Need irrigation well help
#1
05-01-20, 03:07 PM
Need irrigation well help
I just moved into a new house and had a well installed for my sprinkler system. There's 7 zones and no pressure tank or CPV. My 7th zone is for my garden bed/landscaping in front of my house which I chose to do myself, right now it's just a 6" long piece of pipe sticking out of the ground that I need to attach to. I have a few questions that I'm hoping someone can help me with.
Do I need to test the well pumps PSI/GPM before running pipe and installing heads?
Do I have to match the output of the pump to the sprinkler head output or is this something I can control at the valve box?
Should I do underground drip lines or what would you suggest? It's not a very big area, my guess is a 5' x 25' L shaped area around the front of my house. I plan to plant a tree or 2, some bushes/shrubs and flowers of some kind.
Thanks for the help.
Do I need to test the well pumps PSI/GPM before running pipe and installing heads?
Do I have to match the output of the pump to the sprinkler head output or is this something I can control at the valve box?
Should I do underground drip lines or what would you suggest? It's not a very big area, my guess is a 5' x 25' L shaped area around the front of my house. I plan to plant a tree or 2, some bushes/shrubs and flowers of some kind.
Thanks for the help.
#2
05-01-20, 03:37 PM
Group Moderator
Do you have a pressure switch in your system to turn the pump off when the pressure gets too high?
What type of pump do you have? Is it a submersible or a shallow well pump?
The reason I ask about the switch and pump are that if your pump is capable of dangerously high pressure and you don't have a pressure switch, you need to insure that each zone consumes enough water that the pump can NOT get up to too high a pressure. Also without a pressure switch the water pressure will depend on each zone's consumption. So, if your emitter heads need 20-30 psi you will need to find the consumption that puts the pressure in that range. If the zone consumes too much water the pressure will be too low. If the zone uses too little water the pressure will get too high.
When you say "underground drip lines" what do you mean by underground? I'm not a fan of burying drip irrigation in the soil. The lines can eventually clog and plant roots may latch on. I do like burying it under rock like is commonly done in the southwest and desert areas. And I think it's sorta OK to put a layer of mulch on top of it. It's not the best as the mulch will decompose and after years might also cause clogging but it looks a lot better than having a lot of black hose snaking it's way through the landscape.
What type of pump do you have? Is it a submersible or a shallow well pump?
The reason I ask about the switch and pump are that if your pump is capable of dangerously high pressure and you don't have a pressure switch, you need to insure that each zone consumes enough water that the pump can NOT get up to too high a pressure. Also without a pressure switch the water pressure will depend on each zone's consumption. So, if your emitter heads need 20-30 psi you will need to find the consumption that puts the pressure in that range. If the zone consumes too much water the pressure will be too low. If the zone uses too little water the pressure will get too high.
When you say "underground drip lines" what do you mean by underground? I'm not a fan of burying drip irrigation in the soil. The lines can eventually clog and plant roots may latch on. I do like burying it under rock like is commonly done in the southwest and desert areas. And I think it's sorta OK to put a layer of mulch on top of it. It's not the best as the mulch will decompose and after years might also cause clogging but it looks a lot better than having a lot of black hose snaking it's way through the landscape.
#3
05-01-20, 03:46 PM
Member
Having a well and sprinkler system the PSI is not the issue its the GPM (there should be a high pressure limit switch)
What I had to do was tune each zone so that the pump continuously ran yet kept the PSI just below the shut off point,
It took a lot of nozzle changes over several seasons to dial them all in.
Then last year we basically said to hell with all that hassle of the sprinklers! Havent decided if Im going to open them up this year. I think in the long run I wish I had never installed them!
What I had to do was tune each zone so that the pump continuously ran yet kept the PSI just below the shut off point,
It took a lot of nozzle changes over several seasons to dial them all in.
Then last year we basically said to hell with all that hassle of the sprinklers! Havent decided if Im going to open them up this year. I think in the long run I wish I had never installed them!
#5
05-01-20, 04:41 PM
I have no idea if there's a pressure switch, where should I look for one of those? I know there's pump start relay and the sprinkler control box that's about it
It's a deep well if that helps
It's a deep well if that helps
