Martin Pentreath wrote:
In the interests of household economy (eeeeeh, it's just like the
1950s, I'm going to buy shares in spam) we're going over to a water
meter for a 12-month trial run (house distinctly under-occupied). At
the moment the garden, and in particular various pots, planters and
baskets, are watered by a system of little tubes, with drippers in the
pots and sprinklers for the beds. This all makes it sound like
Versailles, in fact it's about 5 metres by 8, ignoring the patio and
its pots.

I've no idea what this will cost to run when we're paying for water by
the pint, but already my mind is turning to the idea of water butts,
which I guess is part of the point of water meters.

Unfortunately I shan't be able to fill watering cans from the butt and
water the garden that way due to a bone disease.* So, getting to the
point, would one of those water-butt pumps produce enough pressure to
power an irrigation system like this?

Dunno how many feet head of water and what flow rate do they claim?

I used a cheap £20 "solar powered" pump from Bull Electrical. I can't
tell if they still sell them - their website is a total mess. They
advertise in the various amateur electronics magazines.

http://www.bullnet.co.uk/shops/test/solar.htm

The orange submersible one - just requires matching the diameter of the
hose, a circlip or two and a stocking over the entrance to stop mozzie
larvae clogging the drip line.

http://www.nezumi.demon.co.uk/garden/water/fountain.htm

Obviously you need a 12v battery to power it too.

Regards,
Martin Brown
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