I will be watering these zones:

1. 30 citrus, 15-20 grapes and 3 pomegranates
2. 10 Figs, 2 Plums, 12 blueberries, 4 banana mats, Fuyu persimmon, Quince and other odds and ends with a total of less than 50 plants
3. 30 blueberries, 5 banana mats
4. 1/4 acre of ornamentals and a 30x30 nursery area
5. Less than fifty palms some small some large
6. Another 1/4 acre of ornamentals
7. Vegetable garden 90x70

     My first concern would be to determine how much water is in the well and how fast it returns to its normal water level.

    After pumping a measured amount of water out of the well,you could determine the rate of inflow by timing how long it takes to reach normal water level.You may be better off with a pump with less flow which doesn't run your well dry.

   

Good point! The well will be over 175' deep and is not supplied by local surface supplies. It is under a hard layer and is part of a aquifer that you can't pump dry. My well is a four inch with a twenty foot screen. The well contractor basically said I could buy as much as I wanted. The 50 GPM is just the second step and I could go higher it just might need a bigger well or more powerful pump. This one will be a two horse.

You will want to talk to your well guy. You see with some well set ups you will need to use all the water the pump is delivering unless you put a relief valve in to dump excess back into the well this is not a good practice. A constant pressure valve prior the tank is the way to go. You will not need a large welltrol tank when using a constant pressure valve. You do not want to short cycle the well if you are using a welltrol tank. If you are set on Rotors you will need the tank to use the initial 60 psi to pop the heads so they stay sealed when fully extended.

I would consider using a lot of drip type irrigation since 50% and more of your water is lost to evaporation when using over head.

All heads are rated at gpm's at specific psi's.

With any well systems with out the constant pressure valve at the tank  you will need to designer every zone to use all the water the pump will deliver.

enough rambling

Bottom line designed each zone to use just enough water to get the job done.

Al

Z6

New Jersey

Thanks another great point!
 
Yes I will be using an 80 gallon tank maybe two. It will be set up to use 25 gallons before the pump kicks on and repressurizes. The pressure will not be a problem we have discussed it.
 
Drip is not an option with my sandy soil. It just goes straight down and through with little spread to the area wetted. I have to equally water the entire root zone.

Charles if you use a constant pressure valve (cycle stop valve) you will NOT need 2 tanks and you will NOT need an 80 gallon tank. The tank needs only to be big enough to fill the largest zone using the most water in gpm.

                                        Tanks usually die from too much cycling. It bends the bladder back and forth like bending a wire until it breaks. Cycling also destroys you pump motor and everything else prematurely. Doubling the size of tank will only cut the cycling in half. This means it will just take twice as long to burst the bladder and destroy your pump. It use to be that the larger the tank the better but, not anymore. There are now much better ways to eliminate cycling than trying to put on enough tanks. A Cycle Stop Valve and a small tank will do things that a room full of big tank cannot do. The CSV will provide constant pressure to the house, eliminate cycling, make everything last longer, and cost less.pm.

Al

Z6

NJ

PS I only have 25  Yrs in Irrigation

I to live in very sandy soil. 

Well I spent the last hour or so researching the cycle stop valve. It seems to be a good product. I'm calling one of the companys that make them tomorrow to try and get a few answers. Unfortunately I may have got this suggestion a bit to late as we start drilling Wednesday. We'll see.

You can have this valve installed at any time any one with a well and using it to irrigate would be wise to have this valve installed. As you may have read it will eliminate cycling of the well pump.

Al

Zone 6

New Jersey

All I have to say is make sure you check that your well guy puts enough torq collars on line (and pump if applicable). Friction is an issue and if you have a problem that could have been prevented by a few cheap plastic collars you will hate yourself while paying way too much to have repaired. Seriously! My last well - 35 gpm / 375 feet deep with an expensive commercial pump was good for 25 gpm - never never never use a pump that pumps at anywhere near your well's flow. If you run pump dry you will be sorry. I used drip irrigation on over 1200 trees in orchard and it was enough with tons to spare. 50 gpm is a lot of water. A lot. I can't imagine you'd need anywhere near half that for your project. I also suggest you look at more efficient ways to water that cut down on weeds and other issues.

OK I was wrong on the flow rate. I'm not sure if I wrote it wrong or misunderstood. Anyway the correct numbers are 30 GPM at 50 PSI.

I hope everyone that is telling me that I will have plenty of water is right. My City system has about 30PSI and flows around 25 GPM. It will only run six standard impact sprinklers and that will only do half of my garden. Of course those are through a linked hose supply but they are all 3/4" hoses. Really got me worried. I was really hoping for 50 GPM.

Now about the Cycle Stop Valve. I am very concerned with the back pressure that is constant on the seals and bearings. I understand that it reduces/stops hammering but if the pump is running full RPM all the time (when it's energized) and the back pressure is maxed all the time it just doesn't seem that is a good thing. Especially on the bottom bearing.

mgg,

I'll look into the Torque collars. Thanks for the information. As far as weeds I have very few. I mulch everything 5-6" deep with Oak tree leaves. The way the weather patterns have changed here watering is required if I want too maintain healthy plants. My desire for large gallonage is a time factor. I want all my watering done before sunrise and preferably no earlier than two hours prior to sunrise.

Anything that can be watered with drip will really help you out (obviously my opinion) as it cuts down on pests, weeds, mess, etc. I've used drip for a lot of things and it works great. It also makes watering schedules independent from sunrise and set. Plus it's dirt cheap and what I like the most is how efficient it is water use wise. When I went from impact sprinklers to drip it was a huge water savings as there was no waste. I love impact sprinklers for fun and for certain veggies but for trees, etc. there's just no comparison (again obviously my opinion). My system watered over two acres of trees and veggies and another 8 acres of lawn with water to spare. I also kept (3) 250 gallon stock tanks full for dog play and goat/llama bathing/drinking. I did not try this all with impacts so I can't swear you'll have enough. Can I ask why you are not using any drip?

Charles,

 check this site

http://www.cyclestopvalves.com/csvtechinfo.html

http://www.cyclestopvalves.com/csvtechinfo_30.html

Al

Zone 6

 New Jersey

 Rain Bird Sprinklers will design your system for you, for free, if you use their products.