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Hinckley MN

I am thinking about making a 275 gallon tote, gravity fed watering system. The tote will be 6ft above ground level, painted black, and lead to two 50ft soaker hoses. Each hose will water a straw bale raised bed approximately 80 inches x 120 inches (x2beds). I'll have roughly 2 gallons per square foot or 3.2 inches over the raised beds each watering. I plan to fill the tank one day and water the next. Mostly to let the iron settle out, but also to warm the well water up to ambient temps.

Is 6 ft enough elevation and thus pressure for 50' of 1" inch PE pipe to a T fitting, then 12' of 3/4 inch PE each direction to two seperate 50' loops of 1/2 inch soaker hose? I'll have a ball valve at the tote, too.

12/28/2013 9:33:55 PM

Hinckley MN

I guess my question changed as I wrote the post. the size of the beds is pretty much set, although I may add a third bed to the system if I have enough capacity.

12/28/2013 9:36:09 PM

soaker hoses most ineffcient watering deal ever. never comes out = low area gets most of water then it clogs

12/28/2013 10:15:17 PM

Hinckley MN

yes but I already have the soaker hose so I might as well use it. Otherwise I'd have to post it under "equipment for sale"... ;-)

I had good luck with it when I was on city water, but not on well water.

12/28/2013 10:26:50 PM

Torrance, Ca.

Don, you are so right. I found out the hard way 2 years ago,,,,,, its all tape now and the soaker hoses all got donated to our local botanic gardens.

12/28/2013 11:03:09 PM

Ky

I have a 250 gal tank 6 ft off ground and it has very low water flow and almost no pressure

otis

12/28/2013 11:16:06 PM

Eurasia

How is the difference between soil surface in the raised bed and the hight of the IBC´s faucet?
"6 feet above ground" does not tell us the hight of the raised bed or the upper edge of the bales.
But all the calculations would be superfluously, if you here me as an inventor of garden gymnastics.
Please look at this rectangular mortar buckets:
http://www.jad.cz/en/catalog-plastic-pails-and-mortar-buckets-7.html
Make a crown on the top of your straw bale walls with that 40l mortar tubs.
Fill the tubs with around 10 gal. water each from your well, and it will be warmed in just an hour.
Do the squat before a tub and hold the corners of the tub like a weighlifter: clean and jerk!

12/29/2013 6:06:15 AM

Long Island,New York

You need more hieght for efficient driplines and forget about the soakers....you need house pressure for them.

12/29/2013 8:49:10 AM

Mnt.pleasant ,tennessee

Wrap the soaker hose with black duct tape .itll help build pressure to get threw the hose& still drip.if your just working with what you got.

12/29/2013 9:39:13 AM

Partlow,Va

One pound per square inch(psi)is approximately equal to 2.31 feet of water height(column of water).
Also one foot of water height is equal .434 psi.
P = .43 x h

Watermelons,So at 6 feet you have about 2.58 psi

12/29/2013 11:52:40 AM

Owensboro, Ky.

Hank, H...math is so swell,willing to do it one more time? I have 4 55 gal barrels, on top of a 8' platform approx 50 ft. from & approx 10 ft. above a 2K ft garden area!!! How many drips cam I run from this system...or do I need a pump? Peace, Wayne

12/31/2013 5:35:04 AM

N.c.

Hey Peace, Wayne!
Sounds like you are getting a nice watering system set up for watering every day.
231 cubic inches of water per gallon
1 inch of water per week needed on patch
144 cubic inches of water needed  per square foot of patch/week
2000 square feet of patch times 144 cubic inches of water equals 288,000 cubic inches or 288,000 divided by 231 cubic inches of water per gallon equals 1,246 gallons of water needed per week. 7 times 220 gallons (4 55 gallon drums) is equal to 1,540 gallons. So you are good if you want to water every day. But if you only wanted to water every other day, you might want to divide 1,246 gallons by 4 and get 312 gallons needed every other day. So you would need another 92 gallons of holding capacity. I think less frequent deeper waterings promote better root growth than more frequent shallow waterings. 
Just a thought! Good Luck!

1/7/2014 10:19:53 AM