A Huggins

Trace Oswald,  S Bengi, Yes, I agree with your comments.    

Many adaptations on the basic idea are possible.  It could be harvesting snow melt, or a series of these set ups. Or using fuelless pumps where possible from dams and then using  solar pumps or other renewable methods to pump water.  Done at larger scale there are exciting possibilities for rapid regeneration of land, increased profits and changing local climates by improving the small water cycle.  

Slovak hydrologist Dr Michal Kravcik advocate of the 'new water paradigm,' shared the idea saying 'LOW TECH, LOW ONGOING COST, DECENTRALISED AND DEPENDABLE REGENERATIVE SOLUTION FOR RECOVERY OF THE CLIMATE' . Hopefully the next step is multiple trials in different locations and site contexts with experts.  Then results can be shared for the benefit of everyone. There are many technical aspects that need to be better understood.    

This idea has been fermenting for a while, with the help of talented friends we finally made an animation that clearly shows the basic concept.    A simple approach to water with exciting potential.  

What do you think of this idea? I am open to any feedback.  

https://youtu.be/SbSmjzj9K94

Thanks Takota for the advice. We will get there in the end. Wherever 'there' is. Just keep swimming, swimming.

I have really enjoyed the recordings on the Verge student dash board about the book after purchasing the book bundle. I have listened to them multiple times. Plenty of wise insights that are important to have a comprehensive wholistic design that aims to improve the designers well being.

At home I don't have time to scratch myself. I have four kids under ten. The eldest on the autism spectrum and the youngest still in nappies. Any advice on working my way into the planning tools sequentially?

Life is very hectic but I want use these valuable tools to make my actions more intentional and beneficial to achieve my well being goals. How would you approach your book if you were in the same situation? Thanks.

Hi S.Lowe, Roberto and C.K,

Thanks for the feedback.

Keyline ripping would be difficult due to trees and tree stumps in the catchments. Im more inclined to use planned grazing to improve vegetation and trees on the swale mounds.

The point was made that infiltration will improve to the extent that bunyip pumps would become unnecessary.  Good point. I think I would go down to one pump from 3 pumps and start pumping months earlier resulting in the slower release of water. I would still like to have one pump pump working as I like the gravity irrigation water for later in the year. The 2 other pumps can then be used elsewhere on the larger site.

The initial reason for using 3 bunyip pumps was that the exhaust water released per hr was a little less than the swale could infiltrate per hr.  This means the site would be able to soak almost 100% of the rainfall in 2 or 3 years instead of without them which would be a much slower land improvement. That might take a decade and require a lot more time and capital to get the same result.

Good point about getting biomass back up the hill.  I think I would do this by having the cattle graze at the bottom of the hill and have their water points as high as possible so that their manure and nutrient comes back down.  Currently the site is pretty lifeless and unproductive so I am not worried about excessive nutrient.

I like your points about using pond fertility for garden. Water plants grow so fast and sediment also build-up fast! Currently there is room for improvement with the dam wall vegetation and the mid slope dam capacity could be expanded.

The main advantage I see with the bunyip pump swale set up is that it suits sites with poor agricultural soil (cheaper land). (Although too much rock or solid rock wouldn't work) In Australia these properties are called 'lifestyle' blocks.  For those who understand that topsoil can be created with the right management I think there is an opportunity to create a productive paradise in a few years for cheaper than good soil would be to buy.

Hopefully I will make some progress on this project and post some pics.
Thanks for the feedback,

Cheers,

Amanda      
 

Hi Roberto,

Thanks for the feedback.

The average slope of the catchment is 6%.  The run off co-efficient is 0.82 .


Water infiltration is 2mm per hr into a tight clay soil.

Here is a link to the proof of concept design on the property I live on. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MLq-wKSk-C58TYtlUatB_CewMT88FicPjAuj0i-zUFU/edit#slide=id.g40f2d82ba2_0_0


Good clay on the site.  There are several dams on the site. We have 10 cattle and a small hugel mound food forest in Far North Queensland Australia (20mx5m).


I'm not particularly interested in a detailed analysis of the whole design in the google slides. Just more in the bunyip pumps/swales over the wet season, feature.  With dams overflowing throughout the wet season, I figure why not look at the rainfall data averages and figure out how much water I could release to a lower swale, to soak in over time while also going through bunyip pumps and pumping to higher elevation for later gravity irrigation. On this site of 30.2 acres catchment I believe it would double the infiltration rate and pump 10.8 ML water to a 35 m elevation dam. With improved vegetation, planned grazing and trees on swales I think the infiltration rate could be easily improved from 2 mm per hr.  Instead of infiltration only occurring with rain events water it would be constantly released for 3 months into the lower swale. Then the mid slope dam has the reserve capacity to fill again with the next big rain. We have cyclones most years that dump a lot of water.
I would expect in 2 or 3 years almost 100% of the wet season could be soaked in and some of the 3 pumps could be used on other parts of the larger property with the same set up. Data and calculations are included in the pdf file.

Thanks for your feedback Roberto,

Cheers,

Amanda
   

Hi Permies,

Looking for some feedback on an idea for a clay slope with around 80% runoff. This idea is for a clay slope with a dam around mid slope. A swale is attached to the mid slope dam and there is also another swale 4 metres lower in elevation from the dam.

Context - There is a short and intense wet season and a long dry season with about 7 months having almost no rain.  Every drop of rain is valuable in the dry season!
Rain overflows the mid slope dam multiple times over the wet season.  

Idea - Over the first 4 months of the wet season water is released from the mid slope dam down to 3 bunyip pumps which pump water to a higher water storage.  Bunyip pumps pump at 60% efficiency. The water released from the mid slope dam down to the bunyip pump leaves capacity for the next rain to fill the dam reducing overflow on the swales and giving time for water to be slowly released into the lower swale and have time to soak in.  The last month of the wet season pumping stops to ensure the mid slope dam is full to capacity.    

Please let me know if there are any problems with the concept or calculations.  I hope it is sound as it could transform this site or other similar sites very quickly. Note there are some variations in the specifications provided by the Bunyip pumps company. I have taken the average of their official specs and some correspondence they sent me. Please check out the links and attachments for details and calculations.

If correct this idea doubles water infiltration and pumps 10 + ML to 35 metres in the first year. It would be possible soak in all wet season rain within a few years with improved infiltration rates.  The current infiltration rate is only 2mm per hr.  

Diagram of the idea

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1YURWHcWVwxp_sotW6r-4dJ1phIAbUMXoFb8b_UaBUa8/edit

Refer to attachments for Bunyip pump specs.  

The dams are intended to be integrated with swale food forest and planned grazing like some of the features in this animation.  



Thanks for feedback!

Cheers,

Amanda