[TheForge] OT - Water pressure problem.

[Dan Brewer]

Look at this pump
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-inch-clear-water-pump-1479.html
Small and inexpensive./  Set on a timer.
here is someone who set what you are talking about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgioXch7Nt4&feature=related
Dan in  Auburn

On Sat, May 14, 2011 at 3:05 PM, Bruce Freeman <freemab222 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Once again I'm using the broad knowledge base represented by this
> group for an OT problem.
>
> I have just installed rain barrels at all my downspouts, including a
> 250-gallon tank at one of them.  I plan to siphon or pump water
> between them to maximize capacity.
>
> However, none of these are more than 16" above the ground -- two
> cement blocks.  That means that there's little water pressure
> available, making using the water inconvenient.  I could rig a pump to
> go on anytime I need water, but a more elegant solution would be to
> use that pump to keep an elevated tank (water tower) filled between
> limits.
>
> What I'm thinking is to use a fairly small plastic tank -- 15 or 20
> gallons (i.e., ~150 lbs maximum), and to mount it high enough to
> provide reasonable water pressure.  In use, the pump would probably
> come on every once in a while, because the tank would be fairly small,
> but at least it wouldn't be running continuously or with no flow.
>
> Now, to get 15psi I'd need a tower of over 30', and that's out of the
> question.  I'd like something as low as possible and as small as
> possible.  So, the first question is what is the lowest useful water
> pressure for use around yard and garden?  I don't need to run
> sprinklers, but would like to use drip hoses.
>
> Possibly a water tower isn't the proper solution.  What other
> solutions exist?  What I'm aware of is a pressurized system, in which
> the pump fills an accumulator tank, or something of the sort, which
> then discharges for a while before the pump comes on again.  This
> strikes me as expensive, and i'd like to keep expenses low.
>
> If it were possible to do, one potentially elegant solution would be
> an accumulator tank that would be filled either with city water or
> pumped rain water.  There'd have to be a barrier between them, and the
> side that would accept the city water would have to be clean and
> isolated from the rain water side (which must be assumed to be
> contaminated with various environmental contaminants, not the least of
> which would be bird feces).  If I put a check valve to keep the "city
> water" from backing up into the city piping, this might even be legal!
>  I toss it out mainly for discussion, as I really don't see much
> advantage relative to an air bladder accumulator.
>
> So, regale me with your wisdom, o metalworkers and artists of reality!
> --
> Bruce
> NJ
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