Forum home› Fruit & veg
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Veg patch low pressure irrigation system

michaelrowmichaelrow Posts: 2
in Fruit & veg
I'm looking for some advice about setting up a low pressure irrigation system for a vegetable patch- I would like to rain water butts as the water source.
The butts are situated approximately 50m away from the vegetable patches, uphill.
The vegetable patch is two beds with membrane base and sleeper edging, 6mx1.5m lying in series across a gentle slope with a 2m gap between them.

I have looked into both soaker hose and drip systems but am unsure which (if any) is best. I do not have an outdoor tap or the ability to fit a pump.

I think with the elevation difference there will be a reasonable pressure but am unsure if this will be lost over the significant distance from source to beds? 

I've read that soaker hoses aren't good to use on slopes- the slope if very gentle, would this be a problem?

Advice and thoughts would be welcome!

Posts

  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    The minimum pressure required for low pressure irrigation systems is usually 0.5 bar. You would need to have your water butts a minimum of 5 metres height above where you want the water for it to work. What height difference do you have?
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995
    I suggest making up your own drip with plastic PVC pipes.  It will last for years.. far longer than soaker hoses or drip piping.  AND you can create the hole sizes needed to work with the gravity pressure available.  It will take a bit of experimentation.. and probably some calculus.. you need to figure out a rate that is slow enough that water remains in the whole system to give a steady supply to all holes (that it doesn't drain faster than it fills).  
    If you search 'gravity fed PVC drip system' you can get the idea.  
    Utah, USA.
  • michaelrowmichaelrow Posts: 2
    @steephill   I think there is probably a 5m height difference (but difficult to estimate for sure due to the distances).

    @Blue Onion thank you for the suggestion will look up the gravity fed PVC drip system you suggest! Love a bit of calculus...!

Sign In or Register to comment.