The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Smallholding => Techniques and skills => Topic started by: arobwk on May 20, 2018, 08:59:13 pm

Title: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on May 20, 2018, 08:59:13 pm
Am realising I need to set-up an irrigation system sooner rather than later.  Rules and reg's for mains-fed systems too onerous/expensive so has to be gravity-fed system not directly connected to mains supply.  In anticipation, I have 4x IBCs for distribution around fields:  IBCs to be filled from mains water and/or rain-water capture.  (Still a whole load of reg's to comply with, but easier/cheaper to comply.) 
The IBCs will always have a couple metres 'head' to feed the system/s over sloping plots. 
I can't "plumb" all plantings permanently so need something that is flexible/movable so that I can give respite to various plantings on rotation.
I have started looking at gravity-fed systems ont' web, but I am none the wiser about whether I can meet my needs:  standard horti' drip-line systems too inflexible for me and wondering whether there is something else (even a "micro" irrigation system).  I'm thinking to irrigate perhaps 10m x 10m minimum at one time from any one IBC, before moving an IBC/system to another 10x10m plot. (Ability to drip-irrigate larger than 10x10m from 1 cubic metre IBC with, say, 2m head over a sloping plot would be a bonus.)
Any knowledge/experience would be most gratefully received.
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: pgkevet on May 20, 2018, 09:29:04 pm
If the plantings will generally follow the same spacings then apart from the nuisance of moving all the pipework a drip system should be feasible. 55yrs ago i did a short stint in tomato greenhouses and each plant was drip fed via thin pvc tubing and a nozzle. I'm guessing the initial setup is tedious adjusting all those nozzles to give the same outputs with the flow resistances along the tube but if your iBC is to one side and you setup a distribution across the bed centre from a larger diameter tube then you have the flexibility to plug the side distros in different orders for different beds and each is only 5M long...
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on May 21, 2018, 05:02:01 pm
[member=16228]pgkevet[/member]  - Thanks and is this (attached sketch) roughly what you were thinking?  Wide-bore spine, with micro-bore branches up to 5 metres.   

I'm not too worried about fast flow rates - any sort of trickle, over however many hours to give a reasonable dosing, would be better than nothing. 

If you can remember, pgkevet, what sort of diameter spine piping were they using and over what sort of area?

Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: Maysie on May 21, 2018, 05:40:06 pm
I have a Claber drip system which was in use at our last house, fed from the mains supply, so its drip rate was set up to deal with pressure of around 1-1.5bar, which is around 10-15m of head.  Whatever system of pipes/drippers you use will need to be adjustable to make sure that you can give some plants more and some less, otherwise the drippers at the end of the dripper line will be parched and the ones nearest the supply will be drowned.  This will hopefully then also allow you to open the drippers up a bit to deal with the comparatively low pressures of 2m head (0.2bar). 

HTH
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: pgkevet on May 21, 2018, 06:05:56 pm
[member=16228]pgkevet[/member]  - Thanks and is this (attached sketch) roughly what you were thinking?  Wide-bore spine, with micro-bore branches up to 5 metres.   

I'm not too worried about fast flow rates - any sort of trickle, over however many hours to give a reasonable dosing, would be better than nothing. 

If you can remember, pgkevet, what sort of diameter spine piping were they using and over what sort of area?
That's what i had in mind as an idea for you. The greenhouse I worked in was at least 1/4 acre and all i recall is the thin tubing snaking along the tomato rows with nozzles for each - probably from overhead distribution pipes but there has to have been a header tank somewhere for the feed to be mixed in. It's a long time go and the most vivid memory is the sticky rubbish from the tomato leaves that covered me from head to toe by the end of a shift pruning off the lower leaves and axial shoots.
pgk
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on May 21, 2018, 06:35:33 pm
I have a Claber drip system ...

I'll check out Claber web-site,  Ta
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: Fleecewife on May 21, 2018, 09:26:35 pm
We have no mains water so when we first moved here we set up a 'leaky hose' system (not the same as drip feed), fed by 1000 l barrel on a raised plinth.  Water went through a normal size garden hose, with stubs of leaky hose to about 6-8' long running off for each row.  Each stub had its own tap and was moved as necessary.  The tank was kept full from a system of other collecting barrels under every available roof, and a water pump.  There were no regulations involved at all.
This system worked extremely well for about three years, but because of the relatively low water pressure the tiny leaky bits in the hose blocked with soil and algae.  We could have flushed them through with a pressure washer but didn't have one at the time.  Now we use a system of watering cans and garden hose plus an awful lot of time, so we are ready to invent a new system any time now.  Ideally we would have a water tank on a pylon tall enough to give us mains pressure equivalent.
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: SallyintNorth on May 21, 2018, 09:35:55 pm
We have rainwater collection from our (very large) barn roof, into IBCs, and found we didn't have the pressure on gravity fed to push the water out of the leaky hose system in our polytunnel.  So we are putting in an electric pump (which will be driven by our solar energy) and are going to make our own watering system, using a more rigid pipe as I understand it.  Most of this thread is over my head, so I am going to pass a link to it to the people here who are working on our system!

Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on May 23, 2018, 10:08:34 pm
I have come across these folk during my web searches - [edit]  https://www.tankfedirrigation.com/drip-irrigation-kits (https://www.tankfedirrigation.com/drip-irrigation-kits)
I'm in the middle of emailing them now seeking comment on adaptability for my needs.  (In particular, they don't seem to have figured-in options for connections to IBCs!)
They basically offer standardized kits in different sizes for various numbers of "plants" or "shrubs" or veg-type plots rather than a long list of system components for you to pick and choose from, but I shall also be testing them about mod's/alternatives/extras.
Interesting find (I think), but I wouldn't wish to comment (yet) on VFM, as I haven't worked out what any other systems would cost from a "parts list".  For those who have already done those sums, I offer a couple of example tankfedirrigation kit prices - 60 shrub kit (to 72 sq m) £185;  300 plant kit (veg-type irrigation to 83 sq m) £295.

Anyone actually bought one of their kits by any chance?
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on May 25, 2018, 07:24:16 pm
Quick update on "tankfedirrigation" (aka Liquid Lever Irrigation Ltd) for anyone who might be interested. 
They do have an extra fitting for their 4-way manifold (latter included in some of their kits), which, with an IBC outlet adapter provided by others, enables connection of the manifold to an IBC outlet.  Great! 
Also, I understand they are planning to offer an on-line "parts list" idc for those wishing to modify their kits to meet specific needs.  Again, great!
I am going to give their system/s a try with a "tester" order.
(And - [member=10673]SallyintNorth[/member] - there are bulk-order discounts, but I don't know yet what %age discounts are on offer by size of order.)
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: cloddopper on May 25, 2018, 11:44:53 pm
See if any of this post is any good to you .. I got a bit carried away :roflanim:

Top filling IBC with a good seating &  sealing lid or a fully sealing & seating screw lidded juice tank ?

 Put a standard  high pressure bicycle valve stem & valve  in the lid use inner tube to make th rubber sealing washers as well as using a big metal or thick plastic washer inside & out to seal the rubber washers to the valve  stem . Then pump up the tank with  a few PSi of compressed air from a decent sized 12v DC or 240 volt AC compressor etc.

 Put in a simple hose connection outlet with a tap fitting at the bottom of the tank .
Perhaps use string pushed in from the outside of the hole tie off the string at the outside of the tank end , so you don't pull it all through into the tank  :innocent:. Once you have plenty of string inside the tank, pull it up with a long bit of hooked wire ,  slide the outlet fitting over it. Remembering  to fit the first sealing washer to the outlet union at this point. Now let it slide down the string so you can pull the fittings neck out through the plastic side wall .  slip on the other sealing washer then the nut . Once you've tightened the securing nut fit a 1/2" adaptor to the thread of the union .

Then you can run some Antelco  micro spray heads off the half inch main line … down to 6 mm branch lines out to  a max of 12 micro spray heads off each half inch line .

 These spray heads can spray up to 3 litres of water over a circle of 3 mtr dia per minute . or 2 litres per min if you use 180 degree arc spray heads.
 

If you use a Hoselock AC1 battery operated water time clock you can set the water to run at night when things won't evaporate so quickly .
 
 It was my mate  who lived in the middle of nowhere who set up the pressurized  two mtr tall by about 1200 mm dia ex fruit juice , now rain water barrels . He had three 30 foot x 18 foot polytunnels being irrigated by them and a dozen or more Antelco  variable misting sprays  over some of his veg plot  .
   

I've tried all manner of drippers & spray heads in the last 13 years . I reckon I must have spent five or six hundered pounds on useless stuff before I started to use Antelco products. 
Nothing I know of can beat the Antelco gear , nothing at all .
It weathers well too , wrt. ultra violet & infra red light ,  most of my spray heads & tubing is / are over six years old .

Hose lock tubing is not very good , for some reason the wall thickness is about half of what it needs to be.
 My water is now supplied from the mains ...it complies with byelaw 94 .. the copper pipe work straight after the stop cock is fitted with an approved  brass anti syphon device that also has a self closing piston that shuts off the water if the water in the pipe is suddenly allowed to flow unrestricted at full mains pressure .  ( £ 7.80 ish )


 Check out eBay item number 262990524514:

Antelco vari jet adjustable volume  180 degrees coverage

 Get your neoprene pipe work& connectors etc . from them as well if at all possible .

 Over the years , especially in my glass house , I've found that I needed to use some 8 mm copper gas pipe to make small 18 mm long sleeves to fit over the 6 mm neoprene tubing at the take off spigots & where the head assembley goes into the tube .  So when it gets hot ,  any great pressure in the softened neoprene rubber line does not force the joints apart .
 It took ages & ages to  cut & debur the 150 or so copper tubing sleeves and everso slightly turn one end in to a very slight flare using a dot punch & a block of hard wood with a small hole drilled in it to take the tip of the punch as it went into the sleeve .

 Currently I have six hanging basket and six plant tubs irrigating off one  1/2" branch line &  eight vertical spray heads off another branch line off the same water clock using a brass Y splitter that has individual on off taps out to each branch  line .

 A veg garden run of twelve 180 degree adjustable ( blue top )  spray heads for the veg beds .
 In the glasshouse there are twenty six variable spray or misting heads running off a water clock again using a Y splitter set up , . these are on eight foot long 6 mm end lines so some can reach into the middle of the glasshouse to irrigate plants in pots & tubs set out on up to five stainless steel  wheeled  kitchen trolleys. (These beat fixed glass house staging every time.)

Finally another 15 vari jet 180 spray heads or vertical misting spray jets ,  off a time clock & Tee  to keep our 60 or so bonsai watered several times aday through the hotter weather . 

If the weather forecast is for rain I simply walk out & turn off all the outside water timing clocks , turning them on again when strong sun or prolonged dry windy weather is forecast . 

 instead of using the expensive to buy approved push in the ground plastic mounting stalks to fit the raised spray heads to , I've used  three small tents worth ( 30 plus? ) of 400 mm long x 8 or 6 mm carbon fibre tent poles & taped the  spray head on close to the top of each of the pole .
Some of the tent poles have ben used one in the other to make even taller poles .
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on May 26, 2018, 09:55:45 pm
I found your post most interesting reading [member=28519]cloddopper[/member] - I'm sure others will too - thank you.  (I'm saving it for future reference along with many of your other knowledgeable advisory posts.)
Tip about pressurizing tank is real good especially for fairly level ground - it's an "obvious" solution to getting more supply pressure, but it hadn't actually occurred to me!
I checked out Antelco after your post.  Prices for their bits and pieces seem quite reasonable (although I can't remember, right now, which supplier web-site I checked prices on):  in rough order, an Antelco bits & pieces system would be very roughly equivalent in £s to tfi's prices for drip-feed.  Add in sprinkler/spray heads (as opposed to drippers) and cost of a "tyre-pump" pressurised Antelco sprinkler system starts to grow, as one might expect.  However, not extortionately IMO and I shall consider for the future:  right now though, for my immediate (starter option) purposes, I'm going to go with the "dripper" option from tfi, but I will definitely keep your advice in mind for any future (sprinkler) irrigation for seedling beds.
 :)


Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: cloddopper on May 26, 2018, 11:55:12 pm
My experience of gravity fed drippers that have either serrated seepage discs or diaphragm discs in the dripper is not good I threw out about £70 worth of new unused ones and its associated piping .
The drippers soon get blocked , so I suggest & get hold of a fine brass wire " proggler " & a tooth brush to keep the holes & discs  clear / clean  .

If you are using a raised tank to supply the water you will need a decent quality micro fine filter at the tank outlet .  You'll also find that a green or brown slime grows well in the pipe work in 15 oC weather if you are using every day full of bacteria cleaned rainwater . 
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on May 28, 2018, 12:57:50 am
... If you are using a raised tank to supply the water you will need a decent quality micro fine filter at the tank outlet .  You'll also find that a green or brown slime grows well in the pipe work in 15 oC weather if you are using every day full of bacteria cleaned rainwater . 
System is filtered and, supposedly, as clog-free (or de-cloggable) as can be.  Most interested though in your comment about temperatures and pipe-work slime:  TFI do, apparently, offer white "run cool" pipework so I shall ask whether I can have that instead of black pipework. 

Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on June 01, 2018, 05:09:08 pm
Order placed!  Liquid Lever's on-line shop basically offers standard kits, but they were quite happy to meet a bespoke order which I based around their 300 Plant Kit, but with all plain distribution hose (to replace their pre-punched hose) and added in a few other bits.  This included their custom reducing bush to enable four-way tank outlet manifold to be connected to an IBC adapter with a 1.5" BSP female outlet.
I went with their white hose to help reduce heat gains - it'll dirty up in due course, but hopefully still be visable enough to avoid the trip hazard or inadvertant slicing with the Mantis.
Couple of interesting finds while looking into all of this:
Firstly - an IBC "swivel buttress" which ensures that any connected item can be re-orientated correctly (e.g. a tap or, in my case, tank outlet manifold) after it's been fully screwed in.
Secondly - Fitt NTS Wintech Hose at Screwfix - 50m with 1/2" bore for (presently) £25:  it is UV protected and has a black anti-algae layer plus, from further research, seemingly no heavy-metal contaminants.  I haven't bought any yet so cannot vouch for its advertised anti-kink properties etc, but thinking I might try out a coil:  compared to Fitt NTS prices elsewhere, the Screwfix price is a bit of a steal.

[Edit:  so much so that I just pressed the Screwfix click and collect button!]
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: cloddopper on June 01, 2018, 10:13:41 pm
Fitt NTS Wintech Hose is the dogs B.....s .

 I purchased a 30 mtr length over 10 years ago & put it on an open hose reel that gets full sun for most of the day . It's been left on over night several times with a trigger rose conected but has never leaked or come off a the Hozelock connectors .  It does occasionally kink but not often if it is under pressure .
 Once in a while I've used some warm soapy ( fairy liquid ) water & a miracle fibre cloth to wipe it down to remove any dark marks or muck then I've rinsed t off … it's still as bright a yellow as the day I brought it .
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on June 02, 2018, 06:28:44 pm
Fitt NTS Wintech Hose is the dogs B.....s .

Then I guess it was a really really good find!   Other lengths and variant Fitt hose also offered by Screwfix (all at good prices), but the 50m Wintech coil price is unbeatable VFM me thinks.
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on June 06, 2018, 07:19:43 pm
Wanting to make sure that my chosen clean feeder-IBC for the new irrigation system was, indeed, clean enough, I went for an internal soapy scrub. Umm and oh dear - sticky scum!  Bother (I might actually have uttered a different 6 letter word).  Life is too short (ultimate cleaning will have to wait), so dipped more deeply into pocket to procure 2x "professionally" cleaned IBCs and black ones this time.  Surprisingly cheaper to get from Bristol supplier (inc delivery) than a Cornish supplier.
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on June 13, 2018, 11:12:42 pm
 An update on my chosen gravity-fed system.
 
The refurb'd black IBCs look like new (used only once perhaps) & clean as a whistle. However, they came with outlet reducers (down to 2") which leaked.  Applied LA-CO Slic-tite compound, but perhaps I didn't apply enough!?  Added some PTFE tape to the paste: the combo worked.
The irrigation system is also great.
The "SqueezeMe" emitters are ingenious:  adjustable for drip rate or sideways stream or, when fully open with good head of water, a static pseudo-sprinkler effect.  (One brief test on my set up produced a forked sprinkle up to about 18" with about 100 degree separation and a close-quarters fan of water to about 3" between the two forks.)
The super-flexy hose is just what I needed:  it makes single-handed extraction from beds (for sequential irrigation of sections) quite easy - just fold/scrunch/bundle and move.  Yes, it kinks, but it also un-kinks real easy.  It is also relatively easy to peel-back the hose off the single-barb joiners when mod's needed.
Now! - I started with a 5 row "spine and ribs" arrangement for each separately fed section (= 10x ribs each at some 15' with 5x emitters per rib), but then I tested a "comb" arrangement (much easier to extract sideways from beds) with 30' emitter lines with 10 on each line.  One section, on 13mm-bore hose, is up to 6 rows (working OK);  another is still just 5 rows and the 3rd section (some way down the hill) is presently just 2 rows on 5mm-bore hose and fed via 1/2" garden hose-pipe with standard 9-10mm bore hose connectors and working OK.  Presently 130 emitters in all.
It shouldn't work very well overall (theoretically), but it does actually work well enough for me and gobbles water readily across the system with water-head ranging from 0.5m to about 2.0m across the system.
I'm happy.  (The 3 parts of the emitters do have to be put together though - each takes just a few seconds, but best done while watching the telly or listening to Radio 4!)
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: cloddopper on June 15, 2018, 12:22:44 am
A picture speaks a thousand words apparently .. got any pictures of it set up & working?
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on June 15, 2018, 04:18:51 pm
[member=28519]cloddopper[/member] - your wish is my command.  I have prep'd 11 pics so there will be 3x posts.
Both the 13mm and 5mm sections are presently connected via standard hose pipe connectors.  (Had to raid two Tesco stores to get enough components, plus spares, at lowly price of £0.50 a pop.) 

Any garden hose feeder-line extensions are joined with a simple hose compression-coupler (not shown).  All other joins (e.g. at manifold and at section connections are doubled-up compression/click-lock arrangements:  the reason is that, while my flexy 13mm irri'-system hose can be inserted and clamped into a standard hose connector, it's a bit fiddly and the chosen arrangement offers instant connection/disconnection.  (I'm devising a 13mm bore connection solution for the 13mm sections.  However, I'm not entirely convinced necessary for me;  on my sloping land with good head of water, drip rate is still pretty high even with emitters set to minimum drip position.)
I offer pics of drip, jet and sprinkler/fan emitter outputs:  in-betweenee settings are possible.  (I did take videos, but I'm not good with uploading and linking to vids ont' web.)
I also show the bundled 13mm and 5mm runs:  I've decided 6x bundled emitter lines is a bit cumbersome to deal with for relocation, so I think 5 emitter lines per section will be my max henceforth.
Also, willows will indeed grow upside down - almost certainly not one that I planted myself  :-\ .  Plus I offer a pic of why I'm going to all this trouble.
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on June 15, 2018, 04:21:35 pm
4 more pics
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on June 15, 2018, 04:26:37 pm
The remaining pics
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on June 15, 2018, 05:01:02 pm
To add;  the willows are already responding to the many cubic metres of mains water I've lavished on then so far, but may I have some decent rain soon, pretty please!?  Of course, I also need to capture some (any) rain to reduce mains water usage ... when I've managed to properly clean original IBCs!  (I think I have a plan.)   
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: cloddopper on June 23, 2018, 11:58:14 pm
If you using individual dripper for each plant , thick carboard with a hole for the plant to poke through helps reduce evaporation around the plant . Either peg the carboard down or put some earth on the edges .. it also helps keep weeds at bay for a year or so .
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on July 07, 2018, 12:53:20 am
Just received SW Water's bill for the past 6 months.  I've used circa 8 cubic meters of mains water since I started irrigating a week or so back.  SWW, for lack of better info', have allocated 4 cu.m to period Dec-Mar and 4 cu.m for Apr-Jun.  Heh ho - Dec-Mar cu.m price was higher than for 2nd period, but I'm not about to challenge for sake of a few quid. (Best let sleeping dogs lie!). 
Note to self:  submit regular water meter readings from now on since they are only reading the meter every 6 months!

Intended rain-water capture will obviously help idc, but I only have 6x IBCs.  Even I can do the maths and I'm not about to create a large lake.  Anyone know of a good rain-chant?  :) 
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: ojfarmer on July 29, 2018, 08:38:42 am
arobwk

Thanks for directing me to this thread from my earlier post in the 'Introduction' section....

Very useful info. in here from both yourself and cloddopper - thank you.  I am going to get in touch with Tank Fed Irrigation next week (haven't spoken with them yet), but I have a couple of basic questions which you may be able to comment on, based on your experience;

1) do you find that the pressure (and flow) drops in the 5mm line as you move away from your IBC?  I would expect a wider supply pipe to help minimise the pressure drop.

2) have you investigated running a 'timer' to control valve opening?  My plot is some way away from where I live, so I'm not there all the time - and I'm therefore looking for a simple timer device to regulate when the gravity feed will be on/off.  I have seen 'Rain Barrel' timers available on the web, including a solar powered one, but that only seems to be supplied from USA.

A bit more detail on my own application; I have a total of 4 greenhouse beds each approx. 1.2mx19m.  Thinking about going for a 'starter' set-up from Tank Irrigation to supply one of these beds; I can then tune it & extend, as necessary.


Many thanks.
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: cloddopper on July 29, 2018, 11:07:29 am
Just received SW Water's bill for the past 6 months.  I've used circa 8 cubic meters of mains water since I started irrigating a week or so back.  SWW, for lack of better info', have allocated 4 cu.m to period Dec-Mar and 4 cu.m for Apr-Jun.  Heh ho - Dec-Mar cu.m price was higher than for 2nd period, but I'm not about to challenge for sake of a few quid. (Best let sleeping dogs lie!). 
Note to self:  submit regular water meter readings from now on since they are only reading the meter every 6 months!

 
Intended rain-water capture will obviously help idc, but I only have 6x IBCs.  Even I can do the maths and I'm not about to create a large lake.  Anyone know of a good rain-chant?  :)

 I did my specially written TAS one whilst standing naked ( don't go there )  on the edge of The Black Mountain early on Friday 27 th of July  Friday morning , has it worked yet ?  :roflanim:
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on July 29, 2018, 05:01:18 pm
I did my specially written TAS one whilst standing naked ( don't go there )  on the edge of The Black Mountain early on Friday 27 th of July  Friday morning , has it worked yet ?

Well the proof is in the pudding.  How can I/we all thank you enough cloddopper for your intrepid Black Mountain venture (but I'm hoping that was before the walkers were up and about). 
While the chatty Aldi check-out assistant blamed it all on me this afternoon, as we discussed the weather and my relief at seeing large amounts of precipitation, I did mention your assistance:  in response,  "Well, I hope you and .. um .. cod shopper have a nice day now and did you notice our offers on frozen fish?" 
[I'm not going to tell whether that is true or not - I'll let you decide]


Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on July 29, 2018, 10:00:40 pm
 [member=179432]ojfarmer[/member]
 
Firstly, re your Q2, I have not considered a timer and cannot offer any really useful comment:  however, I'm sure I've seen various UK offerings (albeit have not paid much attention to).  Whether for mains water or gravity fed systems and then whether mains fed or battery powered electrically I couldn't say.
 
As to your Q1, I'm struggling to give a definitive answer about pressures/flows.
Your greenhouse situation will be very different to my sloping field situation.  [To note:  my willow sapling spacings are presently 3' along rows and 4' between rows - I will interplant at 2' between rows in due course.  Also, if I had thought I would actually need to irrigate my sapling plots routinely I would have run my inter-plot service lanes across the slope and set my rows down the slope, but I did the opposite:  therefore my irrigation sections run off a feeder spine running down-slope with rows running across-slope.]
However, for what it's worth ...
I have gone through various irrigation section set-ups (testing as I go) and the farther I move sections down the hill, the greater the water-head/pressure obviously. I started out assuming 13mm hose was the way to go, but am now more inclined (for my purposes) towards maximising 5mm hose usage.
 
My moveable irrigation sections are set up with a down-hill spine feeding either 5 or 10 across-hill rows - sometimes feeding 30' rows in a comb arrangement and sometimes feeding 15' rows in a spine and ribs arrangement.  I continue to experiment, but at the moment everything sort-of works.

To further ease relocation of my original, wholly 13mm hose sections, I have now separated the 13mm hose spine from the 13mm hose rows and use 5mm hose to re-connect the 13mm spine to each 13mm row - that shouldn't work should it? - but it does, albeit with row hoses taking a little extra to time to be primed across a 50-plant section.
Other irrigation sections:
I also run sections with 5 or 10 rows of 5mm hose (with 15' rows) off a 13mm spine.
I also have a set-up for apple plots that is wholly 5mm in 25-plant irrigation sections: I connect 2x 25 plant sections to a split hose-pipe feed to irrigate 50 plants at a time (it could manage more without doubt).
 
And all gravity fed using standard 1/2" garden hose to connect irri' sections to IBCs (since I've chosen to not move IBCs) as I move irri' sections down the hill and with plenty of standard hose-pipe connectors in between (with their restricting 9-10mm bore).

Optimised? - no. Works? - well enough for me.
 
I attach a pic of a Liquid Lever set-up in (I believe) Africa that they sent to me.  I believe it gives an indication of how a 13mm set-up (at least) might be used for annual crop beds - I noted the doubled-up feed (at bottom-right of pic) to another bed beyond.
 
Of course I have to say, oj', that your situation is very different to mine.  As much as I like the components and flexibility of the Liquid Lever system, you might want to talk to them first about your longer term need to supply 4x greenhouses
Title: Re: Gravity fed irrigation - any thoughts?
Post by: arobwk on August 02, 2018, 08:35:41 pm
A 5mm section update [member=179432]ojfarmer[/member] - you might have progressed with your irri' system planning by now, but thought I would offer the following:  I put just 100-150 ltrs of water into IBC for apple beds today for a quick dollup of liquid fertilizer via the 5mm irri' section.  Overall head of water no more than 1m at best:  by the time I'd shuffled 10 paces or so to the plot, all drippers were dripping (55 drippers on this occasion - I won't bother explain why I added a 5 dripper leg to my 2x25 dripper sections).  I paid a bit more attention to overall drip rates than usual and I would say there wasn't much difference across the section with all drippers pretty-much set for minimum drip rate.  (Of course, flow rates across a section can be adjusted, if necessary, by tweaking individual emitters.)
Otherwise: 

Another good-price find.  Tesco's supply of £0.50 hose connectors has dried up here (pun intended LOL).  Needing a few more (for permutations), I found Homebase offer an Aqua Systems brand at £1.00 a pop for the various standard types of hose connector:  they seem to me to be better made and worth the extra.  Also, Aqua's tap-mounted hose splitter (with valve control to each leg) costs just £5.20.  It's a solid bit of kit!  Go compare the £1.00 and £5.20 prices to better-known brand prices (on the Homebase web-site or any other) and then go pick up some Aqua Systems connectors (assuming you have a Homebase near-by)! 

My verdict on Fitt NTS Wintech garden hose:  it is indeed, as cloddopper said, the "dogs B.....s".  Worth every penny even if you can't buy at Screwfix's price.