Just thinking of trying an idea and would like some opinions.


There is a stream right off the back of my house, about 50 feet
away.....stream is normally about 6 - 8 inches deep but swells to
8 - 10 feet high during severe thunderstorms.

We've had a drought in Maryland for the past several years (who
hasn't) and have had water restrictions in place....(still have even
during a very wet spring).

If I placed a 5 gallon bucket in a hole in the stream, punched holes
high in the side of the bucket, allowing it to fill with water and
using landscape fabric around the bucket holes to filter out debris
and sand. Running a hose to a sprinkler or sprinkler system...

Would this setup work and what type of pump (electric) would be
most suitable for drawing the water up through the hose and creating
enough pressure (15psi with a regulator) to keep the sprinklers
working.

Note: the stream is too far away for convenient electrical access so
the pump would have to draw water through about 35 feet of hose.

Looking to keep this very "temporary setup on demand type of
operation.

Your thoughts ???


Thanks !!!!

You need to check into local/state regulations about that. I know in many
areas it is illegal to take water from streams and lakes for irrigation or
domestic use. You can make a call to your county offices to check it out. If
it is unlawful, just remember if you are busted the agencies have little
tolerance for the excuse of ignorance.

Val


plantkiller wrote in message
...
Just thinking of trying an idea and would like some opinions.


There is a stream right off the back of my house, about 50 feet
away.....stream is normally about 6 - 8 inches deep but swells to
8 - 10 feet high during severe thunderstorms.

We've had a drought in Maryland for the past several years (who
hasn't) and have had water restrictions in place....(still have even
during a very wet spring).

If I placed a 5 gallon bucket in a hole in the stream, punched holes
high in the side of the bucket, allowing it to fill with water and
using landscape fabric around the bucket holes to filter out debris
and sand. Running a hose to a sprinkler or sprinkler system...

Would this setup work and what type of pump (electric) would be
most suitable for drawing the water up through the hose and creating
enough pressure (15psi with a regulator) to keep the sprinklers
working.

Note: the stream is too far away for convenient electrical access so
the pump would have to draw water through about 35 feet of hose.

Looking to keep this very "temporary setup on demand type of
operation.

Your thoughts ???


Thanks !!!!

Valkyrie wrote:

You need to check into local/state regulations about that. I know in many
areas it is illegal to take water from streams and lakes for irrigation or
domestic use. You can make a call to your county offices to check it out. If
it is unlawful, just remember if you are busted the agencies have little
tolerance for the excuse of ignorance.




I would call the local extension service first, or possibly the local
USDA Natural Resources people. They would know what the local regs are
and you wouldn't stir up the local people unnecessarily. My personal
opinion is that if the water is going to be used in the same watershed
area, and if you aren't sucking the stream dry, it shouldn't be a
problem. You have to register stream withdrawals with the feds if you
exceed 100,000 gallons per day.

You lose some from evaporation when you use sprinklers, and you lose
some from transpiration through the plants. If you use drip irrigation
you can mitigate the former problem.

As far as the setup is concerned, I have this picture of you setting a
bucket with holes into the stream bottom and using plastic fabric to
filter the water going into the bucket, from which you pump it out. I
see 2 problems with that approach. First, if you pump the water out of
the bucket faster than it can come in through the filter, the bucket is
likely to float and you will lose your setup (and probably your bucket
when it floats downstream a way before sinking). Second, five gallons is
too small. Think larger.

I have a small greenhouse that is supplied with water through a hose.
When cold weather comes through the hose freezes and I can't water
anything. I put a 55 gallon drum full of water in the greenhouse and got
a cheap sump pump from Home Depot. It has a hose fitting on the outlet.
It gives me enough pressure to run a watering wand (about 50-75% of what
I would get out of the hose from the house). The sump pump has a built
in filter for large debris (but an accumulation of leaves would clog
it). It only needs 1/4" of submersion but will work fully submerged. I
suspect it would easily run a small sprinkler, but not a large one.
If you use such a sump pump in the bucket, I would recommend a hardware
cloth filter rather than landscape fabric. It will provide a larger
water flow into the bucket and keep out the leaves. The built in filter
will keep out the medium size debris. If you use drip irrigation, you
will need a disk filter (much cheaper than a sand filter) to keep the
really small stuff out of the drip lines.

PS: you need to consider what will happen to your system when the 8"
deep stream becomes an 8' deep stream with accompanying increased water
flow rates. Make sure it's tied down securely and the tiedowns aren't
subject to erosion.

plantkiller wrote in message
...
Just thinking of trying an idea and would like some opinions.


There is a stream right off the back of my house, about 50 feet
away.....stream is normally about 6 - 8 inches deep but swells to
8 - 10 feet high during severe thunderstorms.

We've had a drought in Maryland for the past several years (who
hasn't) and have had water restrictions in place....(still have even
during a very wet spring).

If I placed a 5 gallon bucket in a hole in the stream, punched holes
high in the side of the bucket, allowing it to fill with water and
using landscape fabric around the bucket holes to filter out debris
and sand. Running a hose to a sprinkler or sprinkler system...

Would this setup work and what type of pump (electric) would be
most suitable for drawing the water up through the hose and creating
enough pressure (15psi with a regulator) to keep the sprinklers
working.

Note: the stream is too far away for convenient electrical access so
the pump would have to draw water through about 35 feet of hose.

Looking to keep this very "temporary setup on demand type of
operation.

Your thoughts ???

Unfortunately, people often see street drains as a good place to dump
unwanted household chemicals. After all, you just pour out your old paint
stripper, insecticides, and weed killer and it magically disappears. I have
seen people do this on my street. When I point out that what they have just
poured into the sewer is coming out a hundred feet away onto my property and
then into the creek behind my house they seem completely surprised, as if
they thought it was going to China.

I would be careful about where I used that water if I were you.

plantkiller wrote:
Just thinking of trying an idea and would like some opinions.


There is a stream right off the back of my house, about 50 feet
away.....stream is normally about 6 - 8 inches deep but swells to 8 - 10
feet high during severe thunderstorms.

We've had a drought in Maryland for the past several years (who hasn't)
and have had water restrictions in place....(still have even during a
very wet spring).

If I placed a 5 gallon bucket in a hole in the stream, punched holes
high in the side of the bucket, allowing it to fill with water and
using landscape fabric around the bucket holes to filter out debris and
sand. Running a hose to a sprinkler or sprinkler system...

Would this setup work and what type of pump (electric) would be most
suitable for drawing the water up through the hose and creating enough
pressure (15psi with a regulator) to keep the sprinklers working.

Note: the stream is too far away for convenient electrical access so
the pump would have to draw water through about 35 feet of hose.

Looking to keep this very "temporary setup on demand type of operation.


Your thoughts ??? Thanks !!!!


I'm not gonna get into what's legal and what's a good idea, etc. I think
you need to forget about the bucket. Get a small "dirty water" centrifical
(sp?) irrigation pump. They are pretty cheap. Run a suction line down to
the creek and have a strainer on the end to keep the crap and most of the
dirt out of it. You might can tie a cinder block to the end of the suction
line to hold it down near the bottom. Then use sprinklers that can pass a
little dirt and sand. You don't need a regulator.

You need to make sure the pump has sufficient "lift" to draw the water up
from the creek to the pump. This has little to do with the length of hose
and everything to do with the elevation. If the vertical distance from the
creek to the pump is more than about 25 feet, the whole idea falls apart
unless you get a gasoline or diesel pump and locate it down by the creek.
And I don't think garden hose will be rigid enough to use as a suction
line, because it will probably collapse. You can probably use cheap black
ABS plastic irrigation pipe.

You'll probably have to prime the pump to get it started, so allow for
that. The pump will have pipe threads for the inlet and outlet, and you
need hose thread for the garden hose. So use some kind of tee fitting with
a screw-in plug before the hose adapter so you can pour in a bucket of
water to prime the pump.

When you run the sprinklers, you will be advertising your system to any
nosy neighbors and police who might be enforcing the water restictions.
Just keep that in mind.

Good luck, and best regards,
Bob

--
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On Fri, 18 Apr 2003 15:49:27 GMT, "Vox Humana"
wrote:


Unfortunately, people often see street drains as a good place to dump
unwanted household chemicals. After all, you just pour out your old paint
stripper, insecticides, and weed killer and it magically disappears. I have
seen people do this on my street. When I point out that what they have just
poured into the sewer is coming out a hundred feet away onto my property and
then into the creek behind my house they seem completely surprised, as if
they thought it was going to China.

I would be careful about where I used that water if I were you.

Clean water, plenty of birds, deer and other critters use it for
drinking.... it even has an occasional minnow or fifty.

I agree, it's a shame that many people don't care about our
environment.......

Thanks Bob, for recommending a workable system... your idea should
fit the configuration perfectly..... about a 10 - 12 foot lift.

Definitely workable, can't wait to get the parts and try it out.


Thanks again !!!!

On Fri, 18 Apr 2003 11:08:31 -0500, zxcvbob
wrote:




I'm not gonna get into what's legal and what's a good idea, etc. I think
you need to forget about the bucket. Get a small "dirty water" centrifical
(sp?) irrigation pump. They are pretty cheap. Run a suction line down to
the creek and have a strainer on the end to keep the crap and most of the
dirt out of it. You might can tie a cinder block to the end of the suction
line to hold it down near the bottom. Then use sprinklers that can pass a
little dirt and sand. You don't need a regulator.

You need to make sure the pump has sufficient "lift" to draw the water up
from the creek to the pump. This has little to do with the length of hose
and everything to do with the elevation. If the vertical distance from the
creek to the pump is more than about 25 feet, the whole idea falls apart
unless you get a gasoline or diesel pump and locate it down by the creek.
And I don't think garden hose will be rigid enough to use as a suction
line, because it will probably collapse. You can probably use cheap black
ABS plastic irrigation pipe.

You'll probably have to prime the pump to get it started, so allow for
that. The pump will have pipe threads for the inlet and outlet, and you
need hose thread for the garden hose. So use some kind of tee fitting with
a screw-in plug before the hose adapter so you can pour in a bucket of
water to prime the pump.

When you run the sprinklers, you will be advertising your system to any
nosy neighbors and police who might be enforcing the water restictions.
Just keep that in mind.

Good luck, and best regards,
Bob

On Fri, 18 Apr 2003 11:39:32 -0400, Dwight Sipler
wrote:



I would call the local extension service first, or possibly the local
USDA Natural Resources people. They would know what the local regs are
and you wouldn't stir up the local people unnecessarily. My personal
opinion is that if the water is going to be used in the same watershed
area, and if you aren't sucking the stream dry, it shouldn't be a
problem. You have to register stream withdrawals with the feds if you
exceed 100,000 gallons per day.

Good suggestions, I wish to keep this as low key as possible, Plus
we are only talking about irrigating a quarter acre of beds, which
range from well drained areas to bog like areas ( all on a 1/4
acre). 100,000 gallons per day would flood my entire
neighborhood.


You lose some from evaporation when you use sprinklers, and you lose
some from transpiration through the plants. If you use drip irrigation
you can mitigate the former problem.

As far as the setup is concerned, I have this picture of you setting a
bucket with holes into the stream bottom and using plastic fabric to
filter the water going into the bucket, from which you pump it out. I
see 2 problems with that approach. First, if you pump the water out of
the bucket faster than it can come in through the filter, the bucket is
likely to float and you will lose your setup (and probably your bucket
when it floats downstream a way before sinking). Second, five gallons is
too small. Think larger.

I have a small greenhouse that is supplied with water through a hose.
When cold weather comes through the hose freezes and I can't water
anything. I put a 55 gallon drum full of water in the greenhouse and got
a cheap sump pump from Home Depot. It has a hose fitting on the outlet.
It gives me enough pressure to run a watering wand (about 50-75% of what
I would get out of the hose from the house). The sump pump has a built
in filter for large debris (but an accumulation of leaves would clog
it). It only needs 1/4" of submersion but will work fully submerged. I
suspect it would easily run a small sprinkler, but not a large one.
If you use such a sump pump in the bucket, I would recommend a hardware
cloth filter rather than landscape fabric. It will provide a larger
water flow into the bucket and keep out the leaves. The built in filter
will keep out the medium size debris. If you use drip irrigation, you
will need a disk filter (much cheaper than a sand filter) to keep the
really small stuff out of the drip lines.

More good suggestions..... I like the 55 gallon drum idea for
rainwater collections, Tried the drip solution a few years back and
had neighborhood dogs, and wild deer tear out the system. I also
ran over it with the lawn mower once or twice...... that didn't help
matters much either.

Again, we're only talking about a 1/4 acre here, complete with
house. Just that I'm very reluctant to use or waste city water in
watering the lawn, when I have a stream in the back...and the run off
and ground water penetration all go back to the
same source.


Thanks again for the information..... time to start making it happen
!!!

wrote:

Clean water, plenty of birds, deer and other critters use it for
drinking.... it even has an occasional minnow or fifty.

I agree, it's a shame that many people don't care about our
environment.......

Plenty of birds, deer and other critters also shit in it every day, but
no one seems to mind that. What's good enough for humans should be good
enough for wildlife. If they can't control their sewage they should be
killed!