On Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:58:38 -0700, trader4 wrote:

On Jun 5, 2:04Â*pm, "Bob F" wrote:

If that is legit to do.- Hide quoted text -


That's what I was thinking to. In most places there are fairly tight
restrictions on taking water from natural streams. If it is allowed,
that sounds like the easy solution.

I wouldn't be taking anymore than I am putting into it. I will have to
check with the city. But is VERY small. Its mostly just water ejected
from the local homes. there is a constant source somewhere around here
though. Its only about 3" deep. Not a proper stream I guess. but its
big enough that the side of my house cant be used for anything because
there is always 3" of water passing across the ground...


I'd also be amazed if his sump pump is pumping anywhere near 1000
gallons an hour. That's an incredible amount of water. And unless
it's available year round at a substantial rate, it can't always be used
for irrigation.


I'm in Michigan so I don't need the water year around. Only in the summer
months. I think my numbers are accurate. Well my sprinkler numbers were
off. Each head is only 3gpm, not 30gpm, so a ~350gallon tank would
suffice.

In fact, with my heads only requiring about 18GPM, I should be able to
come right off the sump pit with maybe a small 15 gallon resovoir so there
is always water available for my sprinkler pump.

While it might be nice to collect and use rainwater, from a practical
standpoint, I doubt it's practical compared to drilling a well. With a
well, you have water available regardless of the weather and lots of it.
As the OP noted, to water a reasonable size lawn can easily take
several thousand gallons. If you compare the cost of the tank,
installation, the piping/ trenching, etc necessary to collect the water
from the gutters, etc to the simplicity of a well, I think the well will
easily win out. Especially when you consider the tank gets filled up
when it rains, which is when the lawn is already getting watered. Then,
you have one watering from the tank, after that, you're back to waiting
for rain. Seems of very little use for all the trouble.

Not looking for rain water. Like I said, I have a small stream running
next to my house. That should be an indication of the level of water in
the ground here. My sump runs about every 10 minutes.

After correcting my sprinkler head mistake I believe I will switch back to
using the water from my sump pit. I will add a temporary storage tank
outside, and a 2nd pump. Should be fun



Thanks,


CL