Bart,
After 15 years experience with low pressure drip irrigation system I'd say
it's a good way to go. It may have been me who suggested it on this list
in the first place. We're using flat plastic pipe/hose with holes every
four inches. We have two 45-gal metal drums (the inside is coated) (they
are the same as your 55 gal drums, just a different measuring system) on a
12-foot tower. I believe 5 psi is adequate to operate the system. The
area irrigated has a slope away from the tanks which seems to help with
even distrbution. The reason we did this in the first place was to make
things easier on the well. If one uses a pressure regulator, which works
just as well, you would have your well cycling on and off constantly and
that is the best way to wear out pump motors, actually it's not the motor
that wears out but the starting circuit, too many times switching on and
off. Some of the flat plastic hose is over ten years old. When putting it
down in the spring I just blow it out with a bit of pressure and if holes
plug up during the season I open them with a small ladies hat pin which I
keep threaded in one side of my braces. Straw mulch over the drip hoses
keeps the UV off, keeps down some weeds and retains an even spread of
moisture. We feel it's much better than overhead watering. You will need
to set up zones for watering because the system has a limited volume for
efficient operation. I don't know any rules for that, you'll have to
experiment in your own location. Bonne chance.
Don Maroc
Vancouver Island, Canada
PS. don't be red faced Bart, we in Canada have been legally metric for
years (we changed just when the gasoline prices jumped a few hundred
percent, so we were suddenly paying the same for a liter as we had for an
imperial gallon) but I have no idea what the metric equivalent of a 45-gal
drum is. People here still talk about miles per gallon when we have
neither miles nor gallons.
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