WELLS: how much water per minute do I need?

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=arlosmine;8894147]
Hi again, thank you for so much input!
I had a contractor come out to look at the property yesterday. He’s not a “well guy”: he’s a “dirt guy”…the best base/arena installer in the area, who has done TONS of facilities here. He felt confident that installing a large holding tank midway between the well and barn would be easy and cost effective…

I am going to do a flow test, for sure (Probably ask seller to do that), and I’ll call some well companies for input about the projected water needs versus flow on the property.
Due diligence sucks.
Now I’ve discovered that the setbacks on the property are super tight/problematic for arena placement. UGH![/QUOTE]

With those problems, maybe that is not the ideal place for you after all?

If you decide to go on with it, find also if there is a town pump you can tap into and get a trailer with a tank you can use to water the arena with and in a pinch fill troughs if you don’t have enough water from your own.

That may help you decide if you can manage a water shortage a little better.

[Pocket_Pony]

OP, it also might help to know where you are and a COTHer in your area might have some more knowledge about water rights and usages.

In the west, water is of course a big issue and vary from state to state and even within a state they vary from county to county.

When I lived in CA, we got our irrigation water by the miner’s inch and we could do with it whatever we wanted. Here we get water based on how many acres we are allowed to irrigate. We must not go over that acreage, and we also shouldn’t be under it. The irrigation department dictates where exactly you may irrigate. We must show beneficial use for a certain period of time.

In both places, buying a property that already had water rights (and the existing infrastructure) was a plus - chances are if a property didn’t have it then you wouldn’t be able to get it because the ditches were at capacity. A couple places we looked at had water rights but no infrastructure (pond, pipes) and so that would be an added expense.

Some places you could irrigate off your well, some it is prohibited, and some don’t even have wells due to the geology of the location.

I loved our well water when we had it and thankfully we never had problems. I had a friend whose well went dry and they had to dig another one. Wells can be expensive to drill for if you need to add another one. And, the area you are considering may or may not allow it (check with your water department) as the district must protect and preserve the water for (insert issue here - future housing development, farming, conservation, whatever).

Due diligence sucks, but it is an important part of farm ownership!

[clanter]

[QUOTE=arlosmine;8894147]

Due diligence sucks.
![/QUOTE]

but it sure pays off in the long run … while we are on Due diligence …any environmental issues? A friend was looking at buying a ranch in Colorado but after an environmental review passed because of several on property dumps where prior owns had disposed of hazardous waste (weed killer and other harmful waste)

[gumtree]

I left out a part to my rather lengthy tutorial on the basics of wells but one needs to understand the basics so as understand how things work. And give a ball park answer to the question.

There are a number of factors that effect water usage and how much is enough.

According to statistics the average family of 4 uses 400+ gallons of water a day. Assuming the home is equipped with low flow appliances. This is an average so it can used as a “fixed” number. Home owners in CA under water restriction rules use around 350.

“fixed number” means one has to be very conservative to drop it more.

The average horse drinks 5-10+ gallons a day. This is a “fixed” number that can’t be “adjusted”

Bathing a horse depends on flow rate and length of bathing. If the average hose can fill a 5 gallon bucket in 1 minute and the bath takes 10 minutes, 50 gallons. This an an “adjustable” number.

To effectively water an arena takes a lot of water. Sprinkler heads come in lots of different flow ratings which are based on water pressure.

To give a basic example, a sprinkler head that can cover a 30’ diameter circle will use around 3 gpm at 30 PSI. That’s 90 gallons per half hour. A 30’ circle is roughly 286 sq ft. The arena is 9,800 sq ft. divided by 286 sg ft =34.

So there are 34 sprinkler “circles” each using 90 gallons in a half hour to water the entire arena. That comes to 3,083 gallons of available water needed to water it for 30 minutes.

1530 gallons for 15 minutes.

So if my math is reasonably correct around 100 gallons per minute. Obviously the well won’t come close to keeping up with this. Even without other needs/demands. It will take several hours to fill a 1500 gallon storage tank.

Exactly how much water will be needed to effectively water the arena depends on several factors. Basically the type of footing and the ambient temps and humidity. Type of sprinklers used, water pressure etc.

My math should be close enough to give an idea of what is needed but others should feel to “fact check”.

[partita]

There’s a reason a dirt guy is a dirt guy and a well guy is a well guy. Talk to the well guy about the dirt guy’s well idea.

Excellent point by gumtree:

:Long established well drilling operators are usually a better source of accurate information than local government bureaucrats.

[vineyridge]

[QUOTE=partita;8896350]
There’s a reason a dirt guy is a dirt guy and a well guy is a well guy. Talk to the well guy about the dirt guy’s well idea.

Excellent point by gumtree:[/QUOTE]

Except that well guys in many places are not informed on the newest well technologies like constant pressure valves. They haven’t learned anything since they started drilling–at least here.

[arlosmine]

I’ve been asking around, Looks like many horse facilities in this area have auxiliary holding tanks. Some also have rainwater catch systems utilizing the indoor arena roof to direct the water.
And apparently of you own a water tank, you can go refill it for next to nothing. Amazing!
More research to do!

[clanter]

[QUOTE=arlosmine;8897141]
I’ve been asking around, Looks like many horse facilities in this area have auxiliary holding tanks. Some also have rainwater catch systems utilizing the indoor arena roof to direct the water.
And apparently of you own a water tank, you can go refill it for next to nothing. Amazing!
More research to do![/QUOTE]

often swimming pools are used as an emergency water source when knocking down rural fires … a pumper truck can pump from the pool using it as a water source (or if needed during a brush or grass fire you can use a small portable pumps and hose lines to protect your property)

[arlosmine]

Thank you all who responded…
I still researching the pro’s and con’s of the property, and the low output well doesn’t appear to be a deal breaker here. Both contractors so far have said that the holding tank on an overnight refill timer is a good option, and not terribly expensive. I’ll still have a real “water guy” out to give me some real figures and configuration ideas, though.

[jawa]

I was talking to my barn builder Thurs. he was happy that we already have a dedicated well that has awesome flow (100gpm). He was talking about some houses being built in a neighborhood. One house they dug well to 300ft and got 3gpm, not enough to pass inspection, so went down to 600ft and still got the same flow, but due to the depth of the well, this would pass inspection since the well now had a built in 600 gallon holding capacity.

So, when you talk to your well company, ask them if this would work in your area, and if it does, does is that cheaper than a separate holding tank.