SPRINKLER TALK FORUM - You Got Questions, We've Got Answers

I recently had a well drilled solely to irrigate my lawn. Unfortunately, after drilling 418 feet, the well only produces 2 - 3 GPM. The static level of the water is at 116 feet, so I have approximately 300 feet of water in a 5 inch casing. (To make math easy, I'm estimating this is roughly 200 gallons). I've placed the pump 10 feet from the bottom, so I have the 200 gallons in surplus to use. Probably the best solution would be to bury a large tank to hold a supply of water, but prior to going to that effort, I'm thinking of trying the following. Let me know your thoughts:

Design my zones so that each zone uses approximately 5 GPM (not sure how realistic this is with a 3/4 acre lot - haven't quite looked at it on paper yet). This would only cause a 2-3 GPM draw-down on the well. Therefore, I could water 6 zones at approximately 15 minutes each... Then, wait for 100 minutes for the well to replenish... water 6 more zones, etc.

Later, if I decide to bury a tank, I could combine a few of the zones at the valves and it would speed up the watering process.

Any thoughts? Has anyone encountered a similar situation?

Currently I have a 36 gallon pressure tank. But, in my message I was suggesting burying a 500 gallon tank as a water storage unit. In doing so, I'd probably have to also invest in another pump to take the water from that tank. I really don't want to go to that effort though. I'd like to just somehow be able to work with what I have.

Thanks for your response drpete3, but I am far past that point. Had several heart-to-heart discussions with the driller. Thus, the original question.

If anyone is interested, Rainbird makes a controller in which you can program it to delay prior to the next zone starting. This allows wells to recover prior to continuing. Works out pretty well for me and solved my problem.