another ambiguous sprinkler setup question


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Old 08-05-15, 10:09 PM
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another ambiguous sprinkler setup question

so i am building a house on the snake river in southern idaho, and can irrigate from the river, after getting paperwork done of course. I havent bought pumps or anything yet, was wondering if there was a limit to sprinkler heads i can install in a run since i can basically buy a pump that fits the sytem i build. it has a basically level/slight slope down about 5-7 feet from the road to the river, lots 450 feet from road to river, 150 ft wide, id like to limit the amount of piping and do large zones if possible, just not sure whats realistic on limitations for a zone, using a decent to larger irrigation pump from the river.
 
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Old 08-06-15, 05:04 AM
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The first issue will be the pump's location. Pumps are great at pressurizing and pushing water and can do so for great distances. Pumps are really bad at sucking. The absolute maximum a pump can draw water up is about 33 feet. The closer the pump is in elevation to the water source the better it can operate so you want it as close to the river level as possible. BUT, and it's a biggie, you have to be concerned with the pump getting flooded when the river level changes.

Next when using not clear (river) water you have to contend with sediment and other particles in the water. Traditional residential irrigation products are designed to use clear (drinking) water and rapidly clog when fed river or pond water. Commercial/agricultural systems are designed for dirty water and can handle it without trouble.

Once you have the pump figured out you can do whatever for your irrigation "zones". I use that term loosely because around where I live some people irrigate with agricultural irrigation systems. Some are monster sprinklers that covers an entire front 5+ acre lawn from one cannon and putting out over 100 gpm. They can handle quite large solids but since they spray in a circle aren't great for rectangular lots and the droplet size is huge which can be hard on delicate plants and almost hurts if you get hit by it.

I have a 6.5hp pump feeding 2" pipe which can feed two 3/4" impact sprinklers. Each of my sprinklers shoots two streams of water and the smaller of the two orifices is 1/8" so it can pass solids up to 1/8" in size without clogging. Each sprinkler covers a 100' diameter circle and consumes about 9 gallons per minute. Similar sprinklers are available that can spray through a set arc like a half circle if you place the sprinklers at the edge of your property aiming inward.
 
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Old 08-11-15, 08:18 AM
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that's good to hear, it'll be a lot easier to do straight lines down the yard with 5-8 sprinkler heads on each line than to do head zones. ive never been around irrigation setups so this is new to me, the neighbors have docks and install their pumps on the dock i'll probably do the same, so it'll be close to the water source.
 
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Old 09-04-15, 02:05 AM
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Remember line size is important also.... 1" is good for about 14gpm max. in approx.100 ft. due to friction losses.
but 1.5 is good for much more and 2" is even better.
 
 

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