Hello everyone. Contemplating several options to bring a water supply to this side pasture. My house is just behind me, and the back wood line is 90 yds away for scale. Little over an acre.
Been lugging 5 gallon buckets for 3 years now for our chickens and although I still enjoy the workout/strength element, it’s just too much repetitive work on the body to justify daily hauls.
So, Ag well? Rain collection structure? Seasonal bladder/storage capacity?
Tried running a long hose and it just became even more of a chore to constantly fidget with that around cutting grass.Thought about putting a hose station mid distance for a connection point.
What’s your experience with this problem?
Thanks for any help!🙏🏽
by Hydro_AllesGut
6 Comments
Dig and trench in a water line?
Depending on your rainfall/drainage situation, and how much additional acreage you have, and your slope, of course, I’d look at some combo swale/cistern system to give you a local water source, without constructing anything other than wherever you’re going to put your cisterns. If the foreground is as much higher in elevation as it looks in this pic, and you own at least to the tree line in the background, you could put in a not too deep swale along that right tree line feeding down to a cistern system. you could employ solar pumps if it’s too much hassle to bury the cisterns. I’ve seen some where the water was pumped up to a tower, but that’s a much larger undertaking.
Of course, you could also erect some sloped shed and collect water that way.
I guess the math comes down to how much water you need per day and how much water falls on average and how much storage you need. Place looks pretty green, so year round rainfall simplifies a lot of the storage part.
Do you have anything that could move an IBC tote? They make garden hose adapters for the outlet.
How deep is the groundwater? Is a solar powered well an option.
Rather than a garden hose a cheaper option is 1/4″ drip irrigation tubing, it’s not a lot of flow but can keep a tractor topped off through the day. Also a lot more flexible as you move the tractor around.
I’ve got a 100 gallon tank on a trailer I use to water young trees for the first couple of years till they get established of it’s dry. If I was just watering some chickens I would use that maybe. I’m sure you could find something around that size or smaller that you can move by hand if you don’t have a 4 wheeler of something to tow it with.
I put an IBC tote up on blocks that I periodically refill.
Can you dig a pond in that area?