Drip System - Pressure Regulators - Water Flow - Need Help

15 years ago

I kind of jumped into drip systems without doing the proper research before hand. Here's what I bought:

- 500 feet of 1/2" poly tubing

- 300 1/2 GPH Pressure Compensated Emitters with screw caps for easy cleaning (http://bit.ly/eS5ofV)

- Filter

- 30 psi pressure regulator

This is all for a vegetable garden. I hooked everything up and ended up using a total of 290 feet of tubing and 200 emitters. The mainline of tubing is 32 feet with a valve for each row. 10 rows total.

Well, I hooked it all up and turned it on. And every few minutes one of those emitters would come off - shooting water everywhere. Now it wouldn't pop off all the way - the top would just unscrew off.

So I started reading up. Found out that I needed to measure my water pressure and water flow. So I bought one of those pressure measures at Home Depot and found that my pressure varies from 75 to 85 psi. My water flow is about 5.8 GPM or 350 GPH.

Then I tested the pressure with the pressure regulator on. Only about 60 psi. So I thought maybe the pressure regulator I bought couldn't handle the household psi. So I bought a different one from Home Depot - this time a 25psi. Measured it and the same thing happened - about 60 psi. So I put both on and it would jump down to about 40psi and then slowly build up to 60psi again.

So here is my situation. My pressure regulators really aren't lowering the psi down to the advertised psi. And my poly tubing doesn't my water flow. It's only supposed to handle 240 GPH while I'm currently at 350 GPH.

Now, my questions.

1. In order to reduce water flow - can I just turn the water spigot down?

2. Do I just need a better quality water pressure regulator - such as one from Senniger?

http://www.senninger.com/prl.php

The PRL-25 has a maximum inlet pressure of 150 psi and a Flow range of up to 8 GPM. But I'm just skeptical that it would really reduce my pressure to 25 psi.

3. Are the emitters part of the problem? I realize now that I don't need pressure compensated - but at the time they were only a couple bucks more. But having them screw off is frustrating. If I get the pressure and water flow figured out - will they still screw off occasionally? Anyone else have experience with these?

Is there anything I'm not realizing or thinking about?

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Comments (5)

lehua49
15 years ago
sfhc,

Start at the source. Is the irrigation system off your house supply(hose faucet)? Do you have a house pressure regulator?
Aloha
sfhc21
Original Author
15 years ago
Yes, it's off the house supply. I do not have a house pressure regulator. The water company came out yesterday to test the PSI - they measured 76. They do not put a house pressure regulator on unless the PSI is over 95.
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lehua49
15 years ago
sfhc,

My 2 cents it to get a regulator on your house because your faucets, shower and water appliances are not designed to withstand high pressure over time. Nor is your irrigation system. High pressure systems are prone to water-hammer problems and noisy pipes. You shouldn't be looking for the govt agency to install something a home builder should have done and usually does. The water agency sets its limit very high so it isn't required and doesn't have to pay the cost of giving everyone a house pressure regulator. Normal house pressure should be 45 to 60 psi. If you had your house at 55 psi, your in-line pressure regulators for drip would work. You want a 15-30 psi limit for drip. JMHO Aloha
Arcticcat781
15 years ago
i would say if you have it on a spigot you could probably close it a tad,not the right way per se but it would work. There is also static or working pressure. if you get 100 psi at the spigot you may not get that at the drip emitters. we use netafin or rainbird drip with the emitters inside the poly itself it just looks like a hose there isnt anything that comes off of it. that puts out .9 gph per emitter at around 30-40 psi i believe. you sound like youve done your homework so you will get this figured out. if ALL else fails,get yourself some netafin drip,a pressure regulator,and some stakes, no emitters on the drip. it never fails. good luck
HarryThomas
15 years ago
It may be the brand of pressure regulator you purchased. It is ideal to have reputable brand because they are not all built the same. I do agree with lehua13. You need a pressure regulator for your house water supply too so you don't have pipes bursting and what not later on.