Exposed: How Much Water Soaker Hoses Actually Use Per Hour

Setting up a soaker hose irrigation system for your garden is always more confusing then people let on. For one you can't just attached a soaker up to a regular garden hose because you have to get the pressure just right, it can't be too high or too low.
Make sure to see this post on my site for a detailed explanation of how to get the pressure right:
turfmechanic.c...
This post may also be useful in deciding between a drip line or a soaker system. Their are advantages to using both: turfmechanic.c...
If you do decide to setup a soaker system then see this article for guidance on how long to run it for and how often: turfmechanic.c...
It's worth spending a few bucks on good equipment. You can probably get away with using any soaker hose your local store sells but I don't usually see wide options in my local stores. 3/8" diameters are commonly sold in my area locally.
If you want to run your system for a shorter amount of time then you'll want a 1/2" diameter hose like this one over on Amazon (aff link): www.amazon.com...
Finally, make sure to get the good 10PSI pressure regulator, not the cheap 25PSI regulators that are so commonly found. This is the one I purchased off Amazon and featured in the video (aff link): www.amazon.com...
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[@TurfMechanic]

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[@TXDude]

An hour?! An HOUR?! 25psi?! You're going to burst your hose like that. There are very few hoses that can deal with even 10psi for any appreciable length of time. Chewed-up old tires don't bind well to each other and they WILL burst. Next up is the average cheap hose will have heavy vs. almost-zero flow areas. Hoses are far from uniform. Running at higher psi just means the heavy flow areas dump water even faster into the wet spot, while the zero flow areas continue to deliver zero water. Under 10 psi is ideal. 5 will work great if you can dial in on that, but probably not. A lot depends on a community's psi delivered to each house but, generally, try opening your spigot 1/4 turn and run for 20 minutes. Go take a look and see (1) where are the wet and dry spots; rearrange your hose to try to get better distribution and (2) overall did you get enough, too little or too much water? Adjust the time and the water flow until you get it right. Last word for the wise; cover your hose if they get direct sunlight. They WILL degrade in sunlight and burst.

[@KD-NotWoke]

My experience is ,to fast and you blow the soaker hose. I just barely crack the valve. And I’m not gonna do the math. I’m just gonna watch my soil and plant. Good to know though. Thanks.

[@lawrencejoy9346]

Pressure versus flow, use a flow restrictor to control; gallons per hour, pressure regulator to control pressure of water force through the membrane of the hose construction

[@venenareligioest410]

Surely soaker hoses are more about convenience than saving water?

[@BasikVids_4_Life]

Couple things, these all come with a regulator already built in to the end of the hose. There should be no need to add another especially since the instructions explain you should only have your spigot open about 1/4 to 3/4 turn so barely even open. No need to always open the spigot full blast! The other thing I noticed is you purchased a 1/2" diameter hose and not 3/4". This may also produce a higher pressure therefore more water out soaker hose.

[@claudiamiller7730]

The Jolly Ranchers are a nice touch…but those blue ones are just yuck!! Thanks for the info - I’m going to test my FLAT soaker hose this afternoon!!🌺

[@EarthSojourner]

What about the PSI from the faucet / spigot? Mine's 80 PSI (high, but city water). If you're tamping that down to 10 PSI, don't you need a backflow preventer, too? I ran many soaker hoses for extensive garden beds off one spigot for years without any of these regulating / restricting devices and had no problems -- until this year. Reason, apparently, is using a different spigot, which produced a flow rate like your initial demo showed. Wasted a LOT of water, and wouldn't have known that except that I had it on a RainPoint WiFi timer that reports how many gallons were used for every watering session. I thought it was a defect in the device until I got the shocking bill from the city for $122 extra. My big mistake that caused this was turned out to be not the PSI but what you did "keep this on full blast." No! Experiment to find out how many turns of the knob (maybe 1/2 to 1/2, not even a full turn) produces the lower flow rate. Also, you can find out how much water even a handheld hose is using for whatever time you want just by attaching a meter to the faucet or the hose. These work for me: RESTMO Heavy Duty Water Flow Meter, Pure Brass Inlet. I got them from Amazon. My outdoor faucets are actually sillcocks, says the plumber, and they're all too close to the ground to add timers AND PSI regulators and maybe backflow preventers on top of those. I converting to RainBird driplines next year, but I've had to learn way more than I had any interest in learning about hydrolics, flow rates, PSI, GPM, materials that hoses and driplines are made from, etc.

[@CliffDiseker]

1-2" hose = 7 gal/min.

[@mistaneil]

Hi Brian. Interesting experiment. My main driver for using a soaker hose was it is supposed to use 70% less water than a traditional hose pipe. Water usage looks high in your test but I wonder what the comparable water usage is compared to a hose pipe?

[@devoncsmith2696]

From my understanding a hose pipe water uses a flow rate per minute; so you test the flow rate doing the same thing with a bucket

[@timothygrim5423]

Well im confused mine has no regulator other than the plastic piece on the eend 25' hose and after 3 hrs the ground was barey wet especially towards the end of the hose on flat ground

[@helenhellmers5439]

Do I have to use a regulator?

[@TurfMechanic]

You could just turn the spigot on partially to limit the flow but it's not exact. I used a regulator so I didn't have to think about it while knowing the flow was exactly the same every time.

[@helenhellmers5439]

@@TurfMechanic yes. Thank you very much for your prompt reply. Greatly appreciated

[@GeneralChangFromDanang]

If you put a valve after it, you can find a good pressure setting you like and then never have to adjust it. Just shut off the valve and leave the spigot open to where you set it. That saves some frustration.

[@terihampton737]

1/2" HOSE at 7gpm.

[@jamesmorton7881]

MEASURE THE ACTUAL PRESSURE AT EACH END OF THE SOAKER HOSE. USE A BALL VALVE TO LIMIT THE FLOW RATE AHEAD OF THE REGULATOR. PRESSURE IS NOT UNIFORM IN THE SOAKER HOSE, OR IS IT ?

[@Bob-he1pc]

Of course you don't have to have it turned on full...

[@kevinkendall2182]

Limiting the pressure will protect your soaker hose but doesn’t give direct control of the flow rate. Add to this a simple flow meter to directly measure the actual flow rate at the inlet to each of your soaker hoses. Precede the meter with a ball valve to throttle the flow to the desired amount.

[@katbot2190]

My soaker hoses are different than those rubber ones. I can't find any information with my type of hose. Those rubber ones do not last very long.

[@TheOriginalFreak]

Great minds think alike.

[@helenhellmers5439]

TY

[@user-fs5lc2dl7t]

I usually enjoy your videos...but this time all I am left with is ????? I have used soaker hoses for years and have NEVER turn them on full. I just crack the faucet until I see the hose start to weep water and adjust from there. I am quite sure that I have never come even close to using the amount of water your "test" is suggesting...and I really do believe it is because I do not turn it wide open in the first place....which would indeed be a big waste of water.

[@TurfMechanic]

This video could maybe use a remake, my soakers are operated on one of my underground irrigation zones so I can't crack the faucet open a little bit but many people can. For me I have to manage the flow and pressure at the garden rather than the source.

[@75dobs]

18 gallons in about 5 minutes equals 3.6 gallons per minutes, seems like a lot until you divide that by the 50 linear feet which equals .072 gallons, which is 9.216 FlOz per linear foot per minutes. So a little more than a half of a cup per linear foot per minutes. This is not a lot of water for the coverage that soaker hoses provide especially when you limit the time to what the plants need.

[@damedesmontagnes]

I do about 20 psi for 4 50' 3/8" soaker hoses attached to a 4way brass manifold connected to a main hose to the house water spigot. Is that ok?

[@50hellkat2]

I need to be a mathematical genius to use a soaker hose. 😢

[@amandachristian895]

Thank you for this demo! The soaker hoses I bought have a blue disc with a little hole in them. Are those regulators? If so, what are the standard psi they come built on? I dont see any information on it. Thanks

[@jamesmorton7881]

HUM, PRESSURE AT SEA LEVEL IS 14.7 PUNDS PER SQ INCH. DO SOME HOME WORK, TO BE OF VALUE TO YOUR SUBSCRIBERS. ZERO FLOW MEANS NO PRESSURE DROP. EXPECT 60 TO 100 PSI AT THE WATER HOSE END. GET GOING. A REAL PRESSURE REGULATOR IS NO LINEAR.= MORE RESTRICTION AT LOWER FLOW RATES. A SIMPLE FIXED ORIFICE RESTRICTION IS NOT A GOOD REGULATOR USE A BALL VALVE/CHEAP REGULATOR TO ADJUST THE GPM.

[@truthseekerKJV]

You are seriously overcomplicating this. The area shown on the video is so small that you can water that by hand in 15 minutes and save the money on ragulators and soaker hoses.

[@crazybob1954mo]

WOW. Your Calculations are Very Far off!! The 216 gallons per hour is for EACH 50 foot hose! IF you have 3 50 foot hose the total flow would be THREE times as much per hour. 😳

[@TurfMechanic]

I suppose if I had daisy chained them together that would be the case...but I didn't do that. Each of my garden beds had one hose on its own individual pressure regulated setup.

[@crazybob1954mo]

@@TurfMechanic OK, And Each 50 ft hose flows 216 gallons per hour. Times three hoses Equals ..... 3 X 216gph = 648 Gallons per Hour. You did not state IF were running them One at a time. 🙃

[@Quarantain]

Dude, you r e a l l y need to learn how to use a wind muff on your audio gear.

[@TurfMechanic]

Couldn't agree more, I figured it out a little bit after filming this video last year. 😊