Pasture Water System Fills Itself

Pasture Water System Fills Itself IRRIGATION Miscellaneous Brad Wood uses ram pumps to let water do the work of keeping his chickens and gardens well watered His gravity-fed water tower can even irrigate his pasture Water flows out of a spring-fed upper pond through a 10-in pipe releasing water to a lower pond Wood uses the elevation difference between the two ponds to move water as needed As water leaves the pipe it runs across a 2 by 6-ft pallet covered in poly roofing and into a split 55-gal barrel From there it loses about 3 ft of elevation running downhill through pvc pipes to a set of ram pumps “I have a 1 1/4-in ram pump that I use most of the time but if the water flow drops I can switch to the smaller pump ” says Wood “The bigger ram pump lifts the water 10 to 12 ft to my water tower ” Wood placed two 270-gal IBC totes one on top of the other on the highest point of his farm for a water tower Three-quarter-inch poly pipe carries the water to a standpipe connected to the stacked totes Air lock is prevented in the lower tank by an airline in the tank cap that extends above the upper tank Before reaching the standpipe the water passes through an Arkal disc filter “The filter knocks algae sediment and sand particles out of the water ” says Wood “I also have a valve in the pipe ahead of the filter to bleed air out of the system Trapped air is not your friend ” The standpipe has an exit valve at its bottom leading to a 700-ft 3/4-in poly pipe that runs to a 550-gal tank near Wood’s high tunnel The tank is on the same level as the totes As they fill so does the tank “The 550-gal tank gives me 3 to 4 ft of head pressure sufficient for drip irrigation ” says Wood “Pressure also is increased as I reduce the water lines from 3/4-in to 1/2-in drip lines ” A tap on the poly pipe ahead of the tank lets Wood run water lines to chicken tractors in the nearby field Overflow on the tank from the constantly running ram pump drains downhill to the upper pond “I’ve run drip irrigation for half an hour and the tank is still overflowing ” says Wood Wood designed the system with bypass valves on the totes and the tank If he needs to work on any one of the three he can do so without shutting down the ram pump “I’ve been using the system for going on 5 years ” says Wood “Most of it was salvage or picked up at auction I got the 700 ft of poly pipe for only $60 at a nearby Amish auction I couldn’t have afforded it new ” He did buy the ram pumps new ordering them from an online supply company Land To House www landtohouse com specializes in ram pump kits and components The 1 1/4-in ram pump kit is priced at $180 The smallest of four models is a 1/2-in ram pump kit for $80 “Land to House provides all the pipe ratios and head pressure information needed ” says Wood “I simply followed their recommendations ” Wood has videos posted to his YouTube channel detailing how the system works and the changes he’s made Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Brad Wood P O Box 54 Centerville Ind 47330 ph 765-595-0408; brad@farmerbrad com; www farmerbrad com

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