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doug143

Drip irrigation with .5 gph drippers

doug143
12 years ago

Hi all,

I am designing a drip system for shrubs and perennials in my landscape. Our soil is heavy clay. I am planning to use .5 gph drippers as suggested for clay soil on one "zone" connected to the hose bib with filter and pressure regulator. There are 18 shrubs and 41 perennials in this bed which were planted a year ago. The shrubs are about 12"-18" in diameter. I am planning on (2) drippers for each shrub and 1 dripper for each perennial. Where I have perennials planted close together I am planning to use 1/4" dripline which has .5 gph emitters spaced 12" apart. I would appreciate any suggestions you might have.

Thank You

Comments (6)

  • lehua49
    12 years ago

    Doug,

    How have your shrubs & perens done over the year. I imagine you were hand water before or still. Try to measure how much total water you apply when water the shrubs and perennials. You stated you will need 77 each of 0.5 gph emitters that is in one hour you will apply 38.5 gallons for one zone's worth if you are at design pressure. Check your water source pressure and flow rate. Does it give you emitter design pressure and 1.2x needed flow rate if your using one zone? If not you will need to create more zones. This the first step. JMHO Aloha

  • doug143
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thank you for your prompt response. I really don't know how much water we put on the plants when hand watering. We did lose a few of them though. It was a very hot summer here in North Carolina last year. The landscaper who did the planting said they should get 1" of water each week. I was mainly wondering if 2 emitters on each shrub would wet the entire root zone. I measured the flow rate and it took 1'18" to get 5 gallons into a bucket so that makes my flow rate 4.16 GPM. The pressure at the hose bib checked 44 PSI. Our water pressure here is on the low side.

  • lehua49
    12 years ago

    Doug,

    1" of water over a 2 foot diameter plant is 3.14 sf times 1/12 ft equals 0.26 cubic feet times 7.481 gallon/cf therefore is 1.9 gallons over three watering times is 0.6 gallons three time a week. It would take your 0.5 gph emitter watering the plants 2 hours per cycle. Your limiting factor is the pressure loss for each emitter. See if you can find the pressure loss per emitter on-line or let us know the brand and we can look it up for you. If the design pressure is around 25 psi the loss should be a certain psi. So you have 20 psi loss for the total loss of the zone. JMHO aloha

  • doug143
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    lehua 13,

    The emitter I am looking at is item# 1492 (pressure compensating) from Drip Depot (online). They say that this emitter can be used up to 50psi. I was planning to put in a pressure reducer to 25psi. Don't see where they mention anything about pressure loss per emitter. Hope this helps and thank you.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Drip Depot

  • lehua49
    12 years ago

    Doug,

    Here is a link to determine how many emitters on your line:

    http://www.irrigationdirect.com/expert-advice/faq/drip-irrigation/designing-your-drip-irrigation-system

    This should help figure what to do.

    Let us know what your outcome is or if you need help digesting the info. Aloha

  • doug143
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks for your help. Looks like I have the capacity to do what's needed. I just need to order parts and start installing and testing as I go.

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