In the vegetable garden of a villa on the heights of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, there is a very original irrigation system. Centerpiece ‘a garden, the” old-fashioned “watering system, made up of hammers, allows part of the garden to be irrigated through a canelet of water located upstream of the planted areas. The hydraulic system includes a supply basin, a wash house with its buffer tank and a network of canals. The whole is managed by gravity. The basin supplies the buffer tank of the wash house. The water level of the washhouse and its buffer tank is set to the same altimetry by a float valve. The channel buffer tank is buried. It is supplied by a pipeline pressurized by the wash house. A float valve closes the power supply. The level of closure takes into account the necessary water retention in the canals. When the hammers open, the level of the buried buffer tank is lowered, the level of the washhouse decreases in proportion to the strain on the canal. The reaction automatically leads to the opening of the float valve of the buffer tank of the wash house. The cascading water movement ensures the periodic renewal of the washhouse water.
To find out more about the Nourishing Garden, see the Nourishing Garden project sheet.
