Sprinklers/watering With A Well System

Teetorbilt

It's been over a year and the new fence should be completed tomorrow, house painting is soon to follow so it's now time to revamp the irrigation system.

The original was pretty primitive and we were contstantly fighting rust stains, I don't want to deal with this anymore. The well also draws a significant amount of sand. I'm looking for some short cast heads (about 4 ft.) that are capable of passing sand. Someone posted about a filter/backwash system which I plan to incorporate but would like more specifics. I am assuming that weep systems are out due to the hardness and mineral content, correct me if I'm wrong.

This is big time as I have drives, decks, walks, etc going over the plumbing. I'm also thinking of 2 ideas here. Run supplies through 4" pipe to J-boxes on either side of permanent coverings or just run oversized lines to each zone.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

Mike Finley

Filter the water before it gets to the heads with a sand filter. This the is the cheapest and smartest way to do it. You treat the water centrally and then don't have to adapt anything else down the line. It's not brain surgery. Just put a cheap sand filter inline, change it twice a year. I do this exact same thing at our lake place which runs off a sandy well. I run drip lines and anything else I want down stream because the water is already treated before it gets to them.

As for the rust stains and such, you need to treat the wood getting hit by the water once a year. Yep, that means staining it.

sprinklerguy

With a few more details on what you are trying to do with the sprinkler system...I might be persuaded to help

I know "a little" about this sort of thing.

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Tony Neumann
Lawn Sprinkler Repair and Irrigation Installation
Colorado Springs, Colorado
http://www.sprinklersolutions.com

NasConst_land

They make a product here to prevent rust stains. I believe it is called Rid-O-Rust... It is a little system in it self, very easy to install from what i hear. I guess u can run fertilizer threw this same system and it works great. All the new homes in the new subdivisions here are running this system so it must work.

Teetorbilt

Sprinkler, what details do you need?

Mike, the sand filter is definitely going in and someone suggested using an auto valve and designating it as a zone to backflush.

Nas, I have a single pump that runs the house and sprinklers. The systems that I have seen inject on the suction side of the pump and I'm not too sure about bathing or brushing my teeth in RustAid and/or fertilizer. I could probably rig a solenoid valve that opens only with the sprinkler system. Contamination would be limited to whatever is in the pump, pressure tank and plumbing, I still think that it's a bad idea unless you know of another system.

__________________
You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

sprinklerguy

Give me the size of the area needed to be watered...herein lies your problem though......short throw heads have very small orifices....to throw short right? Therefore it will be tough for them to pass sand...a good filter system is a must, unless you don't mind cleaning heads every now and then....like once per month depending on the sand.

__________________
Tony Neumann
Lawn Sprinkler Repair and Irrigation Installation
Colorado Springs, Colorado
http://www.sprinklersolutions.com

Mike Finley

I don't know what an auto valve is, but all I would do is put two T's on the line running from the filter container to the sprinkler valve box, put them after the filter container but before the sprinkler box, put valves on them. To flush your filter container, you would close the valve closer to the sprinkler box and open the one closer to the filter container Around here you have to winterize sprinker systems so there is always a set up like that, but the difference is those T's and valves also accept a compressor hose to blow them out. A residential house has a back flow preventor valve store bought that has the two valve system already built into it.