Where do we begin?
I imagine you’re here because you’re tired of watering your landscape or containers by hand, or you’re interested in saving resources and are looking to deliver water directly to where the plant needs it.
I’m not kidding when I literally say drip changed my life. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But, it certainly changed the way I garden and allowed me to do more with less.
The Basics
To start with drip irrigation you only need two things: a sprinkler system or a hose bibb (that thing you connect your water hose to). That’s it. If you don’t have a sprinkler system, don’t worry. We will cover connecting to a hose bibb directly. If you have a sprinkler system but have overhead spray heads in your landscape beds, we will cover converting those to drip too!
Step 1a: Getting Connected from Your Hose Bibb
There are several primary items you need to get connected to your home hose bibb. I have a recommended full kit below, but items are: a backflow device, a pressure regulator, a filter (maybe), a fitting to convert the threads from these devices to a drip line, a timer (if desired), and a splitter (if desired).
The backflow device prevents water that has already entered your drip system from coming back into your water system in your home and contaminating your water. This device is very important and should not be skipped.
The pressure regulator is recommended. Some people don’t use them. I do. Most drip systems operate well with between 25 to 30 pounds of water pressure (PSI). Most pressure regulators you find will be one of these options. If you don’t have a pressure regulator and for some reason your water pressure is very high, you could risk blowing apart connectors or blowing emitters off of your tubing.
A filter is optional. If you’re using a water source from a well or something else that the water may have contaminates, you would want one to prevent your emitters from becoming clogged over time. I don’t personally use one, but it’s an option.
The final necessary item is a fitting to convert the threads (3/4″ in the USA) from the devices above to 1/2″ or 1/4″ drip line depending on which type of drip you intend to run. I have a link to the ones that I have used in the past below. These are really simple fittings that screw onto the thread ends and typically have a barbed male end fitting to connect to the drip tubing directly.
That’s it! The pieces should be connected in the following order: Hose Bibb -> Backflow Device -> Pressure Regulator -> Filter (Optional) -> Thread Converter -> Drip Line
If you want to be able to connect a water hose to your hose bibb and run drip at the same time easily, I would recommend a splitter. I use Eley accessories (products linked below) because they are made from solid brass, have great warranties, and are extremely dependable. The splitter will connect directly to the hose bibb and before the backflow device.
If you want to get fancy, and I always do, you can add a timer in the line between your hose bibb (or splitter) and backflow device. I love the Orbit B-hyve system that I can operate from my phone (product linked below). There are other options on the market, including manual timers, but I’ve used a few and Orbit has operated faithfully for me without error and is my go to. When you get your drip going, you can add additional devices to “zone” your system – once again, if you want to get fancy.
Faucet (Hose Bibb) Connection Kit. Image Source: rainbird.com
Eley Hose 2-Way Splitter. Image Source: eleyhosereels.com
Orbit B-hyve Smart Hose Timer. Image Source: orbitonline.com
Step 1b: Getting Connected from Your Overhead Sprinklers
Rainbird offers a converter I have linked below to convert overhead sprinklers to a drip zone. This is what I have used in my own garden to convert existing sprinkler zones to drip. It includes everything you need to get started that I mentioned above. You simply remove your old sprinkler head and replace it with the converter. Internally it includes a small filter to catch particulates and pressure regulator. A backflow device should be included at the beginning of your entire sprinkler setup, so an additional one is not needed.
It is important to note that you should convert all sprinkler heads in a sprinkler zone to drip. Mixing and matching may create mixed results and pressure issues. For example, drip zones typically run for a long time – up to one hour in some cases – and you don’t want to be watering your overhead sprinklers for an hour while you’re watering your flower beds (unless your lawn is REAL thirsty).
You can also have your irrigation company install “drip valves”. This is a great option if you’re willing to invest in both the labor and the parts – or do it yourself! I chose to go with the conversion method and have had equally good results.
Retrofit Kit. Image Source: rainbird.com
Retrofit Kit in Use. Image Source: rainbird.com
Step 2: Distribution
The hard part, understanding how to get connected, is done. Now the world is your oyster. After connecting you can use any
combination of 1/2″ to 1/4″ lines, connectors, and emitters, with a few caveats.
Firstly, there are two types of tubing for both 1/2″ and 1/4″ lines.
- Distribution Tubing. A solid flexible tubing without any existing emitters when manufactured. This tubing is typically a solid black (sometimes with a single line along the tubing). If you have a distance to travel before you want to start emitting water, you should use distribution tubing to get where you’re going. You can also add emitters to this line directly as well manually.
- Emitter Tubing. A tubing with emitters spaced evenly along the length of the tubing. This tubing comes in various lengths between emitters and well as various gallon per hour (GPH – more on this later) water emitters. You should use this tubing when you want to water a space of land evenly.
1/2″ Distribution Tubing. Image Source: rainbird.com
1/2″ Emitter Tubing. Image Source: rainbird.com
Various 1/2″ Tubing Connector Pieces. 1/4″ Tubing Connector pieces also exist in black. Image Source: rainbird.com
Step 3: Understanding Pressure
Pressure is not unlimited. There are calculators online that will give you a maximum length of line that you can use at a certain pressure. Don’t believe them. If you’re using the correct emitters (see below), you’re likely to get way more length out of a system than the calculators state. But, if you have many emitters on a line you could also get less. There are countless variables, which make it very difficult to calculate and you’ll need to experiment to find what works for you. In my experience, even with my numerous plants and emitters I get much more length than estimated. The entire front of my house, as well as the sides, run off one zone. That’s a lot of tubing and emitters!
You should also always start with the largest tubing possible if you’re traveling a large distance. For example, if I had a long distance to go I would start with 1/2″ distribution tubing and convert down to 1/4″ distribution tubing when I reach my destination, or connect emitters directly to the 1/2″ distribution tubing. Otherwise you can quickly create pressure issues in your system very quickly.
Step 4: Selecting Your Emitters
You should only be purchasing pressure compensating emitters. Pressure compensating emitters are emitters that maintain the same output at varying water inlet pressures. They may cost you a few cents more per emitter, but the results are more even water distribution throughout your system. If you choose non-pressure compensating emitters, or mix pressure compensating emitters with non-pressure compensating emitters, you may find that plants are not being evenly watered throughout your system if you start to overtax your system and your pressure becomes low. As long as you use pressure compensating emitters you can expand the system out a bit more than would be typical with non-pressure compensating emitters in my experience.
I can’t recommend which emitters you purchase because everyone’s water needs vary, but I can provide a couple tips. Emitters emit in gallons per hour (GPH). Depending on how long you want to run your system, you may need higher GPH emitters or lower GPH emitters. Lower GPH emitters tend to saturate an area more evenly over a longer period of time because the water is slowly trickling out. Higher GPH emitters can run off because of the quicker water flow or soak down into the ground more quickly depending on your soil type. If you have limited time to run your system, you may choose higher GPH emitters. If you have flexibility, you may choose lower GPH emitters and run the system longer. Emitters are typically different colors to differentiate how much water they emit. For example, Rainbird red emitters are rated for 2 GPH, and black emitters are rated for 1 GPH. The packaging will indicate the GPH of the emitter.
Drip Emitter. Source: rainbird.com
Step 5: Placing Your Emitters
The best thing about drip irrigation is there is a ton of flexibility if you do it right. You can of course use only emitter tubing that is evenly spaced. In some beds I do this. I prefer the 18″ emitter spacing on 1/2″ distribution tubing. Whatever you do, don’t create a spaghetti system of 1/4″ drip line – you’ll thank me later. Learn from my mistakes.
If you want to connect emitters directly to 1/2″ or 1/4″ distribution tubing you can do that as well. I personally use two 2-GPH emitters for most shrubs (one on each side of the rootball, especially with hydrangeas), 1-GPH emitters for perennials, and 1/2-GPH emitters for less water hungry plants. Check out my video and the products below for handy tools to make adding these emitters to drip tubing easier on your hands. Most of these emitters have very tight tolerances so they do not blow off and if you’re spending a day doing drip irrigation your hands pay the price.
Example of an Emitter Inserted into 1/2″ Distribution Tubing or 1/2″ Emitter Tubing. Image Source: rainbird.com
Benjamin Sprengard
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