Automatic watering system for the garden: arrangement of a summer water supply

Recommendation points

• General recommendations for materials and components for summer water supply
• Steel pipes
• Reinforced-plastic pipes
• Polypropylene pipes
• Low pressure polypropylene pipes – HDPE
• Principles of installing a summer water supply
• Summer water supply topology
• Installation of summer water supply
• Accessories for water pipe connections with watering devices

In the previous article, we described how to organize a constantly updated source of water for irrigation on the site. In this article, we will consider issues related to organizing the delivery of water from the source to the beds..

Work in the garden, contrary to popular belief, may well bring joy, the main thing is to organize everything correctly. There are many devices, techniques and tricks that make gardening work much easier. In the article “System of automatic irrigation of the garden: a storage tank with water level control” we talked about how to organize a constant source of water for irrigation in the country. Its presence alone is a good help to facilitate irrigation work. The next step, designed to further simplify the life of a summer resident, will be the arrangement of a summer water supply system on the site. We will tell you how and from what you can and should make a summer water supply.

General recommendations for materials and components for summer water supply

Before considering what materials it makes sense to assemble a distribution pipe system, let us dwell on one more element, without which summer water supply is impossible – shut-off valves, in simple taps. They are installed on pipes at the beginning, immediately after the source, and at the end. At the beginning, they are necessary to completely shut off the water in the water supply system, at the end they serve to temporarily block and adjust the pressure. No matter what material you install the taps: cast iron, brass, polypropylene, there is one caveat – they should only be valve. This is due to the fact that, as you know, water for the winter from the summer water supply must be drained, otherwise, freezing and expanding, it will simply burst the pipes. So, no matter how you get rid of the remaining moisture, a micro-layer of water in the ball valve between the ball and the saddle in which it is located will still remain. She will do her dirty work, and in the spring you will find the torn body of your crane. Valve taps simply do not have such a micro-layer, therefore, they are relieved of this problem..

Let’s go back to the pipes. What, in principle, is the water supply made of.

Steel pipes

The most famous material. The whole system is mounted on threaded connections or by welding.

Pros: strength and durability.

Minuses: high price, complexity of installation, fragility and difficult accessibility – for such pipes you will have to go to a metal warehouse on purpose.

Output: good material for summer plumbing if you have plumbing or welding skills to fit them.

Reinforced-plastic pipes

Sold in bays, usually white. Assembled for special metal fittings.

Pros: availability – they are sold in any plumbing store, ease of installation.

Minuses: fragility – in outdoor conditions such pipes serve no more than three years, a rather high price.

Output: a good temporary option, as a possible partial replacement for a failed permanent water supply.

Polypropylene pipes

The plastic pipes are gray or white and are quite resilient. They are assembled by welding with a special soldering iron. You can buy or rent it at almost any plumbing store..

Pros: strength, plasticity, durability, ease of installation, availability, low price.

Minuses: there is none of them.

Output: ideal for summer water supply. Polypropylene is resistant to sunlight and plastic, which significantly increases its chances of surviving the winter, even if water is frozen inside the pipe.

Low pressure polypropylene pipes – HDPE

These are black pipes sold in coils. They differ from ordinary polypropylene pipes with a smaller wall thickness and installation method – the system is assembled for special clamping fittings.

Pros: plasticity, durability, ease of installation, availability, low price – HDPE pipes lose in cost only to polypropylene pipes.

Minuses: low strength.

Output: quite a suitable option. The only thing it requires is to control the inlet pressure.

Let’s summarize. The best option for arranging a summer water supply system will be polypropylene pipes, it is better to stop at them. All shut-off valves should only be valve and, preferably, of the same material as the pipes themselves.

Principles of installing a summer water supply

We have decided on the question of what to do, let’s now decide how to do it. The first stage is theoretical.

Summer water supply topology

Draw your existing or future vegetable garden on a piece of graph paper. Note the water source. Your task is to lay pipes, that is, draw straight lines on the sheet so that their total length is minimal, and they do not cross the beds. In this case, you need to take into account several nuances..

The draw-off points should be either for each bed its own, if they are at a considerable distance from each other, or one point for two, maximum three beds, if they are nearby. Moreover, each point should be no further than 1-2 m from the serviced bed.

Each turn of the pipe leads to a drop in water pressure in the system. With a large number of them, you risk not getting water at all at the exit. The ideal option is the “star” system, where a straight pipe is laid up to each draw-off point from the source. True, in this case most of the material will be left and it is not always possible to do this without crossing the beds. The main system is also good, where one straight pipe is laid along the garden, and pipes are diverted from it to the beds. In this case, so that there is no significant pressure drop, the line should be made of pipes two sizes larger than that of the supply pipes. That is, if you are laying a pipe with a diameter of 20 mm, and it does not cost less, then the lines must be installed from a 32 mm pipe. In the “star” water supply system, all pipes are laid with the same diameter, at least 20 mm.

We drew a wiring diagram. It took into account not only existing, but also future beds. Moving on to the practical part.

Installation of summer water supply

If you draw on graph paper the entire layout of the summer water supply system on a scale, then it will be quite easy to estimate the amount of required material and components. But before proceeding directly to the work, you should decide on one more question: how we will lay pipes?

For a summer water supply, pipes are laid in two ways:

1. Open.All pipes will run along the surface of the earth.

Pros: the water supply system is open, available for repair and constant monitoring, it is easy to drain the water for the winter, for this it is enough to open the water tap and raise the opposite edge of the pipe, there is no risk of accidental damage.

Minuses: pipes are open to negative environmental influences, unaesthetic appearance, pipes can interfere with free movement.

2. Closed.The pipes are buried in the ground to a depth of about 50 cm.

Pros: pipes are protected from negative environmental influences by a layer of earth, the entire system looks neat.

Minuses: repair and modernization is difficult, more difficult to manufacture, requires the organization of a special system for draining water for the winter.

The last question should be dealt with separately. As noted above, it is necessary to drain the water so that it does not break the pipes when it freezes. If everything is pretty clear with an open water supply, then for a closed one you need to equip special drainage points – pits. In order for water to flow out, pipes must be laid with a slight slope. Pits are made at the lower points. Drain valves are installed at the ends. Accordingly, in the fall, water is drained from the tank or the tap at the inlet to the system is turned off, the water taps at the ends of the pipes are opened, and the drain taps are opened. Water flows down a slope into the pit. Everything, the system is dehydrated.

How to make a water supply system is up to everyone to decide. Assembling it will not differ much from the system mounted inside the house. In any case, if you do not have the appropriate skills, it is better to seek the services of specialists. Your task is to monitor the quality of work and the fulfillment of the above requirements.

Accessories for water pipe connections with watering devices

The water supply is ready, you can use it. Various accessories can be used to connect irrigation equipment to it. The simplest and most popular today are combinations of metal or plastic fittings, onto which hoses are put on, tightened with a clamp.

Recently, so-called quick-release connectors are gaining popularity. They are good because they are versatile. Dividers, couplings, splitters, irrigation systems, all of them have a connection to the hoses by means of quick-release couplings.

The principle of operation is quite simple. The end of the hose is fitted with a coupling with a hose collet at one end and a quick release mechanism at the other. Now any device that has a quick-release connector as a connection can be easily connected with a simple click. Similarly, you can connect two hoses with a connecting fitting.

Having finished the installation of the summer water supply system, you will be one step closer to equipping the summer cottage with an automatic irrigation system. The last thing left to do is to organize individual watering for each garden bed. This will be the topic of the third and final article in our series..