I need to get water up to a garden that is 100' away

[Kristi2k]

I am planning on planting a large garden that is 100~ feet away from the house spigot. My hose will reach, however, the water pressure is too low. What type of pump can I add to the house hose spigot to add more pressure?

If it matters, I am on a well system with a pressure tank in the house that supplies the house spigot/bib. Someone had mentioned to look to see if it would cavitate the house system.

 

[herm0016]

is it uphill? what size hose? what is your water pressure set at on the tank?

you should not have a problem with 100 feet of hose if everything else is set up correctly. i have 300 feet of 3/4 hose and have no trouble with pressure when using a sprinkler or a sprayer. we have about 75 psi of water pressure.

 

[Kristi2k]

There is an upward elevation, not much, maybe 10'. The hose is 5/8". Our well's pressure tank is at 40 PSI for the house.

 

[bbhaag]

There is an upward elevation, not much, maybe 10'. The hose is 5/8". Our well's pressure tank is at 40 PSI for the house.

Ouch...that's rough. With a max psi of only 40 it's going to be tough to recommend an inline pump that would actually be helpful especially when you take the grade into account. Is it possible to upgrade you well pump? haha That would honestly be the best solution if it's possible/affordable. It would probably help water pressure issues inside the home as well.

 

[herm0016]

Ouch...that's rough. With a max psi of only 40 it's going to be tough to recommend an inline pump that would actually be helpful especially when you take the grade into account. Is it possible to upgrade you well pump? haha That would honestly be the best solution if it's possible/affordable. It would probably help water pressure issues inside the home as well.

You should be able to adjust the pressure switch up to 50 or 60.

 

[bbhaag]

You should be able to adjust the pressure switch up to 50 or 60.

Perhaps and that's a great suggestion the OP should look into to see if it's possible with his current setup. It certainly would be the cheapest and easiest option for the OP to look at first.

 

[Kristi2k]

The pressure tank in our house is new last year, it's set at a 40 / 60 setting right now so when needed, it'll burst up to 60psi. Pressure is really nice in the house everywhere.

I hooked up about 100' of Gilmour Flexogen Hose 5/8" hose, and the pressure was actually pretty decent. Not sure what the problem was before. I re-measured, I need about 200' of hose to get to the garden.

 

[herm0016]

3/4 hose will be better.

 

[bbhaag]

^^Well duh but he's already asking about pressure output with 5/8" hose over 200' with a slight grade. I can't imagine the issue would get any better if he stepped it up to 3/4 lol.

I mean 40psi ain't great even if the initial "burst" is closer to 60 that doesn't really matter especially when you are using a sprinkler. Generally speaking you are going to leave the sprinkler running longer so the output will be closer to that 40psi mark not 60.

So OP what's the output like at 200' then? You mentioned that it is better than you originally thought at 100' so have you tested it at 200'?

Maybe get a water saving sprinkler. Sure the gpm will be lower but that just means you'll have to leave it running longer. The only other option I can think of is to get an inline pump maybe around 3/4 horse and buy some fittings so you can adapt the input and output to standard hose fitting threads. Make sure it doesn't have to be submersed for cooling and is rated for outdoor use.

OR WAIT brainstorm!! What about a 200-300 gallon stock tank that can be used to collect rain water?? I have a large garden to and am seriously considering this for a couple of reasons.
1 it's better for the environment, 2 my water bill was OFF THE CHARTS this year because my wife watered the garden all summer long, and 3 rain water is better for the plants because of fewer chemicals in it like chlorine and fluorine.

 

[Steltek]

I am planning on planting a large garden that is 100~ feet away from the house spigot. My hose will reach, however, the water pressure is too low. What type of pump can I add to the house hose spigot to add more pressure?

If it matters, I am on a well system with a pressure tank in the house that supplies the house spigot/bib. Someone had mentioned to look to see if it would cavitate the house system.

How deep is the water table where you live? Any possibility of washing down a PVC pipe at the garden location to create a garden well?

https://drillyourownwell.com/

 

[herm0016]

^^Well duh but he's already asking about pressure output with 5/8" hose over 200' with a slight grade. I can't imagine the issue would get any better if he stepped it up to 3/4 lol.

I mean 40psi ain't great even if the initial "burst" is closer to 60 that doesn't really matter especially when you are using a sprinkler. Generally speaking you are going to leave the sprinkler running longer so the output will be closer to that 40psi mark not 60.

So OP what's the output like at 200' then? You mentioned that it is better than you originally thought at 100' so have you tested it at 200'?

Maybe get a water saving sprinkler. Sure the gpm will be lower but that just means you'll have to leave it running longer. The only other option I can think of is to get an inline pump maybe around 3/4 horse and buy some fittings so you can adapt the input and output to standard hose fitting threads. Make sure it doesn't have to be submersed for cooling and is rated for outdoor use.

OR WAIT brainstorm!! What about a 200-300 gallon stock tank that can be used to collect rain water?? I have a large garden to and am seriously considering this for a couple of reasons.
1 it's better for the environment, 2 my water bill was OFF THE CHARTS this year because my wife watered the garden all summer long, and 3 rain water is better for the plants because of fewer chemicals in it like chlorine and fluorine.

there is not fluorine in your water, it there was, your bones would be swiss cheese. it displaces calcium. fluoride on the other hand is perfectly safe.

collecting rainwater is great, but you need a roof or something to collect from and the tank has to be high enough to create some pressure so you can use it. we have a 275 gallon tote on the house, and our chicken coop has about 50 gallons. it keeps up with the chickens in the summer usually.

5/8 hose cross sectional area is .31 sq in
3/4 hose cross sectional area is .44 sq in, an increase of about 40% it makes a difference. lol?

water is expensive here also, 100 to 120 per month in the summer watering our garden and grass.

 

[bbhaag]

there is not fluorine in your water, it there was, your bones would be swiss cheese. it displaces calcium. fluoride on the other hand is perfectly safe.

collecting rainwater is great, but you need a roof or something to collect from and the tank has to be high enough to create some pressure so you can use it. we have a 275 gallon tote on the house, and our chicken coop has about 50 gallons. it keeps up with the chickens in the summer usually.

5/8 hose cross sectional area is .31 sq in
3/4 hose cross sectional area is .44 sq in, an increase of about 40% it makes a difference. lol?

water is expensive here also, 100 to 120 per month in the summer watering our garden and grass.

WOW nice! So you use the roof of your home to funnel the water to your holding tank that's really cool and makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately I don't have that option because our garden is to far away. The edge of it starts about 75' from the house and extends about an additional 125' to 150'.

I was thinking about using polycarbonate sheets to kinda create a funnel around the holding tank and I figure that would help extend the "reach" to collect more rain water. I can find 4x8 sheets pretty cheap so that's why I was considering it. Then maybe make a wooden frame around the tank to attach the polycarb sheets to. Then I was thinking maybe some type of electric pump to pull the water out of the tank and over to the irrigation system for the garden. I suppose gravity fed could be an option but I don't want to build a tower.

So anyway what do you think of my idea? Crazy or hey that would work? I'd love to get your input. Just for reference here is a quick vid I put up on youtube. It kind of gives you an idea of the size of our garden this year. Judging by the way my wife is talking I suspect it's only going to get bigger next year. Hence the need for some type of water collection system to help offset the water bill.

EDIT: If you don't want to watch the whole vid skip ahead to the 1:47ish and 3:18ish mark to get an idea of the size.

 

[herm0016]

your garden looks great! ill have to do a tour our ours this summer. we have about 3500 sq feet, including our 10x22 greenhouse that currently has cold weather stuff growing and some tropical plants we are trying to over winter.

what zone are you in? we are 5b. its a rough zone, nothing in till mothers day and no rain all summer.

you could even use a tarp to collect water. anything to funnel it into the container. a small pump from harbor freight will last and should be able to push water all the way from your house if you hook up your container to the gutter system.

you really should bottom water your cucs, as they are susceptible to mildew on the leaves, just like squash.

i built a 12 valve irrigation system in a deck box for our water, and ran a 3/4 pex line from the house, about 100 feet to the garden. off of this we use lengths of pvc with holes drilled every few inches for our raised beds, and pretty much everything else is on drip lines. we have a cherry, 4 apple trees and a pear tree as well. we collected about 400 lbs of apples when the season is good, and maybe 75 lbs of pears. make cider/wine with them.

 

[bbhaag]

Hey thanks for the watering tip and the idea about using a tarp. I might try that first before I invest in the polycarb and frame for it. Big gardens are a lot of work but really rewarding. It's funny you mention you're also in 5b because so am I and you're right it's a horrible zone. For reference I'm in the Peoria IL area; were abouts are from from?

Drip irrigation is definitely on the agenda for 2021. Besides the holding tank it's probably the biggest project for the garden next year. You should see my cart over at Irrigation King lol....I've got over $200 worth of parts and pieces just waiting for me to press the checkout button and that doesn't even include the stuff I'm gonna have to buy at Menards. I'm sure you can relate haha.

What do you got growing in your greenhouse or is it to late in the season? In the back of my head I get this idea that I want one at home but then I always ask myself "Do you really wanna bring your work home with you?" and then I just can't bring myself to build one. It does tempt me though. I've got some old hoops at work that we no longer need so all it would take is some ground stakes, 2x6's, and some 6mil visqueen sheeting.....ug.....idk we'll see haha.

Anyway, I'd love to see your garden, mini orchard, and greenhouse. If you got some pics from this spring post'em up or it's a long way off but there is always a garden thread either here or in OT so if you remember post some content in one of those next spring.