water Building a very basic drip irrigation system - how???

[wordwiz]

Thanks to the Jim Beam Distillery, I will be picking up nine rain barrels tomorrow. They will be used as part of my mostly automatic watering system for the fair's raised bed project.

I'm thinking the easiest and cheapest way (I have to pay for this myself and the fair may close after this year) is using 1/2" PVC piping. Drill tiny holes through both sides of the pipe every six inches or so. I can lay it on the dirt/mulch or on bricks to keep if off the ground. The bed is 42.5 feet long and 4' wide (inside measurements) and I was thinking about using three rows. Connect it to the rain barrels (after installing a valve at the bottom of the barrel). Opening one valve would provide 1/2" of water, two would give me an inch of "rain."

Do you think this will work?

Mike

 

[Silver_Surfer]

I think you'd have more uniform water distribution with a soaker hose or even better with non- pressure compensating drip emitters. The holes in the 1/2" PVC would drop more water closer to the source.

Here's a cheap solution.

 

[wordwiz]

SS,

Yes, that system looks nice and includes everything. Only negative is the $10 shipping charge.

Mike

 

[Silver_Surfer]

Well, someone has to foot the fuel bill and make the oil empire richer.

 

[wordwiz]

Maybe I can maintain my 1.000 batting average. Needed concrete blocks - got a slew of them donated. Needed five yards of mulch - not only donated but delivered. Wanted a compost bin, bingo! Getting an Earth Machine ($100 value!). Got to have rain barrels - missed out on a chance of getting retrofitted ones either for free or by paying, but am getting the ones from Beam. Can't grow a garden without seeds - Randle at Baker Creek sent 70 packets.

I asked if they offer a discount or donation - the worst they can do is say no! Personally, I think it would be worth $41 to have 25,000 people view it, especially since I promised to give them free publicity and put out any info they want to send at the fair.

Mike

 

[Silver_Surfer]

Good luck. They're nice folks and I've ordered from them several times and they always provided excellent service and reasonable prices.

 

[wordwiz]

I picked up my rain barrels today - nine of them donated by the Jim Beam Company. Alas, there is no removable top, only a couple of caps, which has stymied me as far as figuring out how to add drain pipe at the bottom and top. Grommets with tubing? I do figure I will need to cut the top off one, the one all the water from the roof will drain into (and water from it will drain to all the others) simply so I can use a sheet or something similar to filter any solids out.

SS, according to the link you posted, even if I have the lowest barrel 10' above the bed (13' above the ground!), the pressure is not going to be what is needed to effectively work the emitters. Well, it should, at least when the barrel is full - 55 gallons of water is going to have some pressure! But there is no way I can build a system where the barrels are more than a couple feet off the ground.

I need to get more paper for my drawing board!

Mike

 

[Silver_Surfer]

The example I see them using is a 10 gallon bucket only 16" above ground level for a 12 x 10 foot garden. I would think your system would work with the 55 gallon drum 4 or 5 feet above your bed, probably less. You could connect a header at the drum and have a valved system that only fed one row or a portion of a row at a time if needed. A 2 by 4 platform for the drum wouldn't take long to construct. Do you have a guttered roof nearby to collect the rain water?

Also a very small hill or building nearby could serve as the remote elevated drum location and run the water line from there.

 

[wordwiz]

I feel like that fish swimming in a river who suddenly hits something that doesn't move: dam! Trying to figure out a way to have the rain barrels fill and drain is turning into a real challenge.

First of all, they are thick - at least 1/4" in some places. My original plan was to drill holes on the side in the top and bottom, stick grommets in them and then a 3/4" piece of PVC piping so one barrel would drain/fill another. But the grommets will not work - the walls of the barrels are way too thick. So now I am back to redneck-engineering.

Suggestions?

Mike

 

[WickedMojo]

Threaded PVC fittings might work I believe I have seen ones that are flanged , then seal the edges with a good marine grade silicone.

 

[Silver_Surfer]

A bulkhead fitting would do the job, but a simple threaded fitting screwed into a tight hole with sealant w/o the need for a backing nut would probably be fine since you're working with very low pressure.

 

[willard3]

Soaker hoses require very little pressure to run, are inexpensive and are pretty much fool-resistant..

 

[wordwiz]

I may have done a blind squirrel imitation. I cut the grommet in half and glued it into the hole. After letting the barrel sit all night, I filled the barrel completely with water and so far, it is holding.

Mike