Drip irrigation requires a filter on the line to avoid the problem of
clogged emitters. Public water supplies are not immune to debris in the
line that can clog the drip emitters. I use the disk filters: they're
cheap and when they get clogged they can be cleaned and reused. A filter
for a 3/4" water line (~10gpm) is around $15-20 and lasts for years (has
to be drained in the winter [I'm in New England, so I can't count on
mild winters]).

I have had voles chew on the soaker hoses, both above and below ground.
I have had hoes cut the hoses (I keep my hoes sharp). IMHO the drip
irrigation is more cost effective for me.

Draining the tubing for the winter takes me about 10 minutes for about
700' of tubing. I open the high spot, then open the low spot and the
water is sucked out of the line. When it's drained I go around and open
all the other valves (I frequently use ball valves). The low spot is
buried in a valve box and I also buried 20' of 4" perforated pipe. That
gives the water someplace to go while it's draining and lets it soak
into the ground when it's done.

I use 2-way splitters on spigots occasionally, but I'm cheap, so I buy
the cheap plastic ones. They break from rough use. It actually costs
less to buy a spigot at Home Depot than it does to buy a brass splitter,
so I use double spigots whenever I'm putting in new plumbing. My opinion
of quick disconnects is that they reduce the flow, but I have no real
basis for that opinion since I don't use them.

This is what works for me.


Warren wrote:
I started with a combination of recycled tire soaker hoses, and drip
irrigation. I have removed all the drip irrigation, and replaced it with
the soaker hoses.

Why? Well, the drip emitters were constantly getting clogged. I had to
be super careful when working around the tubing. I had to drain the
tubing for the winter. It just all got to be too much trouble.

The soaker hoses are pretty tough. If I bump them with a hoe or rake,
they don't need to be repaired. They don't clog. I can leave them out
for the winter without draining them because they are essentially
self-draining. Initially they were more obvious in the beds, and less
aesthetically pleasing, but as plantings around them became more mature,
and mulch built-up, they've disappeared into the landscaping.

These days every bed has soaker hoses snaking through them. I have a big
spiral that I lift out of the way when preparing the summer vegetable
bed, and then drop it back into place before putting in the transplants.
The only place I still use overhead watering are the containers I water
by hand, and the only section of the lawn that I water during the
summer. I have quick disconnects on everything, and a small collection
of meters and timers that I move around as needed. (I especially need
things to automatically turn-off zones as I always forget what I
started.)

Every spigot has 2-way or 4-way splitters, and during the summer I have
one 100' length of hose that's always under pressure going to a splitter
with quick-disconnects in a far corner of the yard. Some of the soaker
hoses also have segments of regular hose running between the start of
the soaker zone, and the water source. Those get drained for the winter,
but are left in place. Nearly every connection has a quick disconnect to
isolate zones, and insert timers or meters as needed.

What I do may not work for everyone -- especially if you're not
someplace with mild winters. But I'd never go back to drip irrigation,
and clogged emitters. I want to spend time deciding where to water, and
how much. With drip irrigation I needed to do that *and* spend a lot of
time maintaining the system. Too much of a pain.