DIY swamp water well.

okay folks been thinking on how to improve my outdoor location for next year.
as of now i have dug a 30+- gallon hole that is always filled with water.
my grow area being right next to a swamp i have ample water all year long.
I would like to DIY a rain barrel well system with a submersible pump.

heres my plans so far.
1. dig a 4 foot deep hole 2 feet wide
2. fill bottom 6 inches with gravel and small rocks for aeration.
3. drill ten 1 inch holes in bottom of rain barrel.
4. glue 1000 micron mesh in bottom of 50 gallon rain barrel so mud and dirt doesn't get inside the barrel.
5. burry barrel so only 6-8 inches of the barrel is above ground.
6. place pump in barrel
7. wait for barrel to fill with water.
8. use portable power pack to power pump.

now this is only possible if you dig in a very wet area and make sure it stays wet all year long.

now heres my questions !!
1. what gph pump should i use ? ill be pushing water 3-4 feet straight up out of the barrel then using 20-30 feet of hose. i don't need a fire hose... just a nice 1-3 gallons a minute.

2. the power pack i have in mind is the hackery explorer 240. this should power the water pump for atleast 30 minutes correct ?



thanks all for looking!! hoping people find this helpful and interesting . peace

I'd go with a well pump cuz they are submersible how big is your rain bucket gonna be, and your budget? if its low you'll have to get a slower pump the well pumps are usually around 10gpm which I think is faster than a 300+gph pump. you could get a non submersible pump for cheaper if your looking to move a lot of water quick not sure about how much you need to move overall.

peace

i didn't go into much detail about my grow plans.
I'm planning on doing 6-8 100 gallon smart pots.
plants started in march.
going for multi pounders.
will be in deep forest so will be using a 240 watt power pack.
id like a flow rate of 2-3 gallons a minute to hand water my plants with a 20 ft garden hose.
my rain barrel is 50-55 gallons
which i think will fill back up each day.
would like to water my plants 3-4 days a week if necessary.

this is the power pack I'm looking at buying https://www.jackery.com/product/explorer-240/

homedepot com/p/Everbilt-0-1-HP-Non-Submersible-Transfer-Pump-ZE00802A/205617257 something around these specs should work nice small and portable but not submersible it also has hose threads on it. not sure about the power draw with it though. flow rates a little faster than I'd go with a submersible FYI.

If the swamp water doesn't work out, you can always make a rain-catcher.

weedthungz said:

homedepot com/p/Everbilt-0-1-HP-Non-Submersible-Transfer-Pump-ZE00802A/205617257 something around these specs should work nice small and portable but not submersible it also has hose threads on it. not sure about the power draw with it though. flow rates a little faster than I'd go with a submersible FYI.

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I'm wondering what the noise will be like... gotta be semi quiet. thats why i was thinking submersible so it would be in the barrel and also 3 feet in the ground.

too larry said:

If the swamp water doesn't work out, you can always make a rain-catcher.

View attachment 4188901

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yes haha I've seen your contraption. i like it ! but haven't been getting much rain fall here lately. might have to try it out anyway.

Zbud94 said:

yes haha I've seen your contraption. i like it ! but haven't been getting much rain fall here lately. might have to try it out anyway.

Click to expand...

have u looked at 12 volt pumps,like bilge pumps on a boat, hump a battery out there hook to small solar panel

Id get the water tested.
Hospitals and real estate agents usually have the test bottles on hand

Costs like 20$

Zbud94 said:

i didn't go into much detail about my grow plans.
I'm planning on doing 6-8 100 gallon smart pots.
plants started in march.
going for multi pounders.
will be in deep forest so will be using a 240 watt power pack.
id like a flow rate of 2-3 gallons a minute to hand water my plants with a 20 ft garden hose.
my rain barrel is 50-55 gallons
which i think will fill back up each day.
would like to water my plants 3-4 days a week if necessary.

Click to expand...

In a pinch they sell cheap pumps that attach to your battery powered drill. About $10 - $20 at Home Depot.

You could buy two pumps (a backup is a good idea) and a battery powered drill and then get the benefit of the drill too.
Easy to carry...who doesn't like to get two birds stoned at once?

thumper60 said:

have u looked at 12 volt pumps,like bilge pumps on a boat, hump a battery out there hook to small solar panel

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hey thumper good to see you. i have a big deep cell battery and was thinking the solar panel route. but wouldn't i need a solar inverter ? new to the solar thing , like the idea of a solar powered automated watering system would be simple if i knew a little more about solar panels .

Rob Roy said:

In a pinch they sell cheap pumps that attach to your battery powered drill. About $10 - $20 at Home Depot.

You could buy two pumps (a backup is a good idea) and a battery powered drill and then get the benefit of the drill too.
Easy to carry...who doesn't like to get two birds stoned at once?

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good to know. do you possibly have a link ? I'm trying to find them now. also not sure how long that would last since a drill doesn't last terribly long with one of the batteries.

projectinfo said:

Id get the water tested.
Hospitals and real estate agents usually have the test bottles on hand

Costs like 20$

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haha my mother is a real estate agent. ill have to ask her.

good thinking on getting the water tested. I've been using the water from my 2 foot deep hole that is always filled with nice cool water i mean cold ! straight from the ground. thats why this barrel in the ground idea should work wonders in my location.

Zbud94 said:

hey thumper good to see you. i have a big deep cell battery and was thinking the solar panel route. but wouldn't i need a solar inverter ? new to the solar thing , like the idea of a solar powered automated watering system would be simple if i knew a little more about solar panels .

Click to expand...

harbor freight has a 25 watt solar panel charger,that rv folk use to keep batteries charged when not rolling. 69 bucks its plug an play!then get ya 12 volt bilge pump

Zbud94 said:

good to know. do you possibly have a link ? I'm trying to find them now. also not sure how long that would last since a drill doesn't last terribly long with one of the batteries.

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they suck!!take half hr to move 5 gals20 ft

I second the bilge pump run off a marine battery and kept charged via solar panel. Works like a charm. First time I ran it it cut my watering time from 4-6hrs of lugging water to 45 min or so of sitting back and watching the water flow.
There are some high flow submersible bilge pumps out there for a very fair price.

Cheers

So I could definitely set up an automated watering system using a water timer a marine battery and plug and play solar panel. Could have battery inside weather tight box and have solar panel mounted on outside. Right on the getaway mountain seed site they have pump hooked up to battery and have done the same thing and incorporating too Larry’s water storage tarp ! Ingenious! By June with the rains and fill the tarp up you could easily have 1000 gallons of water at your disposal!

Zbud94 said:

So I could definitely set up an automated watering system using a water timer a marine battery and plug and play solar panel. Could have battery inside weather tight box and have solar panel mounted on outside. Right on the getaway mountain seed site they have pump hooked up to battery and have done the same thing and incorporating too Larry’s water storage tarp ! Ingenious! By June with the rains and fill the tarp up you could easily have 1000 gallons of water at your disposal!

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I always used the plastic enclosed boxes they make for using the batteries in boats. I use one for my trolling motor on my boat. They aren't very expensive and keep the battery protected from water. I will also advise to always double check your connections before leaving to make sure it will be charging while you are away.
I have never had to collect my water, always had it set up not far from a good source. Once I did dig a well about 8ft to draw out of. Those boat bilge pumps are a wondrous thing.
Cheers

You can choose a deep cycle or AGM battery. The deep cycle likes being fully charged and then discharged before being fully charged again. The AGM is more of a standby but does well in battery life with intermittent charge and discharge applications like solar charging. The deep cycle won't recharge in 1 full day charge cycle unless the solar panels are large. The battery life will degrade.

12v35AH (portable)garden tractor battery or 12v55AH (stationary)car size battery, need to figure the amp draw from the pump,and how many ft up you are pumping to get a handle on how many gallons you can pump from the setup on a charge.

I don't have any solar charging experience, don't know what size panel you need or how many gallons you need in deep summer.
You will want to run 5-8 full deplete cycles on the setup to get numbers and the battery conditioned before deploying. Bilge pumps are awesome for this.

If you set up the water source uphill, you just need a vacuum pump on a cordless drill to start suction on a hose, take it off and let siphon gravity take over. Painfully slow but simple. Using a smaller bilge pump/battery up hill would crank lots of water for short duty cycling with only a 18 inch rise over the lip, then all down hill.