Pam wrote:

Sounds like the water pressure was too high. You might want to
consider
investing in a pressure regulator that attaches to your hose bib.
Soaker and
drip systems need very low water pressure to be efficient.
Unfortunately, that
also means they need to be used in very short runs, so that adequate
pressure is
maintained along the length.


I'd agree. But I'm not sure what kind of watering system the original
poster is talking about.

If it's a soaker hose, the water pressure should be *very* low. The
round ones that weep water *usually* instead of having a plain O-ring
washer have a disk with a small hole in it on the end you connect to the
water. If that disk is in, even if you take off the end cap on the other
end, you'll hardly see any water coming out. Certainly not enough to
erode a hole as the OP described. And you'll still get water weeping out
of the length of the hose even with the end cap off.

If we're talking about the flat "soaker" hoses with the pinholes spaced
along the top of the hose, you'll notice right away if the end of the
hose is gone because you won't see the spray coming up from them. (Most
of these hoses don't even have removable end caps.) If you're turning
this hose upside-down so the holes face down, the spray from the
pinholes will cut into the soil. I also can't imagine that anyone would
call these "drip hoses."

In the drip irrigation systems I've seen, the hoses don't have "screw
on" end caps. You simply fold the end over itself, and slide on a sleeve
that keeps the hose folded. If the water pressure is too high, it's more
likely that the emitters will blow off, or leaks will occur around the
places they're tapped into the tubing. The end sleeve isn't likely to be
forced off.

So since the poster speaks of "drip" and an end cap that can be screwed
on, I'm going to guess that we're really talking about a soaker hose
that the pressure regulating disk has been removed, and the pressure is
just too high.

--
Warren H.

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