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 The
most efficient way to water your plants is with drip or low-flow irrigation.
Compared with more conventional methods, drip or low-flow uses much less
water because smaller amounts are lost to evaporation and wind drift.
The water is also placed closer to your plants and not on weeds or walkways.
In times of water restrictions it is one of the few types of irrigation
that can be used.
Uncomplicated and easy to install, all of these parts are made to commercial-quality
standards in the USA or Australia, two of the world leaders in drip irrigation
manufacturing. In short, they are good quality, good value, reliable and
long lasting.
Whether you begin with a kit or your own selection of parts, you will
be able to mix and match components, as everything is compatible and extendable.
While conventional watering gives the same amount of water to the whole
area, here you can pick and choose drippers, sprinklers and sprayers depending
on each type of plant and its need for water.
 Before
installing an irrigation system, you need to calculate how much water
flow is available (and in turn how many drippers and sprayers you can
operate at one time). To do this, simply time how long it takes to fill
a 5-gallon pail using your faucet. If it fills in 1 minute, you know you
have a flow of 5 gallons per minute (or 300 gallons per hour); if it takes
2 minutes, it's 2-1/2 gallons per minute flow, etc. Next, choose drippers
and sprayers and use their flow rates to determine the total water flow
needed to run them (see the chart on page 2).
If your planned drippers and sprayers take more water than is available,
you will need to break the system into zones (separate lines). Put each
zone on a timer and set each to run at a different time of the day. A
common way to do this is to put your back yard on one line and front yard
on another, and perhaps your vegetable garden on yet another.
 Start
by choosing the main line hose (often called header hose). If you need
more than 100', you should use the 5/8" inside diameter (I.D.) hose;
otherwise, 1/2" I.D. is fine. Then add a fitting to attach it to
your faucet. Lay the hose in place near your plants and decide which types
of drippers, sprayers or sprinklers you want. (See descriptions of each
type on the following pages.) Make sure you add a filter to the system;
otherwise, the drippers and sprayers could get blocked. If your water
pressure is much over 30 psi (or if you just don't know what the pressure
is) you will need a pressure regulator to keep the fittings from blowing
off.
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