Utilising old infrastructure
A water cistern that used to be used for watering grapes
Water is key. The last two summers have been hot and dry and only having metered town water makes on-going watering impractical. The objective is to have extensive drip irrigation where ever possible with water sourced from a local stream.
Partway up our hillside we found an old abandoned cistern with a capacity of 5 cubic meters and sufficiently high to provide a strong siphon for the areas we need to water.
A section of the vaulted roof has collapsed and it does not hold more than about 60cm of water. The bottom is filled with rocks and soil that’s turned to fine clay. But the structure is sound.
The irrigation plan
The is a feed off the Rio Sena that run along the boundary will be used as a water source. This is currently used by our neighbours down hil from us.
Near the gate a ‘pumping station needs to be built. This be close to the gate. There is power at the gate and the lift is well less than 8 m.
The control of the water pumped to the cistern will be based on a float valve.. From the cistern a siphon will run to water the fruit and veg areas shown. The drop is sufficient for this. Micro irrigation feeds are then fed from this main feed.
A feed to the main well is needed to maintain its water levels. The automated garden/lawn system can then be fed from the well as it originally was.
The pipe runs are:
- Pump to cistern 95m
- Cistern to lower veg patch 225m
- Feed to main veg patch 75m
- Pumped feed to lavender 150m
Early spring 2024 the plans are to:
- Clear the cistern of all debris and rocks. Part of the vaulted roof has collapsed adding to the years of soil and rocks that have falling in.
- Line the interior with a pond liner. Although high enough to stand in the water level is only about 1 M indicating leakage through the sides. A liner will allow the cistern to be filled to capacity.
- Build and install a pumping station to keep the cistern filled. The cistern will have a float switch to control the pump and maintain the appropriate level.
- As the cistern will be 95 m from the pumping station. Instead of wired control a non wired LoRaWAN network is needed to control the pump and ensure that there is water for the pump. The design for this is being developed and will include controlling the irrigation lines.