solar pumps

[Kansas Rust Buzzard]

I got a question, I have a large garden area that I use a windmill or pump jack to pump from a 300ft well into three, 2,000 gal tanks. I use a drip emitter system to water my garden but the head pressure in the tanks only work for the first 1/2 or so. Now, obviously, elevating the tanks would be the best option to gain pressure for the drip system but I just don't have time, I don't have electricity either but I did see a demo of a solar pump taking water from a stock tank and making a fountain at a show one time. Does anyone know what pressure and volume I could get out of one pumping from an above ground tank? I am using 1/2 gal per hour emitters and I don't know how many I could even run or if it would be worth it? Any good ideas would be appreciated, Thanks!

[Kevin]

You might think about changing the drip system instead of going solar.
Have you researched that option? Look at “Very Low Pressure Drip Systems” / “Gravity Feed Drip Systems”
Also look at “rainwater harvest” The rain people changed out drips to more of a line type system using the “Rain Barrel Soaker Hose” you can buy online.

[windybob]

A couple years ago, we put up a 50 ft tower, 8 ft Dempster on it for a customer to irrigate his tree farm. I've not been by there, but I hear he has a couple of huge tanks for water storage, and his trees are fine.

I would not recommend this method of assembly to anyone. But then again, I'm mentally challenged.

50 ft 2 ed.jpg

[Kansas Rust Buzzard]

Thanks, Kevin, I probably should have noted, part of my garden is several hundred fruit trees. For those I have been letting the pump fill a tank on the semi and once a week driving around to water that way but that is getting, well, old. The rest of it is over several acres, I do it in rows like a vineyard so I can cultivate with a small tractor in between. We only get 14 inches of rainfall so with the drippers only on the plants it makes weed control much more manageable on a big plot. Even with if I wanted to go with a soaker hose, the 300ft runs would make them about impossible. I experimented with what I could find a couple years ago and when the tanks are full they will make the run fairly well but the bottom half of the tank only worked for the first 100ft of line. If the solar pump doesn't work I am looking at a generator and pump but that is going to be expensive and one more thing to babysit. Thanks

[Ron Stauffer]

Aaron

It sounds like you missed out on the evolution of the "solar fountain pump" ? You can get solar pumps that will do 70 to 80 gpm at a 20 psi in what would be called a booster pressure type setup as yours. Newest evolution pumps will handle 30 to 300 volts either AC or DC without polarity specific wiring. Your tanks could be emptied fast enough that you would want to consider a solar submersible pump. You can get in to the 15 to 20 gpm at 300' lift.

In small scale irrigation, you can do just about anything with solar as on conventional AC. The starting point of the design is how much psi and flow that you need to achieve based on pipe size, nozzles/emitters, and volume. Irrigation people are the ones to spec needed psi and gpm.

Like anything else in life (speed, gpm), it carries a price.

Ron Stauffer
Montrose CO

[Kansas Rust Buzzard]

Thanks Ron, was your "Solar Fountain Pump" on the old site? According to the emitter makers, I need about 20PSI at 10GPM to make this set up work efficiently with 3/4 pipe. Of course I got valves on each run so I can control how many to make it work. The emitters are supposed to be pressure compensating but even if they compensated well you can't move the volume without the pressure to make the run work. Thanks

[Ron Stauffer]

Aaron
The only obscure product we ever sold was a solar powered air pump for stock tanks. They were billed to keep tanks ice free and smelling sweet by the manufacturer. The tank water was improved but keeping ice free didnt work. Since they circulated water by pumping air, once it got really cold it would freeze the whole tank versus just the top surface.

You can maintain a more constant pressure with using a pressure tank and pressure switch on the setup with a pump. Pressure switches are rated for AC but will work on DC, just wont last quite as long. Pressure switches are mechanical so you can use a 20-40 switch and play with the cut in and differential springs to do a 15- 25. A solar sub pump set in one of your tanks provided they are manifolded together in a 4" perforated PVC pipe sleeve hanging off of a pitless is the most efficient. Piston, booster, centrifugal, constant pressure etc do not move the amount of water as efficient as a sub. And it needs to be a real solar sub, not a positive displacement pump. Run dry protection to protect the pump is imperative as you will empty those tanks quicker than ever before. You need to ask if 10 gpm @ 20 psi is when operating.

Ron