Thanks Dave. How large of an area do you water with the seven barrels? I might put up two, I have two places on my house that are in the layout area where gutters could be terminated. I don’t plan on having very much in the way of plantings. So I am wonder how much 110 gallons of storage will water. Will rain water meet demand or will I have to supplement with city water I am wonderin.
Thanks Dave. How large of an area do you water with the seven barrels? I might put up two, I have two places on my house that are in the layout area where gutters could be terminated. I don’t plan on having very much in the way of plantings. So I am wonder how much 110 gallons of storage will water. Will rain water meet demand or will I have to supplement with city water I am wonderin.
Devon Sinsley said:
Thanks Dave. How large of an area do you water with the seven barrels? I might put up two, I have two places on my house that are in the layout area where gutters could be terminated. I don’t plan on having very much in the way of plantings. So I am wonder how much 110 gallons of storage will water. Will rain water meet demand or will I have to supplement with city water I am wonderin.
I use drip irrigation on my plantation. I have 38 drippers that drip at a rate of 5 gallons/hr, for 20 minutes, twice a day. I’ll let you do the math. For me, 110 gallons of rain water, refreshed infrequently from the sky, as happens here in the Inland Northwest, will not last long.
Edit:
Oh heck, I got curious. I use 126.7 gallons/day to water my stuff. Maybe I should cut that back some?
I am not at all a drip irrigation expert but if each dripper/emitter is only irrigating one plant (this is an assumption on my part) and you are putting almost 3.5 (5gal X .66 or 2/3 of an hour or 40 min) gallons of water on them each day I would think that is a bit high.
Again I am no expert but that just seems a bit much to me.
You could be right. They haven’t drowned yet, though.
Any green thumbs have an opinion?
too much water… clearly you have good drainage… I run about 10 minutes couple times a day for small plants… and only water every other day
back off the watering and check the soil on the days you don’t water, get it so it just almost drys out.
Greg
Oh, I have great drainage…sand. There is almost no organic material in it, unless I’ve added it. No clay, either. It will be bone dry in 24 hrs. unless I keep after it.
That would explain the need for heavy watering. I had considered lining the areas I will be planting with clay. I think this is a good idea.
I’m running 40 3’ lines off of my plastic barrels . these are fed off the metal roof of my 32x38 shop. My timer is set for 2 hrs. each morning. Each line has a valve so I don’t have to run them all depending what is planted. One note it is not a good idea to use water off a comp. roof for vegies. Great for plants you don’t eat .
Dave
How about a few 55 gal drums? Use a funnel to collect/route rainwater to the drums as possible.
Have a fitting welded into the lid(s)/bung(s) that can accomodate an air hose from your compressor. Put a 1-way check valve on the fitting. Weld a water line fitting at the bottom of the drum(s).
After you collect water, screw in the bung and pressurize the drums with air from your compressor. This forces the water out the bottom without the need for gravity or a bladder tank.
Actually, at the pressures you are working at, you could use big-azzed carboys (as used in hauling hazardous liquids) and compression fittings and not worry about rust and welding. There could also be a dedicated pressurization tank so you don’t need to leave an air space above the water to pressurize.
Think about how a water rocket works. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Todd the 55 gallon drums I have are plastic. I have three of them and a possibility of two collection points from the roof. I would likely use only two, one at each collection point. Pressurizing them with air really isn’t the easiest idea given the location of the layout as opposed to the location of my air compressor. Though that is an interesting idea and a viable solution if one could alternate barrels. I think a 12v RV pump and pressure tank is still my most viable option especially with the desire to eventually go solar for the power of the layout.