While irrigation sprinkler systems can save you the time and effort needed to maintain your garden or landscaping, Champs Houston Plumbing experts say that a slow drip line offers a more economical alternative. Unlike water sprinkler systems that can end up consuming a lot of water, a slow drip line supplies the water directly to the plant roots, minimizing evaporation and water loss. It is also said to reduce weed problems and fungal plant diseases. In this post, Champs Dallas Plumbing experts teach you how you can build a slow drip line for your garden using inexpensive materials available at most home improvement stores.
- Plot the area where the slow drip line will be installed. Vegetable gardens, landscape plantings and flowerbeds are ideal areas for putting in a slow drip line.
- Unless you are planning to set aside an outdoor faucet solely for the purpose of your slow drip line supply, attach a Y-shaped valve hosepipe connector to the outdoor nozzle.
- Design the layout of your slow drip line depending on the way that your plants are arranged. Draw a rough sketch indicating the position of specific plants you want to irrigate as well as their exact distance from each other. In a slow drip line, each plant will be assigned a sprinkler of its own. Certain plants that require more water should get two sprinklers.
- Purchase and gather all of the materials required to assemble and install your drip system. You will be needing a battery-operated timer capable of regulating automated watering times, a pressure regulator or a backflow valve to prevent damage to your household plumbing. Hose adapters could make it easier for you to make connections but these are largely optional.
- Assemble the slow drip line by connecting the parts in the following sequence: Y-shaped pipe, timer, pressure regulator, hose adapter, garden hosepipe, and hose-thread adapter.
- If you already have an existing sprinkler system installed, you can convert it into a drip irrigation system by plugging all of the spray heads on a circuit except one on which you will be connecting a drip circuit.