K,

What pressure and flow rate do you need from your pump? I looked at the Wayne Cast Iron pump and it had a low PSI(30 psi good for drip) (Most sprinklers need 60 psi) but plenty of flow at 90 gpm. What type of irrigation heads are you planning to use per zone. Essential what is your irrigation demand per minute. You need to design your irrigation system and calculate what flow rate you will need and what pressure your sprinklers will need to operate at for maximum throw and least pump run time. i believe the pump is 3 phase and uses 230 or 240 volt power. Not cheap. I think you were enamored by "the pillow" and haven't thought this completely through ;). How much and how frequent rain do you need to keep a 2,500 gallon pillow filled. Is the skin animal proof so that thirst critters won't gnaw through the plastic? I love playing the devil's solicitor. Aloha

Hi Lehual
Thanks for the feedback.

I need in the range of 14GPM and 45psi. I'll be honest I have slacked on picking a pump. I just don't have a lot of knowledge about them. So if you have a suggestion I'd love to hear it.
I'm putting in a rainbird system so I have rotor and popup heads. It will have 10 zones with no more than 4 rotary per zone or 7 popup per zone. I believe I will need on average 12-14GPM. Rain bird designed the system for me so that is where I'm getting the 45psi needed for the rotor heads and 30psi for the popup.

Ha you are right I have been enamored by the pillow idea and that might be why I didn't find any info out there no one has been stupid enough to do it.

My thought about using the pillow will be I will only water the front ward during slow rainfall. I'll have about 2641G (10,000L) of water and at 14GPM I'll have 188 minutes to water or 18 minutes per zone. I only have 4 front yard zones and only 3 really need water.

The pillow will be under my deck so its not very accessible for animals to come and have a drink (or at least I hope). That brings up a good point to make sure I put rodent repellant around the pillow often. Plus it will sit on a mat on the ground.

I'm glad you made me think about all this. I think I might have not put enough thought into this system. Maybe the best idea is to only put it in the front yard that way the water will last longer.

Still looking for feedback if anyone else has some pointer good or bad.

Thanks
Kevin

Kt,

I don't think the pillow idea is actually bad. It is just economics. There are large hard plastic containers available that are used for liquid storage that might be cheaper and easier to handle with stronger walls. It is better than 45 55-gallon drums which might also be cheaper but connecting them together and keep them from leaking would kill you. Some people make a cistern out of the tank or pillow and bury it with a submersible pump inside.

How many square feet are the lawn areas? Do you know what the rotors and popups flow rate at 45 psi are? What I am trying to determine is how many gallons would you need to apply 1" of water over your lawn area a week. That would determine how long your water tank would last before needing to refill.

Mosquito control is another issue.

Aloha

Thanks Lehual

First off after reading your first post I decide to really go back and look at the project better and not get so excited about it and I have decided to only put in the zone sin the front yard. That way the water will last longer.

I looked at the large plastic ones but I didn't find anything that was a decent size and could fit between the columns of my deck. I wish that was the case. FYI I'm paying $1000 for the pillow.

I also thought about burying something but I didn't really want to dug up that much of the yard.

-From my plans I now plan to water about 5000 sq ft of lawn which is just the front yard. Everything is about 8000. (I used my yard sketch I sent to RB for the design.)
-My rotors need 45psi and popups need 30psi (per RB and the design they sent me.)

I don't know yet how the mosquitoes will act when I put that tank in there. I think my yard is somewhat bad for them. (Not upper Midwest bad but there is a 75% chance I will get bit if I don't wear any repellant.) So that really is a time will tell.

Thanks again. Your feedback has been great and made me think.

Kt,

5,000 sf of lawn times 0.083 ft/wk(1" of water) = 415 cubic feet per week times 7.481 gallons per CF of water = 3,105 gallons per week. Irrigate 2 time a week that is 1,552 gal per irrigation cycle. 2,641 gallons/tank divide by 1,552 equates to 1.7 cycle of irrigation before refilling the tank. If it rains every 2 weeks your good. If you end up filling your pillow with your municipal water. You might consider putting the cost of the pillow and pump into a good irrigation system tapped off your municipal water system via your mainline to your house. JMHO Aloha