Irrigation thread.

[Worth1]

Feel free to ask any questions.
Many times I make the mistake of considering things common since when in reality it isn't.

I dream this stuff up figure out the defects, build it and then draw up the plans.
Right now I dont have the time to build so I will just draw up the plans.
Hoping someone will get some use out of it.
Worth

[Worth1]

Here is a tool I have been useing to figure out what I need to do to get my system designed.
It is a water velocity and pressure loss calculator.
Many people think if you reduce the size of pipe you get higher pressure.
This couldn't be farther from the truth.
What you get is a higher velocity which makes it LOOK like high pressure.
From my research I have found out that what I wanted to do was spot on.
Go from a 3/4 meter to 1 inch then jump up to 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 loop main around the front of the place.

The reason is to decrease velocity, increase flow and reduce pressure loss.

Here is the calculator.

Worth

http://www.irrigationtutorials.com/formulas.htm#sec8

[Worth1]

Have you ever put out a soaker hose got it all hooked up and turned it on.
You’re all proud of yourself and everybody is watching.
To your dismay and embarrassment the water doesn’t come out at the end of the hose.
The reason can be many things.
The hose is too long and it uses up all of the water before it can get to the end and friction loss.
From the start soaker hoses put out an unbalanced flow anyway.
The longer the hose the less pressure you have due to friction loss.(they put out more in some places).
I bought one that didn’t put out anything.
To fix this and make all of your friends think you are a wizard make it a balanced water loop.
I had to do this 3 years ago and it works.
This is what you will need.
1 Hose end brass shutoff valve.
1 Brass Y valve.
1 Female to female hose adapter, (you will need this to connect the end of the hose back into its self).
2 Fifteen foot or so hose extensions (whatever it takes to get the hose to feed in the middle of the run as I have shown in the drawing).
Get rid of the mistakenly called pressure reducer.
It is really a flow reducer and you won’t need it.
Now for the fun part you can use the main shut off valve to adjust the flow of water coming in.
You can use the brass Y connector to balance out the flow.
If too much water is going one way tweak one valve down a little.

Here is the drawing.
Worth


Attachment 24059

[Worth1]

Balancing out a drip line.

This is a typical drip line set up with a timer.
This is what I have at home on my two measly raised beds.
Remember when doing this you should always use a Hose Bib vacuum breaker.
This device shall be at least 12 inches above your highest point on the drip line.
Do what you have to do to get it there.
This is to keep contaminated water from entering your house your well and the public water supply.
Don’t use the cheap plastic check valves they fail and don’t meet code.
See the hose main water line is connected in the middle of the 2 drip lines this is called balancing.
Don’t go from the hose to the drip line and them back to hose to drip line.
I know it seems like common sense to not do this but people do.
Here is the drawing of what I have at home.

Worth


Attachment 24068

[johnnytwofingers]

I posted this on another thread, but this seems perhaps like the best place to ask it:

Can anyone recommend a forum that specializes in drip irrigation? I'm just doing my patio now and have come across a few questions.

Maybe I'll post the questions here just in case someone has an idea.....

1. 4 GPH PC dripper, no such thing? I'm having a bit of an issue of the ratio of the smallest to largest pots on one circuit, the largest PC dripper I could find was 2GPHand the smallest was 0.5 GPH; I have a 4 GPH non-PC, but I think those allow back flow from the circuit, which would flood that containers it is lower than others. Is splitting the hose and adding 2 x 2GPH the only way to go?

2. Dispersion of the drip - I have some 12 inch diameter flower pots with very sandy soil and more than one flower planted, so I'm concerned about drip wateringyer hitting all the roots properly. A sprayer nozzle is not an option (I don't think, due to their much higher consumption than droppers on same circuit), so I'd like to find an attachment or something that can use a single dripper, but spread the drip into a bit bigger of a radius. My thought so far are putting something about the size of a silver dollar at the drip spot to splash it out a bit, or just use a barbed tee to spread the drip (but that's only wider in one dimension, doesn't spread it circularly).

[Worth1]

Stick with me Ill draw you a picture.
It is the only way I can explain it.

Worth

[Worth1]

Fast drawing and explanation for johnnytwofingers.

Attachment 24075


Here we show how we can use the drip line to water flower pots and other containers.
There are several ways to do it so you can let your imagination do the rest.

You will see that there is a 1/2 poly main line with a drip this is good for over 100 feet.
next you will need to get a barb and a 1/4 valve for each pot.
you will need this valve to adjust or fine tune the water for each pot.

A 1 foot diameter flower pot will measure in circumference 3.14 ( pi ) so you will get 3 emitters for each 1 foot diameter pot.
this is the brown drip tubing you can get just about anywhere.
each hole is regulated so it doesn't squirt.

What you can do is regulate the amount of water coming out the holes with that small 1/4 valve

I highly recommend putting a valve on each pot.

I will also post a link here that you asked for it isn't a forum, I dont like forums and this is the only one I am on.

Here is the link to everything you ever wanted to know about irrigation.
http://www.irrigationtutorials.com/dripguide.htm
Enjoy the link and look at the rest of the site it is very informative.


Worth

[Worth1]

I would like to encourage everyone out there that is thinking about drip or soaker hoses to really consider a timer of some sort.
This are indispensable as far as I am concerned.
Reason, you dont have to worry about an egg timer or some other contraption to water and you dont have to remember to water.
Another plus is you can get timers to come off and on several times a day.
Even with a really cheap battery timer you can do this.
Here is an example.

In the morning my timer comes on for lets say 2 hours and shuts off.
You can only put so much water on the the rest runs down the hill so to speak.
Now around 3 PM the soil drys out and it needs more water.
You set the timer to come on again at 3 PM and let it water again for 3 more hours or what ever it takes to get everything good and wet.

With containers it can be worse.
You may need to water 7 times a day just to keep the plant alive.
Or you can choose this option, "I'm sorry honey but I cant go to the park with you I have to stay home and water my plants".
Not good, next thing you will know the spouse will be introducing you to their new pal.
"Oh honey they are just a friend".
Look at all of the timers they have and think about spending the money and get a good one with expandable zones.

I almost got this one but I really like the idea of doing things on my computer.
http://www.sprinklerwarehouse.com/Ra.../esp12lxme.htm

Worth

[johnnytwofingers]

Thanks Worth, never thought of doing it that way. Do you find those mini valves adjust fairly precisely?

Your comment on timers....is it possible to get controllers with wireless valves, so the valve can be a fair distance away controlling a zone that shares a primary mainline?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by johnnytwofingers

Thanks Worth, never thought of doing it that way. Do you find those mini valves adjust fairly precisely?

Your comment on timers....is it possible to get controllers with wireless valves, so the valve can be a fair distance away controlling a zone that shares a primary mainline?

The small 1/4 inch valve is like a small ball valve but I have found you can adjust it pretty well.

I have looked into the battery operated valves a little.

Orbit and hunter have them.
The controller is at the valve and it connects up to pipe.
Orbit will only water for 240 minutes at a time.
http://www.orbitonline.com/products/Timers/02/01/21/

Here is hunters.
http://www.sprinklerwarehouse.com/Hu...p/node-400.htm
Here is the link to the installation manual.
The reason is I couldn't see how a 9 volt battery could energize a 24 volt solenoid, IT WONT you have to buy a special solenoid that will fit any of their valves.
http://sprinklertalk.com/manuals/hunter/node_manual.pdf

Pricy I would rather buy wire.

Worth

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by johnnytwofingers

Thanks Worth, never thought of doing it that way. Do you find those mini valves adjust fairly precisely?

Your comment on timers....is it possible to get controllers with wireless valves, so the valve can be a fair distance away controlling a zone that shares a primary mainline?

One way you can pretty up the pots is to run 1/4 inch tubing up through bottom the flower pot.
Worth

Picture.

Attachment 24078

[waterman1971]

Great ideas/tutorial worth.

I have tried replacing the source water with this.

"Extreme laziness fert delivery®". I need a larger pump for effective distribution.

[johnnytwofingers]

Guys,

I just finished hooking up irrigation to some beans and tomatoes I have on my back deck. One thing that has always been nagging at me through this whole process is a concern of how hot standing water might get in the tubing during the day while under the sun, especially in this particular zone of mine, which has an asphalt surface.

One obvious strategy is to only run the water in the early morning or later in the evening, another to somewhat alleviate would be to try not to have the drip centered right on the main roots.

Does anyone have any direct experience or know any facts on this, am I overly concerned about nothing?

[dipchip2000]

The water left in the pipe after turning it off is minimal. The emitters should be placed about 6inches from plant stem anyway. By the time water comes out of the emitter and seeps down to root level, the temp will moderate rapidly and will only be soil temp water when it reaches roots. Obviously if you have spray emitters you dont want them spraying on foliage at any temperature.

ron

[johnnytwofingers]

Thanks Ron.

Sorry, I had meant to add a picture. Since I am doing container gardening, I'm fairly limited in how far away I can place the dripper, and I think the dryness of the soil in a container might diminish the amount of normalization of temperature as the new water seeps down one would expect under normal circumstances.

Luckily, this zone is very close to the mainline, so the amount of hot water inline is likely limited to less than two gallons, but I'm concerned about the effect in the first few minutes of watering before the fresh cool water works its way through to the drippers.