Irrigation system without iron filter?
I would like to have an irrigation system installed for my lawn, but I
don't have unlimited money. One of neighbors invested tens of thousands of dollar in a "tank farm" in his basement. He can water his entire 1.5 acre lawn in a couple of hours, and it's all filtered for iron. My other neighbor, for whatever reason, doesn't have iron in his water (we all have well water, btw), so he just got a quote of $3300 for the outdoor part, and he's already upgraded his well pump and tank, so he's ready to go. If I decide to skip the iron filter for irrigation, will that be a problem? How quickly will the driveway and sidewalk become stained with rust, and how hard will it be to clean it off? Is it a bad idea? |
Irrigation system without iron filter?
It all depends on how much iron you have in your water. You can have
it tested, but if your neighbors have wells at similar depths and have a problem, you will too. If the water has high iron, things will get stained in a season or two. And it's not easy to get off. I've seen it turn sidewalks a deep orange brown, it will stain brick, painted surfaces, most anything. With careful sprinkler placement, you can minimize it, but it's hard to avoid completely. If you want to water, then the surest solution is a filter to remove the iron. Alternatively, if you can find neighbors that have wells at different depths that don't have an iron problem, then drilling a new well is an alternative. I've seen guys drill a shallow well in an area and wind up with low iron, while another guy nearby goes deep and winds up with more iron. Neither solution is cheap. " wrote in message . .. I would like to have an irrigation system installed for my lawn, but I don't have unlimited money. One of neighbors invested tens of thousands of dollar in a "tank farm" in his basement. He can water his entire 1.5 acre lawn in a couple of hours, and it's all filtered for iron. My other neighbor, for whatever reason, doesn't have iron in his water (we all have well water, btw), so he just got a quote of $3300 for the outdoor part, and he's already upgraded his well pump and tank, so he's ready to go. If I decide to skip the iron filter for irrigation, will that be a problem? How quickly will the driveway and sidewalk become stained with rust, and how hard will it be to clean it off? Is it a bad idea? |
Irrigation system without iron filter?
Since posting my question, I came across a product that neutralizes
iron in irrigation systems. Do you know anything about those? |
Irrigation system without iron filter?
I don't know what size lawn you have, but have you ever looked at
products such as a water winch? Who cares if he can water his lawn in 1.5 hours. Slow watering that can soak and not run off is the best, you have a minimum of 8 hours during the day and 7 days a week you can water, take advantage of it. The lawn should be watered so it throughly soaks in. Found out how much water your lawn needs and do it in one or two waterings a week. If you water frquently and too a shallow depth the lawn will not be healthy. Use a smaller pump system and water the lawn systematically turning each sprinkler head on independently. An installer should be able to size spinkler heads so you get the volume you need to run the sprinkler using your current well pump. Also well pumps usually are not set to anywhere near there PSI limits. Most are set to cycle between 30 and 40 psi, I bought a new switch which was made to run between 70 and 80 PSI. A suggestion for an iron filter and I am not sure if this will even work is to get a water softener. You can get substitutes for the salt such as potassium which your lawn uses. Who knows depending on the cost of the iron filter system and replacement filters you might be able to buy salt for years. Take a look at the iron filter and see what it is. As we do in the business world explore your options, look at the costs including maintenance and see what is best then. I have seen $30000.00 pieces of equipment scrapped because it was to expensive and hard to maintain. Proper prior planning was not done. As for the well pump if you water systematically you might be able to use your current pump for years. I have used my stock well pump for over 5 years on a sprinkler system. You can get a booster pump that hooks up to the sprinkler line and increase the pressure. This will let the well pump feed the booster pump which will supply the pressure. This decision would also depend on the cost of the well pump versus a booster pump. The booster pump relieves the head pressure from the well so it does not have to try and pump the volume of water you need through the sprinkler lines. wrote in message ... I would like to have an irrigation system installed for my lawn, but I don't have unlimited money. One of neighbors invested tens of thousands of dollar in a "tank farm" in his basement. He can water his entire 1.5 acre lawn in a couple of hours, and it's all filtered for iron. My other neighbor, for whatever reason, doesn't have iron in his water (we all have well water, btw), so he just got a quote of $3300 for the outdoor part, and he's already upgraded his well pump and tank, so he's ready to go. If I decide to skip the iron filter for irrigation, will that be a problem? How quickly will the driveway and sidewalk become stained with rust, and how hard will it be to clean it off? Is it a bad idea? |
Irrigation system without iron filter?
On Fri, 20 Jun 2003 21:41:08 -0500, "Chris" wrote:
Thanks for your reply. My other neighbor just priced out irrigation, and the outdoor part will be $3300, which is very doable for us. However, he doesn't have iron in his water (lucky dog). He already upgraded his well pump, and said it was only a couple hundred bucks. He also upgraded his well tank, but couldn't remember how much that was. I do want to look into the pressure booster, since that could be plumbed in so that it only feeds the outdoor system. I'm still considering just watering with iron-laden water, and having the zones set up to miss the concrete. Lots to think about...probably won't happen this year at this rate. |
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