yds below the garden with a extra 1/2 HP above ground well pump any body know how to make it work with a sprinkler system on a timer

Kenneth Flippen

 

[Veggie PAK]

Sorry, but I'm not sure, but I would like to share my thoughts on it. One thing that catches my attention is the 300 feet from the stream. That's a long way to maintain suction without air leaks. You would have to install piping, probably 1 1/4" PVC, and put a screen or well point on the end to keep debris out. A check valve at the stream end would be good. A pressure tank with switch would also be good. That way, if you start to lose pressure, if the power was on, the pump would kick in and maintain pressure. That's how mine works for my well that was driven in 1945. The trouble with that setup is that a timer would have to operate a valve on the discharge side of the pump to allow the irrigation to take place. That could be expensive. If the timer controlled the actual pump, you couldn't maintain pressure in the line between use because the pump wouldn't activate when pressure dropped on the suction/stream side of the pump. It seems like the snag comes when the timer is introduced into the picture. Is the use of a timer really mandatory for your situation?

The stream large is apparently large enough to support irrigating your garden.

I hope these thoughts help you.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

We have a pressure pump too. Our well is up hill, we pump it up to a 5000 gal holding tank, and gravity/drop in elevation was not enuf pressure to run sprinklers or drips. The aux pressure pump runs alot, but its cost effective vs paying for city water on our 7 acres.

 

[hoodat]

If the creek has year round water and moderate to high current you might look for a hydraulic ram to move the creek water to your garden. Here's what Wickipedia has to say about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_ram
To use it on a sprinkler you will need to come up with a tank or some other water storage to give you steady pressure. Unless you are watering a lawn some type of drip irrigation may be better. It will give you more water conservation.