Extend the Life of Your Irrigation System With These Common Sense Tips

Are you designing a new garden irrigation system, or improving an existing layout? Considering the benefits of clean, pure water for human health, it’s simply a no-brainer to try and extend those benefits to our leafy green friends in the garden. Besides, if this is a vegetable garden, it makes sense that we would want to deliver only the highest quality produce to our own tables.

When designing a new garden layout it’s important to consider where the infrastructure of irrigation and water purification hardware will go. Here are some considerations when planning the layout of watering systems and how filtration can extend their working life.

Design Considerations

When designing the layout of your new garden irrigation, imagine the hoses being larger towards the water source, and gradually reducing in size to maintain pressure in the line the further it extends. If the garden is particularly large, it may be prudent to consider using multiple water sources as long as a second electrical and water supply exists. More watering-intensive plants, such as fruit trees, should be closer to the source.

Of course it’s possible to layout the garden however you like, but sometimes it’s impossible to rearrange where certain plants will go when you’re trying to maximize the benefits of light and cover for the types of plants in the garden. If you have the benefit of rearranging some plants at low cost of sunshine or space, your watering system will be more efficient and last longer with fewer repairs required.

Laying Out Watering Hose

For small-scale agriculture, as many of us will undertake with our gardens, much of the water will come from filtration hardware, such as reverse osmosis systems connected directly to spigots which lead to irrigation timing devices. These timing components simply release water for preset time duration. These are the most inexpensive and most easily installed due to their simplicity, and are highly recommended.

Unfortunately sometimes problems arise when lines are accidentally cut during weeding, or from pests such a rodents chewing through the plastic pipes. Be sure to lay the irrigation hose where it will be out of harm’s way to maximize the life of the hose. It sure is a pain to replace hose parts when they’re cut!

Benefits of Water Filtration on Irrigation

A key benefit of filtration in irrigation is in the reduction of limescale buildup within the hoses. Filtered water can extend the life of the hoses for years, and saves the labor-intensive process of replacing them. Areas that derive their water from limestone aquifers are especially susceptible to limescale buildup (also known as calcium carbonate). Reducing limescale prevents clogs and helps plants thrive by giving them a break from filtering out the gunk and allowing more energy to grow bigger and stronger!

Final Word

Overall, laying out irrigation with a common sense approach will ensure that you have more time to tend to the garden, and get a little more shut-eye in the morning thanks to the miracle of automated timing irrigation. For those who want only the best from the garden, filtration is of great benefit, and is highly recommended.

Jessica Stephens is an experienced general contractor and writer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She enjoys fishing, golfing, and undergoing occasional home improvement projects, including reverse osmosis systems. Her knowledge of residential construction is a great asset for those interested in DIY landscape design.

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