The Farm Pond Kit using the Unpowered Pitcher Drip Irrigation Controller is for smallholders with a farm pond or rainwater tank and gravity feed drip irrigation from a header tank. Water is pumped automatically from the farm pond or rainwater tank to the header tank and your small farm is irrigated automatically by an Unpowered Pitcer Drip Irrigation Controller. You can leave your farm unattended for weeks on end, and so you can become involved in other activities away from the farm; for example, travelling to the market to sell your produce.
Bury the pitcher (clay pot) next to the control plant. The volume of water discharged by each dripper is the same as the volume of water demanded by the control plant from the pitcher.
It is assumed that the bottom of the farm pond is no more than 4 metres lower than the irrigation drippers. The water supply pressure from the header tank should be at least 1 metre head.
As well as the User Manual, the kit includes the following two components:
- 12 volt 19 watt submersible pump with 2 waterproof electrical connectors
- Unpowered Pitcher Drip Irrigation Controller
You will need to purchase a 20 watt solar panel to connect directly to the pump (no battery required)
The Unpowered Pitcher Drip Irrigation Controller can supply water to approximately 400 non-pressure compensating (NPC) drippers on flat land (assuming that each dripper has a flow rate of 2 L/H at 100 kPa). If your farm requires more than 400 drippers, you can subdivide your farm into zones with up to 400 drippers per zone (each zone has a separate Unpowered Pitcher Drip Irrigation Controller). The controller and the pump can be purchased separately from the Measured Irrigation website.
