I'm Finally Taking Care of a Water Problem.

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viking

I know a lot of things, but master very few
Neighbor
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Jan 8, 2018
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2,423
Location
S.W. Oregon
We just bought two 1,100 gallon poly tanks, one for the garden and one to add to our 1,100 gallon cistern at the top of our property. With the help of my good friend from down the road, the garden tank is set up, all that
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needs to be done is the poly pipe going to the top of the garden where there will be a hose bib. I set up a little overflow system where the spring water comes into the tank that is used to get water for the chickens. As it is, due to a low snow and rain amount we've gotten, our spring overflow is presently down to 1/3rd of normal, but what's amazing is that the first night the tank filled to 700 gallons, the last two nights have not done so well and that might be due to the water lines needing to be burped, they get a bubble or algae buildup that clogs the line. It's really a wonderful thing to have good neighbors and friends to help me because while tying down the second tank I slipped off the side of the pickup bed, landed on my left side of my ribs on the tailgate, did a 360 and landed on the ground. My ribs are rather sore, don't think I broke any, but I'm sure they are bruised, if it wasn't for my wife and friends I wouldn't be getting anything done around here. The chip board that's laying around the base of the tank is to keep the chickens from scratching away the dirt.
 
I guess I should explain why I installed the tank where it is, over the years I've never had enough water to take care of a garden, all I've ever had was the overflow from the spring that I've had to share with the chickens and it wasn't enough to take care of a healthy garden, this tank should really make it all better.
 
Very nice, Hope the ribs are OK today :)
As long as his wife doesn't pour BBQ sauce on them, he'll be fine.:p
Even if you do break a couple of ribs, the doctor can't do anything but tell you "those are gonna hurt for a while, try to take shallow breaths".
 
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In the droughts before and after 2010 I was still trying to grow produce for the farmers market (several acres)... Early on I discovered the amount of water I needed was mind blowing, at a glance...

On the national weather service website I found a baseline numbers that helped... 1 inch of rain on 1 acre of land is just above 27,000 gallons of water, not a typo... twenty seven thousand gallons plus.

I learned to use cultivators on the tractor and plant the rows in "valley's" lower than the soil in between the rows. This reduces the amount of water needed by 75%, concentrating available water just on the plants. Irrigating only at night also reduces the amount of water needed (determined by soil types). I could get by on 2700 gallons per acre every 10 days or so. A far more manageable number.

I hope these numbers help your planning.
 
Nice, viking! Water is so important. This has to give you a sense of security.

Were the tanks new or used? I am curious to know how much tanks like this cost, if you are willing to tell the price. If not, I totally get it!
Sorry, I meant to mention the cost, $700 brand new at the Co-Op in Grants Pass, they were the lowest cost, other places were nearly $200 more. This is the same place we get organic chicken feed and chicks, a good business to deal with.
 
Very nice, Hope the ribs are OK today :)
Thanks, they're doing better today but I know it will be a while before I get back to doing things like I'd like to, I did a job on the ribs of my right side many years ago so I know it takes a while, I just have to watch how I lift things with my left arm, the muscle cramps under my arm are rather painful.
 
Viking
Is there any way to recycle that water?
What I have in mind will stop the bug legionaries from visiting your tank.
Legionaries only happens in a tank that sits stagnant .
SO...if you have a constant flow from the source through the tank. it will never be stagnant. this can be accomplished

ok. pump the water into the tank at the top.. let it exit the tank from the bottom back to the source
this will keep the water in the tank ''fresh'' it is not stagnant it is self recycling

have a third opening in the tank to go to where needed

to add a opening in a tank you need a fitting called a ''bulk head'' fitting

https://pvcpipesupplies.com/1in-hay...m_term=1101500684445&utm_content=All Products
 
Viking
Is there any way to recycle that water?
What I have in mind will stop the bug legionaries from visiting your tank.
Legionaries only happens in a tank that sits stagnant .
SO...if you have a constant flow from the source through the tank. it will never be stagnant. this can be accomplished

ok. pump the water into the tank at the top.. let it exit the tank from the bottom back to the source
this will keep the water in the tank ''fresh'' it is not stagnant it is self recycling

have a third opening in the tank to go to where needed

to add a opening in a tank you need a fitting called a ''bulk head'' fitting

https://pvcpipesupplies.com/1in-hay...m_term=1101500684445&utm_content=All Products
Thanks for the heads up, I'll have to see just how far I can reach inside the access cover to get a bulkhead fitting installed for an outlet for the chicken waterline, it would probably be close to 90 degrees away from the spring inlet. I acrtually designed the 1,100 gallon concrete cistern that we hand built many years ago to have the water flow inside, always moving, the inlet from the spring is on the northwest corner, the overflow outlet is on the southeast side and the water outlet to the house is on the eastern side of the bottom where there is a 1" plastic elbow cast into the concrete, I have a schedule 40 1" lenght of plastic pipe jambed into the elbow that has two notches cut into it 6" off the bottom so that no sediment gets into the house water, the main reason I designed the cistern this way was to keep the water alway moving inside which would reduce the chance of freezing to occur, it also keeps the water fresher and less likely to get stagnant. Since I haven't had a chance to see how much water will be needed in the garden and it's possible that I may use some drip system, it's still an unknown as to how much refreshing will occur in the new garden tank and yes it has been on my mind to make sure we don't have a stagnant water situation.
 
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