Water - A Precious Resource

We recently upgraded what is probably the most important item to think about as you start your farm/garden - water.  The upgrade consisted of moving from our well-based system to a pond-based system.  The well worked fine for a while, but as we expanded planting plots it quickly became taxed.  Last year's record drought here in the South was also a major factor.  We didn't plant as much last summer as a result of the drought and there were times I thought I was going to run our well dry..... the same well that supplies water for our home. 

This year we decided to bite the bullet and plan for current and future needs by sourcing water from the pond.  Since the pond is spring fed, it did not lose any volume last summer during the worst of the drought.  It will be a great water source for all our watering needs.  We were able to run 1 inch poly pipe from the pond to the current irrigation system and use the same timer/controller.  This reduced the total cost of the project.  Sean from Rain Image irrigation installed the pump for us and hung it from a 24 inch marine ball I sourced on the internet.  The long white tube in the boat (photo above) contains the 1 HP pump.  It is surrounded by another tube to keep it cool and reduce a whirlpool effect.  The pump was placed in the deepest section of the pond and sandwiched by chain between the ball and bottom of the pond anchored by a cement block.

So far, the pump and system are working great.  I was able to water/drip about 13 rows of tomatoes, 200 feet in length with plenty of volume.  Another advantage of this system is that I don't have to program a recovery period for the water to build back up like I had to with the well. The plants are looking good and I look forward to enjoying some summer vegetables very soon.