frenchie
Well-known member
By Barbara Duckworth
Calgary bureau
CAROLINE, Alta. - Delivering water to cattle takes advance planning but at the end of the day, installing troughs and pipelines is cheaper than digging a new dugout.
The first step is deciding how much water is needed, how much is available and how fast it should flow, said Alberta water specialist Ken Williamson.
The next job is to plan for peak demand. Producers should figure on 15 gallons per day per cow-calf pair and 10 gallons per day per yearling.
"When it averages out it is less than you are going to need but you are going to need to supply those cattle whether it is a day that is 35 degrees (C) or a 10 degree day," he said at a producer meeting in Caroline.
It is also important to learn how much water is available, which producers can determine by checking the water well driller's report.
A pump test shows gallons per minute, draw down and recovery measurements and a recommended pumping rate.
A demand flow system running over four hours per day provides six gallons per minute, which should adequately water 100 cow-calf pairs.
A trickle water system that runs over 24 hours and provides one gallon per minute could water 100 pairs with a big tank at the end of the pipeline.
It is also important to calculate the size of pipe that will be required to move a given amount of water over a certain distance and elevation.
If the water must travel three kilometres through a one-inch line with 45 pounds per sq. inch of pressure, the system should yield 2.8 gallons per minute if there is no lift to worry about. If it travels the same distance and pressure through a 1.25 inch pipe, it should deliver 4.4 gallons per minutes. A two-inch pipe with 45 psi would deliver 17.5 gallons.
"Every time you increase the size of pipeline by one size, basically you double the flow that you can put down that pipe," Williamson said.
Producers should also calculate vertical lift to adequately move water uphill. One psi of pressure lifts water 2.3 feet. With 50 feet of lift between the pump and the trough, 21.6 psi of pressure is needed to physically lift the water.
"You need to keep your pressure switch setting high enough so it can actually push the water through the pipe," Williamson said.
John Gattey relies on the government's water engineering calculations when laying pipelines on his Consort area ranch in east-central Alberta.
"I know how many feet of pressure it takes but I don't know line velocity or friction loss," he said.
Gattey has a pipeline plowing business at his ranch and has laid 16 km of water lines across his own pastures.
He said experience and common sense have helped him move water from wells, dugouts and freshwater springs for as many as 300 pairs.
He recommended burying pipes rather than leaving them on the surface.
"There is no advantage to going deep if it is across native pasture that you are never going to break up," he said.
"If you are going across tame pasture you might break up again, you need to get it down probably 20 inches," he said.
He prefers laying pipes along trails across pastures to avoid obstacles such as brush and trees. It also makes it easier to find leaks.
"I would stick to trails with your pipeline even if it means putting in an extra 20 percent more line."
He sets up portable troughs along the line fed with 11/2 inch or two inch diameter pipes to deliver about eight to 10 gallons per minute. This is enough to keep troughs full even when water has travelled through eight km of line.
He does not use big troughs because they don't provide enough access for young, smaller calves to reach in for a drink.
He is not sure if his herd health is better with fresh, clean water but there appears to be less foot rot because cattle stay out of the wet mud. There is also less contamination of water sources and no collapsing dugout banks.
"If you have 300 head watering out of a dugout, then you have a cesspool in fairly short order and the banks don't stand up to that kind of pressure," he said.
"I wouldn't spend a lot of money for a solar system or a pipeline if I had 20 cows on a quarter and a decent dugout on it."
He can start pumping by mid-May and keep the lines running until mid-October, depending on the time of freeze up. In the fall he uses an industrial strength air compressor to blow out the lines and prevent frost damage to pipes and fittings.
Calgary bureau
CAROLINE, Alta. - Delivering water to cattle takes advance planning but at the end of the day, installing troughs and pipelines is cheaper than digging a new dugout.
The first step is deciding how much water is needed, how much is available and how fast it should flow, said Alberta water specialist Ken Williamson.
The next job is to plan for peak demand. Producers should figure on 15 gallons per day per cow-calf pair and 10 gallons per day per yearling.
"When it averages out it is less than you are going to need but you are going to need to supply those cattle whether it is a day that is 35 degrees (C) or a 10 degree day," he said at a producer meeting in Caroline.
It is also important to learn how much water is available, which producers can determine by checking the water well driller's report.
A pump test shows gallons per minute, draw down and recovery measurements and a recommended pumping rate.
A demand flow system running over four hours per day provides six gallons per minute, which should adequately water 100 cow-calf pairs.
A trickle water system that runs over 24 hours and provides one gallon per minute could water 100 pairs with a big tank at the end of the pipeline.
It is also important to calculate the size of pipe that will be required to move a given amount of water over a certain distance and elevation.
If the water must travel three kilometres through a one-inch line with 45 pounds per sq. inch of pressure, the system should yield 2.8 gallons per minute if there is no lift to worry about. If it travels the same distance and pressure through a 1.25 inch pipe, it should deliver 4.4 gallons per minutes. A two-inch pipe with 45 psi would deliver 17.5 gallons.
"Every time you increase the size of pipeline by one size, basically you double the flow that you can put down that pipe," Williamson said.
Producers should also calculate vertical lift to adequately move water uphill. One psi of pressure lifts water 2.3 feet. With 50 feet of lift between the pump and the trough, 21.6 psi of pressure is needed to physically lift the water.
"You need to keep your pressure switch setting high enough so it can actually push the water through the pipe," Williamson said.
John Gattey relies on the government's water engineering calculations when laying pipelines on his Consort area ranch in east-central Alberta.
"I know how many feet of pressure it takes but I don't know line velocity or friction loss," he said.
Gattey has a pipeline plowing business at his ranch and has laid 16 km of water lines across his own pastures.
He said experience and common sense have helped him move water from wells, dugouts and freshwater springs for as many as 300 pairs.
He recommended burying pipes rather than leaving them on the surface.
"There is no advantage to going deep if it is across native pasture that you are never going to break up," he said.
"If you are going across tame pasture you might break up again, you need to get it down probably 20 inches," he said.
He prefers laying pipes along trails across pastures to avoid obstacles such as brush and trees. It also makes it easier to find leaks.
"I would stick to trails with your pipeline even if it means putting in an extra 20 percent more line."
He sets up portable troughs along the line fed with 11/2 inch or two inch diameter pipes to deliver about eight to 10 gallons per minute. This is enough to keep troughs full even when water has travelled through eight km of line.
He does not use big troughs because they don't provide enough access for young, smaller calves to reach in for a drink.
He is not sure if his herd health is better with fresh, clean water but there appears to be less foot rot because cattle stay out of the wet mud. There is also less contamination of water sources and no collapsing dugout banks.
"If you have 300 head watering out of a dugout, then you have a cesspool in fairly short order and the banks don't stand up to that kind of pressure," he said.
"I wouldn't spend a lot of money for a solar system or a pipeline if I had 20 cows on a quarter and a decent dugout on it."
He can start pumping by mid-May and keep the lines running until mid-October, depending on the time of freeze up. In the fall he uses an industrial strength air compressor to blow out the lines and prevent frost damage to pipes and fittings.
