Greenhouse Water Storage Calculator.
Size the reservoir, buffer tank and refill flow for a commercial greenhouse or irrigation project from peak demand, drain recovery and the reserve days your water source realistically requires.
Greenhouse Water Storage Calculator
Size the reservoir, buffer tank and refill flow for a commercial greenhouse or irrigation project from peak demand, drain recovery and the reserve days your water source realistically requires.
Estimate only — not a quotation. Outputs are indicative planning ranges based on the values you enter and typical commercial benchmarks. Real pricing, specifications and lead times vary by country, site conditions and supplier, and are confirmed only in written offers collected through a private RFQ.
Project inputs
Closed hydroponic loops typically recover 30–60%.
2–3 reliable mains; 5–7 typical; 10–30 rainwater or allocation-limited.
Effective captured depth over the roof; 0 if not harvesting.
Planning values only. Final basin, lining, pump station and treatment design require hydraulic engineering and local permitting input.
Turn this estimate into a qualified project
SeedMatchGroup is a supplier-neutral, human-led platform. We do not manufacture or resell equipment — we help buyers specify the project, review relevant suppliers privately and compare the written offers received. Supplier participation and timing are not guaranteed.
Method and assumptions
Working storage is peak daily demand multiplied by the reserve days your supply realistically requires, after subtracting recovered drain water. Total volume adds roughly 8% for dead volume and freeboard, because the bottom of a basin or tank cannot be drawn down without pulling sediment into the filtration train.
Refill flow is the net peak demand divided by the hours per day the source can actually deliver. A borehole licensed for 12 hours a day needs roughly double the instantaneous flow of a 24-hour mains connection for the same project — which changes pump, pipe and power specification, not just the reservoir.
Limitations: this tool does not model evaporation, seepage, rainfall variability, fire-water reserve or process water for the packhouse. Use it to frame the RFQ, then confirm with hydraulic engineering.
Worked example
A 5 ha greenhouse at 6 L/m²/day peak draws 300 m³/day. With 30% drain recovery the net draw is 210 m³/day; at 5 reserve days that is 1,050 m³ working volume, or about 1,134 m³ total. A 12-hour refill window means the source and pump station must deliver about 17.5 m³/h.
Frequently asked questions
Most commercial projects hold 3–7 days of peak demand. Reliable mains or borehole supply can work at 2–3 days; rainwater-fed or allocation-limited sites often need 10–30 days, and in some Mediterranean and arid projects a full seasonal basin.
Storage = peak daily demand × reserve days, plus a dead volume that is never drawn down (typically 5–10%). Peak daily demand = greenhouse area × peak irrigation depth in L/m²/day, less any recovered drain water.
No — it usually increases it. Capture reduces purchased water but requires enough volume to bridge dry periods, so rainwater-fed projects size the basin on the dry-spell length, not on average rainfall.
Basin or tank type and lining, refill pump and mains connection, filtration, disinfection, mixing and level control. Undersized storage shows up later as emergency water purchases and pump cycling, not as a cheaper project.
No. SeedMatchGroup is supplier-neutral. The calculator helps you specify the project; after review, a sourcing specialist may privately approach relevant manufacturers and integrators, and the buyer selects.
Send these numbers to the RFQ Builder
The numbers below were calculated with SeedMatchGroup's Greenhouse Water Storage Calculator. Indicative — the specialist will confirm scope before contacting suppliers.
10 inputs · assumptions · results
RFQ scope generated from your inputs
These lines change with your reserve days, drain recovery, refill window and rainwater capture, and are prefilled into the RFQ Builder together with the numbers above.
- Storage basin or tank sized to the volume below, with level measurement and overflow
- Refill pump set and source connection sized to the required refill flow
- Primary filtration ahead of the irrigation manifold
- Drain collection, disinfection (UV or slow sand) and recirculation control
- Modular steel or GRP tank battery with interconnection and mixing
Size the demand side first with the greenhouse water consumption calculator, then the refill pump with the pump sizing calculator and the treatment train with the water treatment calculator.
Turning this estimate into a request? The irrigation and fertigation request builder lists what changes a quote — system type, filtration, dosing and drain-water scope — and opens a pre-filled request that our team reviews before any supplier is contacted.
Understanding the values
What each choice in this calculator means, and how the options differ in practice.
- Days of autonomy
- How many peak-demand days the tank must cover if supply stops. One day is a minimum for reliable mains; several days where supply is intermittent.
- Peak vs average demand
- Storage sized on average demand runs dry in heat waves. The calculator uses peak daily demand so the reserve holds when it matters.
Illustrative project summary
1 ha multi-span tomato house
A new commercial entrant builds a first multi-span block with fertigation, insect screens and a basic climate computer.
1 ha · Multi-span polyhouse · Tomatoes
Indicative full greenhouse project CAPEX
USD 575K – USD 1.56M
Illustration only, not a real project or quotation. This is the structure, equipment and site-works budget for the example greenhouse, not the price of this calculator’s individual system, seeds or inputs, and not a result calculated from your entries. Excludes land, permits, packhouse, financing costs and working capital.
Based on the published commercial greenhouse cost benchmark. Written offers require a private project review; commercial projects start from USD 250K.
What can change the result?
This is a preliminary planning estimate based on the values you entered. The variables below usually move the outcome most, and should be confirmed with an agronomist, engineer and supplier offers before final design.
- Local climate: temperature, humidity, radiation and wind exposure
- Water source, allocation and seasonal availability
- Crop and cultivar — water, climate and support requirements differ per crop
- Irrigation design, emitter spacing and application efficiency
Questions this calculator answers
Typical buyer and investor searches this tool is built for, including the markets where we run the most commercial projects.
- greenhouse water requirement and storage sizing per hectare for a commercial project
- greenhouse water requirement and storage sizing for a 2-hectare project — India
- greenhouse water requirement and storage sizing: indicative planning ranges — Kenya
- greenhouse water requirement and storage sizing benchmarks for investors — Saudi Arabia
- greenhouse water requirement and storage sizing under local market conditions — Mexico
- greenhouse water requirement and storage sizing — what to specify in a supplier RFQ
Method and decision path
How to use this result in a commercial project
Use the result to test scope and compare scenarios. It is not a design, agronomic prescription, financing offer or supplier quotation.
1. Enter site evidence
Replace defaults with measured area, climate, water, energy, crop and commercial assumptions.
2. Test scenarios
Change one assumption at a time and record the effect on capacity, cost, demand or return.
3. Validate the duty
Ask the relevant agronomist, engineer or financial adviser to check the inputs and constraints.
4. Prepare a private RFQ
Carry the confirmed scope into a human-reviewed brief so written offers can be compared on the same basis.
Final specifications, performance, prices, supplier participation and timing depend on the site and written supplier responses; none is guaranteed by this calculator.
Plan the project around the numbers
A calculator output is a starting point. Pair it with the planning guides below to align timeline, irrigation, budget and risk before you launch an RFQ.
One private brief, specialist review, private supplier research and a like-for-like comparison.
Spec gaps, MOQ, delivery, Incoterms and evidence labels for seeds, greenhouses, irrigation, fertilizers and produce.
Month-by-month schedule from concept to first harvest across 9 stages.
Design principles for drip, pivot, fertigation and filtration on commercial projects.
How CAPEX, working capital and operating cost drive the project business case.
The ten most expensive planning and procurement pitfalls — and how to avoid them.
Procurement answers behind these numbers
A model output only holds if the scope, contract route and delivery terms match the assumptions. These reference answers cover the commercial decisions that move the figure.
- Turnkey EPC vs separate equipment packages
- What belongs in a greenhouse equipment specification
- Normal payment milestones in equipment contracts
- Which Incoterms to use for greenhouse and irrigation equipment
- How long a commercial greenhouse takes from order to handover
- What is normally the owner's scope on a greenhouse project
Move greenhouse water storage calculator into a structured RFQ
Editorial · not a sales pitchCalculator outputs are indicative. When your numbers stabilise, a supplier-neutral RFQ turns those estimates into a consistent brief for comparing the written offers that participating suppliers provide.
The facts a complete, supplier-neutral request on this topic includes. Use it as a checklist before submitting.
- Irrigated area, block layout and topography/elevation change
- Crop, spacing and peak daily water requirement (mm/day or m³/day)
- Water source (borehole, canal, reservoir, municipal) with yield and analysis
- System type: drip, sprinkler, pivot, micro-sprinkler, fertigation
- Required flow (m³/h), pressure and number of zones/shifts
- Power availability: grid, generator or solar pumping
- Automation and control level required
- Water analysis report and borehole test results
- Field/plot map with dimensions and elevation
Opens the RFQ Builder scoped as an irrigation package so suppliers quote hydraulics, filtration and dosing consistently. You stay in control — nothing is submitted until you review and confirm.
Free to submit · supplier-neutral · reviewed by a specialist before any supplier is contacted.
Running these numbers for a client project?
Agronomists, greenhouse and irrigation consultants use this calculator for feasibility, then hand the project to us for supplier shortlisting, RFQ preparation and quote comparison. You stay client-facing and we work through you.
Your client relationship stays with you — we work through you and never contact your client unless you ask.
Indicative only
- This tool is indicative only.
- It is not financial advice.
- It is not agronomic advice.
- It is not engineering design.
- Final numbers require supplier, agronomist, engineer and local regulatory review.
SeedMatch Group is an independent agricultural project sourcing and RFQ platform. We are not a farm, seed producer, fertilizer manufacturer, irrigation manufacturer, greenhouse builder, EPC contractor, lender or financial advisor. Supplier and project partner outreach is handled only after a commercial project brief is reviewed.
Supplier and manufacturer content is provided for research, transparency and discovery only. Buyers submit one project or RFQ to SeedMatch Group; our team validates and organises it, manages any suitable supplier or manufacturer outreach, and presents the responses through SeedMatch. There is no public directory of company identities, automatic matching, direct messaging or direct buyer-supplier contact.