Posts Tagged ‘sprinklers’

$$ Water $$

I’ve been spending a lot of money turning a grassy field into a productive CSA vegetable farm, and my largest single expense has been developing water on the site.  We have long dry summers here, and while a few crops can be dry-farmed, most need irrigation.  My property doesn’t have a well, but my neighbors Jim & Kim have a well right on the property line that they are generously letting me develop and use.  My system goals were to get 80GPM at 40PSI over about a 1/2 acre at a time through aluminum hand lines, as well as 20GPM on-demand flow for drip lines, the wash station, etc.  The following is a breakdown of the costs:

Well Testing

Removing rusted-0ut old pump & drop pipe - $600

Testing well production - $1,000

Testing water quality - $350

New Pump Installation

All parts & labor at the well - $12,490 (including 5hp pump, 4 pressure tanks, drop pipe, valves, fittings, wiring, etc)

Hooking in to the Grid

PG&E hook-up costs (dropping a line to a new meter) - $940

Customer-owned service pole - $445

Underground wire from meter to well (250 ft, parts & electrician labor) - $1,20o

Aluminum Field Lines

4” Mainline (900 ft, used) - $1,350

3” Hand Lines (1350 ft, used) - $1,450

Fittings (Valve openers, tees, end caps, etc) - $1,075

24” risers (35) - $525

Rainbird 30H heads (35) - $820

Low-pressure system for drip, wash station, greenhouses

1.5” LayFlat (900 ft) - $405

Misc Fittings - $275

1/2 ” Poly tubing for headers (1500 ft) - $140

T-tape (10,000 ft roll) - $350

Fittings, Filters, Pressure Regulators for drip - $150

Total - $23,565 ...Whoa