Getting water to the dig after the rain stops

[Endless Trails]

One of the toughest part about stacking dirt in Southern California is the short rain season. I have been struggling to keep the trail build going as so much of my time is now shuttling water to the build and then trying to get the water to soak in.
My newest method is as follows, but still sucks.
I have a Jackery 300 and a sump pump with about 10' of hose. This works tons better than the previous method of submerging the containers in the creek to fill them. The other improvement was taking 2 trash bags and putting them in the backpack and filling the bags. Once full I just twist them off and stuff the tail between the backpack and the filled trash bag. Once the top of the backpack is cinched closed with the flap secured it holds the water in the bag for the ride back.

I also fill two 2.5 gal jugs which hang off the bar ends. Once I get all of that back to the build I dump it all into the rubbermaid totes.

Shown is three trips worth of water with each trip being 1.2 ish miles round trip.

The rectagle jugs are the 2.5 gallons. Next season I am going to try the tarp in a hole method to collect rain water and see if I can get a few 50 gal drums to fill and set aside.

 

[smokeysevin]

Depending on how high you want to go, you may be able to daisy chain the pumps into a surge tank setup with buckets. That way your pumps only see like 10ft of head at each step instead of trying to pump the full 50ft or whatever. You may also look into using a diaphragm pump or something with a higher head pressure. Check valves may be needed if you want the water to stay up when you kill the pump once you reach a certain height.

Sean

 

[Motiracer38]

I have a couple hundred feet of hose you can have. Was going to set up sprinklers on the moto track but pivoted towards a water buffalo type trailer since I have more access.

Back in high school a neighbor of our jump line offered us to hook up a hose so we grabbed a few from around town and buried them to a convenient point. That was a hell of a summer, even had a tarp hot tub for a bit.

 

[Endless Trails]

The run to the current dig site would be 0.6 miles with 125' of rise following the trail. That could shorten some with a more direct / cross country route especially if I was going to just go to the bottom. But not by a bunch. The run take 32 rolls of tubing plus extra pumps plus ways to power the pumps which is out of the budget for a in the hills / not on my property setup.

For the back yard jump line I ran 200' of garden hose from the closest bib. That just barely reached the top of the back berm. It was sure nice having unlimited water and being able to prep the surface before riding. I will probably resurrect that line before the end of summer after some house projects get finished.

 

[Endless Trails]

For reference, I went though all I had pictured above plus two more water runs yesterday for these two plus one other landing fix. Probably 60ish gal.

 

[the bodj]

Are you using a watering can with sprinkle spout to wet the dirt? I've found that introducing the water at a slower rate helps keep it from just rolling downhill and helps it actually soak into the dirt

 

[Endless Trails]

Are you using a watering can with sprinkle spout to wet the dirt? I've found that introducing the water at a slower rate helps keep it from just rolling downhill and helps it actually soak into the dirt

I have a watering can with a shower spout and a 4 gal back pack sprayer for the stubborn dirt. But the sprayer is a real slow process. Some of the dirt is so stubborn nothing works. It does the full Ovaltine thing where water just sheds off and the dirt stays dry or it will orange peel in sections. Those parts are a pain to deal with.

 

[the bodj]

I have a watering can with a shower spout and a 4 gal back pack sprayer for the stubborn dirt. But the sprayer is a real slow process. Some of the dirt is so stubborn nothing works. It does the full Ovaltine thing where water just sheds off and the dirt stays dry or it will orange peel in sections. Those parts are a pain to deal with.

Just did a google search and this stuff came up
https://www.amazon.com/Grow-More-80...5339017&sprefix=soil+wett,aps,405&sr=8-6&th=1

 

[Endless Trails]

@the bodj I had used something like that on the backyard line and was highly disappointed with the results for how much it costs.

Edit: A few searches state laundry detergent might help.

 

[smokeysevin]

Is there a reason you can't use cheaper hose in a smaller diameter? If time is not an issue just run something smaller but higher pressure rated to get you the full distance in ine shot?

Alternatively you could just run one lenght of line to a midpoint and fill up a reservoir, then pack your power supply and hose up to get you the rest of the way up the hill. Even if it takes a couple of intermediate steps it sure as hell beats lugging this up by hand.

Sean

 

[FENDERFAB]

Not sure how this would work but i do landscape/irrigaiton for a living.

I feel like you could easily use drip tubing without any emitters. Just a simple polyethelyne tubing. Its pretty cheap you can get a 500' roll for 75$ it goes up to 1000 foot roll.

https://www.dripdepot.com/polyethyl...ide-diameter-by-0-700-inch-od-length-500-feet


You can connect this to your water pump in the river. This wouldnt have enough pressure or flow to be able to use it as a water hose but you could get the water from your creek up into your 55 gallon drums and then use water cans or sprayers.

Might need a bigger pump to compensate for the rise but i bet you could get something like this to work without lugging hundreds of feet of garden hose.

 

[Endless Trails]

Not sure how this would work but i do landscape/irrigaiton for a living.

I feel like you could easily use drip tubing without any emitters. Just a simple polyethelyne tubing. Its pretty cheap you can get a 500' roll for 75$ it goes up to 1000 foot roll.

https://www.dripdepot.com/polyethyl...ide-diameter-by-0-700-inch-od-length-500-feet


You can connect this to your water pump in the river. This wouldnt have enough pressure or flow to be able to use it as a water hose but you could get the water from your creek up into your 55 gallon drums and then use water cans or sprayers.

Might need a bigger pump to compensate for the rise but i bet you could get something like this to work without lugging hundreds of feet of garden hose.

That is much better pricing than what I was seeing.

 

[FENDERFAB]

That is much better pricing than what I was seeing.

make sure you get the poly drip tubing WITHOUT emitters. its solid tubing. There is a ton of options for adapters for different couplings and thread options to connect to your pump/outlet. This tubing is rated for 60 psi but i would suggest lower. Its not going to get water there super fast flow wise but it will get the job done.