Haven't actually built the house yet but having a well dug and now seems to be the time to plan ahead a bit to make sure the garden will get enough water. Global has a lot of pipes, fittings and pumps but the staff aren't up to advising me in English and I don't want to end up with expensive mistakes that need fixing later.

Has anyone dealt with a company who really know their stuff on this kind of thing?

Do your own research, there is lots of information online to help you do your own design.

A lot will depend on your volume of output/storage from the well, and the power of pump you use to supply the water pressure.

I have a 1hp pump that will do about 3/4 popups in a region which is fine for grass. I have (had) about 20 popups so needed 5 regions.

I have manual taps for each region, but automatically time ones with a timer box add 10-20k. A 2hp pum I guess would do 6-8 popups.

I wave switched from popups to a mixture of popups and small sprinklers that are as cheap as chips - 7baht each

and are much better for watering individual plants, and I can run up to 50 of these on a region and think they are actually

a lot more efficient.

The company I used escapes me just now, but I'll have a search later, they were very cheap! A Canadian guy called Ed IIRC!

Feel free to coma and have a look if you're in the area

david

A lot will depend on your volume of output/storage from the well, and the power of pump you use to supply the water pressure.

I have a 1hp pump that will do about 3/4 popups in a region which is fine for grass. I have (had) about 20 popups so needed 5 regions.

I have manual taps for each region, but automatically time ones with a timer box add 10-20k. A 2hp pum I guess would do 6-8 popups.

I wave switched from popups to a mixture of popups and small sprinklers that are as cheap as chips - 7baht each

and are much better for watering individual plants, and I can run up to 50 of these on a region and think they are actually

a lot more efficient.

The company I used escapes me just now, but I'll have a search later, they were very cheap! A Canadian guy called Ed IIRC!

Feel free to coma and have a look if you're in the area

david

The company that I originally recommended to David for his lawn installation is Horticraft Co Ltd. Ed's number is 081 8831540, although last time I talked with Ed they were going into another aspect of the horticulture business; but check with him. Also, Khun Pin is a landscape architect with an office at Kamtieng, Thamankala or something like that. I've misplaced her card and number; I'll try and find it and PM you later. The landscape architects who graduate from the Mae Jo University LA program seem to have a good basic knowledge of irrigation system design from what I've seen. At Kamtieng plant market behind Lotus/Tesco SuperHwy there is an irrigation supply shop that I believe does system designs and installation. If you go out the back entrance of Lotus parking lot, go straight and take the 2nd right turn; it's just there at the corner, first shop on the right. I have no direct experience with them except to buy parts. don

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Thanks David & Don for your helpful advice.

Garyh: I could do my own research, grapple with flow rates, pump capacity, rainwater collection, grey water recycling systems and all the rest but at the end of the day you have to know which of the products are available around here and of them which is the most reliable. Frankly, the cost of having someone suggest a system and then sell me the bits probably doesn't come to much more than buying them from Global House and making the odd mistake or two on the way. Thanks for the thought though.

Thanks David & Don for your helpful advice.

Garyh: I could do my own research, grapple with flow rates, pump capacity, rainwater collection, grey water recycling systems and all the rest but at the end of the day you have to know which of the products are available around here and of them which is the most reliable. Frankly, the cost of having someone suggest a system and then sell me the bits probably doesn't come to much more than buying them from Global House and making the odd mistake or two on the way. Thanks for the thought though.

Hi, I'm in the same boat... I've dug the new garden, made the beds... ready for compost and mulch... and my seedlings are maturing ready for planting.

But I too have become lost in Global House in the irrigation section! I'm hoping that by the time my plants are ready for the beds, I will have settled on a system. At the moment the few I have are irrigated with a simple 'furrow and trough' system... very simple hump, with a neat channel running along the bed, that I flood every other day or as needed... It works wonders, the channel fills up all along the length of the bed, and the water is sucked up by capilliary action into the raised hump, UNDERNEATH the top layer - so it stays moist inside!! Ancient technology, but still awesome!

I plan to use this flood and drain system plus a mini sprinkle system from Global House. ( the bits are only a few baht each.. its just the hose thats the expensive bit). As for how many I can stick on the line and maintain pressure... I may have to find out by trial and error.

May I suggest if you are really serious, and dont have access to a Thai farmer for information... that you ask over on the farming forum. They know everything over there.

good luck

I ended up taking the recommendation of my house builder, an hired his friend to install the grass sod (worked fine) and install the sprinkler system. We went to Global and bought the flexible tubing and pop ups for the job. He could never properly seal the connection between the tubing and the pop ups, and after 3-4 tries, I asked him to leave and pulled the tubing (gave it to a thai Friend) and re-dug the trenches to 8-10 inches deep and used the man that did the plumbing for my house and had him install PVC pipe. I had my sister send me 20 rainbird pop ups and a timer from the U.S. (there are rainbird products at Home Pro). I have since move to the U.S. (kept the house) and the 4 zone, 16 pop ups seems to work well, covering 80 % of my 1 rai lanscape (oesn't cover the garen areas, which are watered by hand). I i have to buy another water pump, as the cheap pump that the original installer bought gave out. on't o what I did and trust someone's recommendation without oing your homework. Now, I just have to figure out how to ajust 4-5 of the pop ups not to do a 360% turn an waste water by hitting my permimeter wall or my patio.

I ended up taking the recommendation of my house builder, an hired his friend to install the grass sod (worked fine) and install the sprinkler system. We went to Global and bought the flexible tubing and pop ups for the job. He could never properly seal the connection between the tubing and the pop ups, and after 3-4 tries, I asked him to leave and pulled the tubing (gave it to a thai Friend) and re-dug the trenches to 8-10 inches deep and used the man that did the plumbing for my house and had him install PVC pipe. I had my sister send me 20 rainbird pop ups and a timer from the U.S. (there are rainbird products at Home Pro). I have since move to the U.S. (kept the house) and the 4 zone, 16 pop ups seems to work well, covering 80 % of my 1 rai lanscape (oesn't cover the garen areas, which are watered by hand). I i have to buy another water pump, as the cheap pump that the original installer bought gave out. on't o what I did and trust someone's recommendation without oing your homework. Now, I just have to figure out how to ajust 4-5 of the pop ups not to do a 360% turn an waste water by hitting my permimeter wall or my patio.

How much was your "cheap" pump (if you can remember)? Someone suggested to me that we could get away with one costing around 2000 baht but the Global House guy was pointing me in the direction of the 6000 ish variety. I assume also that the water needs filtering to avoid blocking the sprinklers or whatever kind of delivery gadget goes at the other end.

It was in the 3,500-4,000 baht range, bought from a hardware store between the train station and where my house is in Bosang. My wife went there with the first person that botched the irrigation job. Since I'm not living there for a couple of years, I needed reliability and, from what I've read, Hitatchi and Grundfos are the most reliabile, with Grundfos being by far the most expensive. I use city water and have not noticed any blockage in the pop up sprinkler heads.

I ended up taking the recommendation of my house builder, an hired his friend to install the grass sod (worked fine) and install the sprinkler system. We went to Global and bought the flexible tubing and pop ups for the job. He could never properly seal the connection between the tubing and the pop ups, and after 3-4 tries, I asked him to leave and pulled the tubing (gave it to a thai Friend) and re-dug the trenches to 8-10 inches deep and used the man that did the plumbing for my house and had him install PVC pipe. I had my sister send me 20 rainbird pop ups and a timer from the U.S. (there are rainbird products at Home Pro). I have since move to the U.S. (kept the house) and the 4 zone, 16 pop ups seems to work well, covering 80 % of my 1 rai lanscape (oesn't cover the garen areas, which are watered by hand). I i have to buy another water pump, as the cheap pump that the original installer bought gave out. on't o what I did and trust someone's recommendation without oing your homework. Now, I just have to figure out how to ajust 4-5 of the pop ups not to do a 360% turn an waste water by hitting my permimeter wall or my patio.

How much was your "cheap" pump (if you can remember)? Someone suggested to me that we could get away with one costing around 2000 baht but the Global House guy was pointing me in the direction of the 6000 ish variety. I assume also that the water needs filtering to avoid blocking the sprinklers or whatever kind of delivery gadget goes at the other end.

You will need a filter unless you want an orange garden due to the high iron content in the water!

Also you need a pump that will provide the pressure you need, no point getting a cheap one if it only

supplies enough pressure for one popup?

Think the orange garden concept is a bit radical for me and I'm beginning to think that pop-ups may not be right either - anything with buried moving parts sounds potentially like a maintenance problem. We're going to look at the suppliers mentioned above this afternoon.

I'll call you when I'm out your way.

I'm replacing (as each fails) popups with an almost flush mounted sprinkler head, much much cheaper, and easier to fix/replace

when needs be.