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Good Design or Example of Solar Powered Irrigation and Rain Harvesting System

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  • Good Design or Example of Solar Powered Irrigation and Rain Harvesting System

    I'd like to design a system for capturing about 10,000 gallons of rainwater during the wet season. And, I'd like to also use off grid solar power to irrigation about 1/4 of an acre during the summer. I've seen only a couple youtube videos of smaller systems, but none this large. Has anyone attempted something like this or heard of someone who has done something like this?

  • #2
    No and it would be doubtful anyone would ever do it because of the enormous cost involved.

    1/4 acre = roughly 11,000 square feet. A single irrigation cycle should apply 1 inch of water per application, and it takes 620 gallons of water to cover 1000 square feet with 1-inch, and it needs to be applied in 2 hours. So at 11 Kf2 would require 6820 gallons of water flowing at rate of 60 gpm. That is one mother of a motor at 5 to 7 Horse Power.
    MSEE, PE

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Sunking View Post
      No and it would be doubtful anyone would ever do it because of the enormous cost involved.

      1/4 acre = roughly 11,000 square feet. A single irrigation cycle should apply 1 inch of water per application, and it takes 620 gallons of water to cover 1000 square feet with 1-inch, and it needs to be applied in 2 hours. So at 11 Kf2 would require 6820 gallons of water flowing at rate of 60 gpm. That is one mother of a motor at 5 to 7 Horse Power.

      That's why I slow pump to 12,000 gallons of elevated tanks, and have 2.5" water lines running to the orchard.
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      • #4
        drip irrigation

        I was thinking of using drip irrigation for plants that don't require much water. So, I really don't need much water pressure.

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        • #5
          At 1/4 acre you are above normal limits.
          MSEE, PE

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          • #6
            lawn

            Any extra water that we have, we can use to irrigate our thirsty lawn.

            Originally posted by Sunking View Post
            At 1/4 acre you are above normal limits.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by natel View Post
              I'd like to design a system for capturing about 10,000 gallons of rainwater during the wet season. And, I'd like to also use off grid solar power to irrigation about 1/4 of an acre during the summer. I've seen only a couple youtube videos of smaller systems, but none this large. Has anyone attempted something like this or heard of someone who has done something like this?
              Plenty of rainwater capture systems out there. If you have the right plumbing you don't need solar; gravity can provide the head for a slow drip irrigation system.

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              • #8
                There's a lot of info on rain catchment here:

                http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects....htm#Catchment

                Build it solar does have a section on solar water pumping but nothing that is directly covering garden irrigation. I think I'd look into a staged drip system. Have your main cistern that you pump into smaller raised tanks that can gravity feed the drip system. Several 55 gallon drums on stands scattered around the garden could serve as the distribution tanks. Using several of them will give you better control over how much and how often each area gets watered.

                WWW

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Wy_White_Wolf View Post
                  There's a lot of info on rain catchment here:

                  http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects....htm#Catchment

                  Build it solar does have a section on solar water pumping but nothing that is directly covering garden irrigation. I think I'd look into a staged drip system. Have your main cistern that you pump into smaller raised tanks that can gravity feed the drip system. Several 55 gallon drums on stands scattered around the garden could serve as the distribution tanks. Using several of them will give you better control over how much and how often each area gets watered.

                  WWW
                  What WWW said is important - you will have plants with varying water/fertilizer requirements - it would be helpful to have separate systems.
                  [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by natel View Post
                    I'd like to design a system for capturing about 10,000 gallons of rainwater during the wet season. And, I'd like to also use off grid solar power to irrigation about 1/4 of an acre during the summer. I've seen only a couple youtube videos of smaller systems, but none this large. Has anyone attempted something like this or heard of someone who has done something like this?
                    Hi natel
                    only just spotted your post.
                    I live in Andalucia, Southern Spain and spend a ridiculous amount of time and effort fussing over water. It's a precious resource here.
                    I collect 30,000 litres (8000 US gallons) each Winter in my swimming pool. Technically it is an Alberca (an open irrigation structure built above ground).
                    The water comes from the house roof, approximately 90 square metres and flows into the tank via normal guttering, with a filter and a weep hole to reduce leaves and dust. This is linked by a normal tap and an overflow to smaller tanks that cascade to one of my vegetable gardens and my orchard. These smaller tanks (1000 litres) have drip feeder lines running from them. Open the tap at the pool, allow the cascaded tanks to fill and then turn off the tap and let the drip feeders get on with it.
                    For my other vegetable gardens and vines, which are above the pool, I pump water from a well into a 6000 litre tank (1500 US gallons) some 30 metres above the house. Pipe runs to most parts of the finca from this tank, all gravity fed.
                    One thing I should point out, is that drips are great as long as they are working. A real issue with them is that once you get used to them, you assume that they are working and don't check them very often. This can be a disaster for the plants/trees. They do get blocked up, they do fail and sometimes they pop and all of your water pisses away. It is always better to decant your water from your main holding point to smaller vessels to counter this.
                    For most of my watering I have now given up on drips and use a good old fashioned hosepipe. I can see which plants need more or less water and can act accordingly, your drips don't know and don't care. All that pipe laying about on the ground is also a pain, when you want to mow weeds or move a vehicle about.
                    For my newly planted 265 olive trees, I ran a pipe from the top tank to a tap in the olive grove and use a 500 Litre tank behind my tracked tractor, with an hydraulically operated tap and a short boom. My other option was to lay about 2500 metres of drip line. Whilst having to fill the tank repeatedly and drive up and down watering the trees during Summer is hard work. I considered it less work that having to take up and re-lay all of that drip line, every time I wanted to mow the olive grove. Sometimes simple is best.
                    In short, in my experience, use gravity when ever possible it's free. Use multiple deposits and cascade them. I had rats eat through a liner and lost 40,000 litres of water, I no longer use that water deposit. Drips are great at first but I suspect that with time you will become disenchanted with them.
                    If you need a massive water deposit, they usually cost a good deal of money, if you can find smaller vessels for free you can always link them together by small lengths of pipe at the base. Suddenly 4 individual 500 litre drums are a single 2000L vessel. Whether you put in-line taps between them and/or have individual take-offs from them is down you and your system design and what you want to achieve, but flexibility pays dividends.
                    Hope some this helps,

                    regards
                    Confused

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Nice!

                      Sounds like you've got it mostly all figured out. I'd love to see pictures if you've got them and wouldn't mind sharing them.

                      Originally posted by confused View Post
                      Hi natel
                      only just spotted your post.
                      I live in Andalucia, Southern Spain and spend a ridiculous amount of time and effort fussing over water. It's a precious resource here.
                      I collect 30,000 litres (8000 US gallons) each Winter in my swimming pool. Technically it is an Alberca (an open irrigation structure built above ground).
                      The water comes from the house roof, approximately 90 square metres and flows into the tank via normal guttering, with a filter and a weep hole to reduce leaves and dust. This is linked by a normal tap and an overflow to smaller tanks that cascade to one of my vegetable gardens and my orchard. These smaller tanks (1000 litres) have drip feeder lines running from them. Open the tap at the pool, allow the cascaded tanks to fill and then turn off the tap and let the drip feeders get on with it.
                      For my other vegetable gardens and vines, which are above the pool, I pump water from a well into a 6000 litre tank (1500 US gallons) some 30 metres above the house. Pipe runs to most parts of the finca from this tank, all gravity fed.
                      One thing I should point out, is that drips are great as long as they are working. A real issue with them is that once you get used to them, you assume that they are working and don't check them very often. This can be a disaster for the plants/trees. They do get blocked up, they do fail and sometimes they pop and all of your water pisses away. It is always better to decant your water from your main holding point to smaller vessels to counter this.
                      For most of my watering I have now given up on drips and use a good old fashioned hosepipe. I can see which plants need more or less water and can act accordingly, your drips don't know and don't care. All that pipe laying about on the ground is also a pain, when you want to mow weeds or move a vehicle about.
                      For my newly planted 265 olive trees, I ran a pipe from the top tank to a tap in the olive grove and use a 500 Litre tank behind my tracked tractor, with an hydraulically operated tap and a short boom. My other option was to lay about 2500 metres of drip line. Whilst having to fill the tank repeatedly and drive up and down watering the trees during Summer is hard work. I considered it less work that having to take up and re-lay all of that drip line, every time I wanted to mow the olive grove. Sometimes simple is best.
                      In short, in my experience, use gravity when ever possible it's free. Use multiple deposits and cascade them. I had rats eat through a liner and lost 40,000 litres of water, I no longer use that water deposit. Drips are great at first but I suspect that with time you will become disenchanted with them.
                      If you need a massive water deposit, they usually cost a good deal of money, if you can find smaller vessels for free you can always link them together by small lengths of pipe at the base. Suddenly 4 individual 500 litre drums are a single 2000L vessel. Whether you put in-line taps between them and/or have individual take-offs from them is down you and your system design and what you want to achieve, but flexibility pays dividends.
                      Hope some this helps,

                      regards
                      Confused

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Sunking View Post
                        So at 11 Kf2 would require 6820 gallons of water flowing at rate of 60 gpm. That is one mother of a motor at 5 to 7 Horse Power.
                        You should have seen the ones we used at the golf course I was an irrigation tech at 20 years ago. There were two giant pumps that ran on 440 Volts capable of 600+Gpm at 110Psi. They were so loud you couldn't hear the person standing next to you. We pumped around 200,000 to 300,000 gallons every night.

                        Green

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by natel View Post
                          Sounds like you've got it mostly all figured out. I'd love to see pictures if you've got them and wouldn't mind sharing them.
                          Hi Natel
                          thankfully for me, I don't have a collection of photographs of bits of old pipe, taps and various water deposits distributed about the place.
                          Hopefully my description is enough to give you a flavour of the layout.
                          If you have specific questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them.
                          Regards
                          Confused

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