Thanks for posting this video. I modeled a watering system from your design and it works wonderfully. I changed mine to work as a gravity supply in the warmer months and I use the pump with the heater for the colder months. My cooler had the drain hole so I used it and just connected the two supply lines with a t-fitting and some shutoff vale. Thanks again
Bass Equipment has a watering nipple similar to what you're using that's spring loaded so there's no problem with dripping. I use them for my auto water system for rabbits and they work fine.
RustonRanch, in my opinion it has to do with water pressure. My first attempt at this project had the water free flowing back into the water container, with no restrictions at all. The nipples would never seem to shut off very well. In subsequent designs, I made sure there was a P-trap at the end of the water cycle to help add some water pressure to the piping. That helped improve the system dramatically. I hope that helps some with your situation!
allfaze, We have not had any issues with the water going stagnate or slime, as the water is continuously flowing through the system with the pump. We are using city water, so there could be trace amounts of elements in the water that may be preventing slime build up. We are regularly adding water to the system, as the chickens are drinking it. We have cleaned out the system once, simply draining the cooler and removing any sediment, as it really doesn't get very dirty.
Dallas Moon, Yes that would be possible without utilizing the heater element. My concern by having it gravity fed without having the water flowing through the system is that it would freeze at the extremities. There are other RUclips videos that show gravity fed waterers that aren't designed to prevent freezing, or are much smaller in scale.
Yes, the pump runs 24/7 and is under a slight positive pressure based upon the vertical water supply tube. It is a small hydroponic water pump, similar to a fish tank type pump so it doesn't draw much electricity. We find that on very cold outdoor ambient temperatures that we loose about one degree as the water pumps through the system and returns to the main reservoir. This pump has been working at least a year, and we have a replacement pump ready in case it were to fail.
Great Idea! I was wondering, would it be possible to eliminate the water pump? I was thinking using a cooler with a drain, setting it up higher than the water pipes, and running the hose downward? I'm just wondering if this is possible or no? Thanks for your time and thanks for sharing!
I don't know how you water your rabbits, but with a system like this one, put water in any plastic bottles, juice bottles, lemon bottles,soda bottles, the 20 0z, the 1 liter and the 2 liter, fill them 3/4 of the way with water and put them in the freezer. Thenput one or more frozen bottles in the water reservoir in the morning, depending on how hot the day is going to be. At the end of the day, I remove the bottle and refreeze it for the next day.
I am thinking about installing something like this in my coop, but I am concerned about the small amount of dripping from the nipples. I see that you have a gutter below, but I was wondering if you run the gutter outside of the coop or empty it occasionally....and don't the chickens try to drink the water from the gutter? Thanks
Jeremy Carey, We had more dripping on an earlier design with a smaller diameter supply line, which is when we added the gutter. I don't believe there was enough water pressure to adequately shut the water nipples off. We still have a little dripping now. We do not run the guttering anywhere, it is simply capped at both ends. Some of the chickens prefer to peck inside the guttering, but there isn't really enough water for them to drink. We take it outside and clean it about once a year.
@kxracer1958 The submersible pump you see in the video is the Extreme Water 75GPH pump purchased on eBay from dizzyhydroponicss. I didn't really know what to expect, and this pump only has about a 2 foot lift. Adequate. I just purchased a 220GPH pump last night with a higher lift, which I believe will place less stress on the pump. I will use the new pump as the primary pump - and keep the 75 GPH as our back-up.
Thanks for posting this video. I modeled a watering system from your design and it works wonderfully. I changed mine to work as a gravity supply in the warmer months and I use the pump with the heater for the colder months. My cooler had the drain hole so I used it and just connected the two supply lines with a t-fitting and some shutoff vale. Thanks again
We're building the coop this weekend and will use your plan. - Love it! Thanks for taking the time to post it for us : )
Bass Equipment has a watering nipple similar to what you're using that's spring loaded so there's no problem with dripping. I use them for my auto water system for rabbits and they work fine.
RustonRanch, in my opinion it has to do with water pressure. My first attempt at this project had the water free flowing back into the water container, with no restrictions at all. The nipples would never seem to shut off very well. In subsequent designs, I made sure there was a P-trap at the end of the water cycle to help add some water pressure to the piping. That helped improve the system dramatically. I hope that helps some with your situation!
allfaze, We have not had any issues with the water going stagnate or slime, as the water is continuously flowing through the system with the pump. We are using city water, so there could be trace amounts of elements in the water that may be preventing slime build up. We are regularly adding water to the system, as the chickens are drinking it. We have cleaned out the system once, simply draining the cooler and removing any sediment, as it really doesn't get very dirty.
Great video very innovating
Great idea Thelegend42381, thank you for sharing the idea!
Dallas Moon, Yes that would be possible without utilizing the heater element. My concern by having it gravity fed without having the water flowing through the system is that it would freeze at the extremities. There are other RUclips videos that show gravity fed waterers that aren't designed to prevent freezing, or are much smaller in scale.
@RustonRanch Great news! I hope it goes well for you - ours is still working great.
Thats really clever.
Yes, the pump runs 24/7 and is under a slight positive pressure based upon the vertical water supply tube. It is a small hydroponic water pump, similar to a fish tank type pump so it doesn't draw much electricity. We find that on very cold outdoor ambient temperatures that we loose about one degree as the water pumps through the system and returns to the main reservoir. This pump has been working at least a year, and we have a replacement pump ready in case it were to fail.
Great Idea! I was wondering, would it be possible to eliminate the water pump? I was thinking using a cooler with a drain, setting it up higher than the water pipes, and running the hose downward? I'm just wondering if this is possible or no? Thanks for your time and thanks for sharing!
I don't know how you water your rabbits, but with a system like this one, put water in any plastic bottles, juice bottles, lemon bottles,soda bottles, the 20 0z, the 1 liter and the 2 liter, fill them 3/4 of the way with water and put them in the freezer. Thenput one or more frozen bottles in the water reservoir in the morning, depending on how hot the day is going to be. At the end of the day, I remove the bottle and refreeze it for the next day.
I am thinking about installing something like this in my coop, but I am concerned about the small amount of dripping from the nipples. I see that you have a gutter below, but I was wondering if you run the gutter outside of the coop or empty it occasionally....and don't the chickens try to drink the water from the gutter? Thanks
Does the pump run 24/7?
Jeremy Carey, We had more dripping on an earlier design with a smaller diameter supply line, which is when we added the gutter. I don't believe there was enough water pressure to adequately shut the water nipples off. We still have a little dripping now. We do not run the guttering anywhere, it is simply capped at both ends. Some of the chickens prefer to peck inside the guttering, but there isn't really enough water for them to drink. We take it outside and clean it about once a year.
we have the opposite problem down here. it is too hot and we need to cool the water for our rabbits. any ideas?
could you just use siphon action to drive the water instead of the pump ?
@kxracer1958 The submersible pump you see in the video is the Extreme Water 75GPH pump purchased on eBay from dizzyhydroponicss. I didn't really know what to expect, and this pump only has about a 2 foot lift. Adequate. I just purchased a 220GPH pump last night with a higher lift, which I believe will place less stress on the pump. I will use the new pump as the primary pump - and keep the 75 GPH as our back-up.
While I am using a modified siphon action, because we are only using one water supply, we cannot use a true siphon.
What about water going stagnate or slime
I sent you a personal reply on some suggested ideas to try.