Drip system.

[oldfella]

I built a water tank which holds 24 metric cube of water in which I collect rainwater and during the summer, pump up from the river, I am now thinking of putting in a drip sytem in the veg garden, so how do I find the pressure of the water from the pipe if the tank is is 3mts higher than the outlet. The main pipe will 1in feeding into 1/2in plastic drip system.


" GoD I wish I had brains"

[KathyLauren]

An elevation difference of 3m would give a static pressure of 22.7 psi, which would be about 157 kPa.

Static pressure means that the water is not flowing. Once it starts moving, then friction will reduce the pressure at the outlet. There is no easy way to calculate the friction loss. I depends on the shape and size of the pipe as well as the flow rate.

[Thomzo]

I have tried drip systems from water butts on a number of occasions and never had much success. Even if you have enough water pressure to start with, the pipes soon clog up with the debris that inevitably builds up in the water butt. Even cleaning it out regularly doesn't really help.

Zoe

[KathyLauren]

I found that my soaker hoses will "weep" just by the gravity pressure. It is enough to be a nuisance and a big waste of water if I accidentally leave a valve open overnight. The flow rate, however, is not enough for efficient irrigation.

I use a 12-volt water pump powered by a marine battery, which is charged by a 15-watt solar panel. It works well because the times I use the most water are the sunniest days. It provides enough pressure to run the soaker hoses or even a spray nozzle.

[oldfella]

Thanks for the help lads, but have found a very informative site on the subject, Irrigationtutorials.com. Thanks again.

Eddy