PVC Float System Eliminates Wasted Irrigation Water

PVC Float System Eliminates Wasted Irrigation Water IRRIGATION Acessories Jason Sewell Carbondale Colo irrigates his fields with a homemade on-demand PVC float system he designed for an irrigation pond inlet in order to eliminate excess wastewater “We use side rolls and mobile big guns to irrigate our hay fields and Senninger Wobblers to irrigate our market garden ” says Sewell “The water we use flows from a small lateral ditch through a 15-in HDPE pipe that drops into the pond “In the past we had run excess water through the pond to make sure the irrigation pumps would always have water depending on their demand The excess water ran out of the pond through an outlet pipe into a nearby hay field and the constant overflow turned the hay into swamp grass which greatly lowered the feed quality ” He says the on-demand float system drops the water level in the pond a few inches and only allows in the water that he uses in his irrigation system so that no excess water escapes from the pond “The system is self regulating so we’re only using the water we need for our irrigation system Our neighbors are happy because we’re not wasting ditch water that they could use on their crops ” says Sewell The float system is made from about $250 worth of new 6-in schedule 40 PVC fittings and consists of 2 parts – a 90-degree elbow with a 6 by 8-in bushing on the bottom and an H-shaped float with a 6-in center-mounted vertical cap “As the float rises with the water level in the pond the vertical 6-in cap puts pressure on the bushing which seals off the inlet pipe ” explains Sewell A 6-in PVC inlet pipe runs from the elbow to the 15-in HDPE pipe and is attached with a homemade steel cap and a bolt on a PVC flange in order to adapt the different size pipes to each other “I had to make the float big so that it is buoyant enough to hold back the pressure coming out of the 6-in pipe ” says Sewell “The level of the incoming water from the ditch is exactly 4 ft above the 6 by 8-in bushing Thus I calculated that the float had to displace a column of water that was 6 in wide and 4 ft high “When we ran our first test the float was rocking back and forth from cavitation which was wearing out the cap on the float and also wearing out the bushing ” To prevent the cavitation Sewell mounted a thin steel splash guard on top of the float “Without the splash guard water was shooting straight down out of the elbow It was aerating the water and making it less dense which caused the float to rock back and forth The splash guard prevents the rocking motion ” notes Sewell Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jason Sewell 6333 Hwy 133 Carbondale Colo 81623 ph 970 309-3417; Jason@sunfireranch farm

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