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How Does A Soaker Hose Work?

How Does A Soaker Hose Work?

Soaker hose, also known as leaky pipe or porous pipe is both the first step into irrigation and also suitable for the more experienced gardener. Systems can be expanded to suit most garden environments, such as flower beds, hedges, greenhouses, shrubs, planters, and trees. The Soaker hose allows water droplets to gently seep through porous layers across the length of the hose to ensure water is not lost in the air but fed directly to where it is needed most: the roots.

Getting the Most From Your Soaker Hose

Ready To Use
Easy to Use

Upon receiving your soaker hose, unwind slowly and with care. Try not to allow the hose to kink as this prevents the flow of water and can damage the structure of the hose. Once your hose is fully unwound, weigh it down with a brick on either side and leave it out in the sun for at least one hour which should allow any kinks to settle.

 

Water Saving
Water-Saving

Soaker hose irrigation uses 70% less water than manual watering. How often to run a soaker hose? Start by running your soaker hose for 10 minutes three times a week and check the watered area to see if it has penetrated the soil’s top layer enough to sufficiently water your plants.

Solutions that Work
Solutions That Work

Individually tailor your soaker hose to your garden layout. Barbed elbows can be used to direct the pipe around corners and use Tees to divert water flow three ways. Use barbed connectors that are the same size or 1mm larger than the internal diameter of your soaker hose to ensure no leaks and a watertight fit.

 

Healthy Plants
Healthy Plants

The soaker hose is best placed between 30cm to 50cm apart and next to the base of your plants. For best results, space your soaker hose further apart in soil with high clay content and closer together in more sandy soil.

How to Use a Soaker Hose

Begin by drawing a plan of your garden and where you would like your soaker hose to water. It might be useful to write a list of extra components you will need to create your system. Install a Back Flow Preventer to your tap right at the beginning of your system to protect your water source from contamination.

Supplying your Soaker Hose Watering System
soakerhoseinstallation

A soaker hose can be connected to the tap in three ways. Direct connection is the most simple, however, does allow water wastage from the soaker hose before it reaches where it is required to water.

Use either LDPE or Garden Hose to take water directly between flower beds or planters. 

LDPE: Thread a Barbed Tap Connector to the outlet of your tap and use Barbed Components to direct the pipe to where the soaker hose will be situated. Then, connect the LDPE pipe to the Soaker Hose using a Barbed Joiner.

Hose Pipe: Connect your hose to the tap using Hose End Connectors and use a Male Adaptor to connect the Soaker Hose to your garden hose. Garden hose pipe is more flexible than LDPE pipe and is, therefore, easier to navigate around corners without requiring extra connectors.

Pressure Reducer

Soaker hoses are perfect for domestic garden environments as they operate under low pressures (between 0.5 – 1 bar).

To maintain an even level of watering along the length of the hose, you will need a Pressure Reducer to ensure water from your hose is seeping, not spurting. Pressure reducers can be easily installed directly to a ¾” garden tap followed by your tap connector and chosen method of supply.  

Maintain Healthy Plants

Length: Soaker hoses are most effective when run in shorter lengths, use the table below as a guide for maximum run lengths. You can cut your soaker hose to length using Pipe Cutters.

Essential Extras: Place an End Plug or End Stop that fits the internal diameter of your soaker hose all open ends within your system. This maintains the required pressure for your soaker hose to run effectively and ensures water reaches along the full length of your hose.

Use Hold Down Stakes to keep your soaker hose close to the ground for maximum root watering and to avoid trip hazards.

Top Tip: Soaker hoses are not pressure regulated and do not work effectively on slopes. To keep your soaker hose watering at its best, it is recommended you use it only in flat areas. On uneven ground, it is advisable to use Drip Line.

How to Use a Soaker Hose

• Begin by drawing a plan of your garden and where you would like your soaker hose to water. It might be useful to write a list of extra components you will need to create your system.

• Soaker hoses are perfect for domestic garden environments as they operate under low pressures (between 0.5 – 1 bar). To maintain an even level of watering along the length of the hose, you will need a Pressure Regulator or Pressure Reducer to ensure water from your hose is seeping, not spurting.

Pressure Regulators and Reducers

• Supplying your soaker hose watering system: If you are using a hose pipe, connect your supply pipe to your pressure reducer using a tap and quick click connector. If using LDPE pipe connect using a barbed tap connector.

Barbed Tap Connector

• Length: Soaker hoses are most effective when ran in shorter lengths, use the table below as a guide for maximum run lengths. You can cut your soaker hose to length using Pipe Cutters.

Soaker hose maximum run length guide

• Essential Extras: Place an End Plug or End Stop that fits the internal diameter of your hose at the end of your soaker hose. This maintains the required pressure for your soaker hose to run effectively and ensures water reaches along the length of your soaker hose to maintain healthy plants.

• Hold Down Stakes keep your soaker hose close to the ground for maximum root watering and to avoid trip hazards.

Hold down stakes

• Top Tip: Soaker hoses are not pressure regulated and do not work effectively on slopes. To keep your soaker hose watering at its best, it is recommended you use it only in flat areas. On more uneven ground it is advisable to use Drip Line.

Customising Your Soaker Hose System

A soaker hose can be run in limited lengths however, you can water larger areas by arranging your soaker hose into different watering zones. Zoning an irrigation system essentially means splitting water from the tap to water different areas of your garden at different times. The aim of zoning an irrigation system is to use the available water from the tap and ensure this water can reach the furthest point away from the water source.

To create a watering system capable of watering your whole garden no matter how large, use a Water Distributor to connect multiple lengths of soaker hose to the tap that can be run independently.

Flexible, Reliable and Automated Watering

To create a fully automated and time-saving soaker hose system, you may wish to use Water Timer or Tap Timer at the beginning of your system. This simple solution allows you fully automate garden watering even when you are away from your property.

For Complex Garden Layouts

Set your soaker hose out in a gridded network, circular shape around plants, looped around trees or in a snake pattern through shrubs and borders.

Top Tip: Get creative with the layout of your soaker hose system using additional Barbed Connectors and LDPE pipe. Use Control Valves installed throughout your system so you can manually turn off watering to parts of the system that may need less frequent watering, for example, in a vegetable bed where the soaker hose is installed in a gridded network and the produce has been uprooted when ready to eat.

Top Tip: Cover your soaker hose in mulch to improve the appearance of decorative flower beds and protect your hose from frost damage in the winter months. Mulch also ensures water from your soaker hose remains in the root zone where plants need it most and is less likely to evaporate in the air.

Preparing a Soaker Hose System for Autumn/Winter

Detach from the Water Source

Unlike garden hose pipes, a soaker hose and its barbed connectors can remain in situ over the winter months. There is no need to bring the hose into the shed or garage – another time-saving benefit of using soaker hose irrigation. The porous layers allow water to continually seep from the hose removing the need to drain the system.

Top Tip: Purchase spare barbed tees, joiners, stakes and elbows in case yours do not survive over winter.

mulch

To ensure a longer-lasting soaker hose, lightly cover the hose in a layer of mulch. Covering in mulch rather than soil insulates the hose from harsh weather and protects the hose against clogging.

Safe Storage

Remove any quick click connectors connecting the soaker hose to a hose pipe or the tap. Place these connectors in a shed, garage or any undercover area and bring them out again as the weather begins to warm up.

marker for connectors

Connectors: Where you have removed any connectors, place a marker so you can locate where you need to replace them next season.

Soaker Hose: If you have buried the hose under mulch, use markers such as plant labels to protect the hose from being speared if you are digging or aerating your garden.

Preparation for Next Season

Looking ahead to when we can get back outside and enjoy our summer gardens, your soaker hose system will need some reviving.

You will need to check your barbed connectors have survived the winter months and have not cracked. To tell if you need to replace connectors, you will visually be able to see water leaking from and around the connections.

Our Recommendations

Soaker Hose Kits

Why not try our ready-made Soaker Hose Kits? It takes the hassle out of searching for products you may need as all the hard work is done for you! Soaker hose kits can be used to water pots, flower beds, shrubs, planters, hedges, trees, and any other area of your garden you need to water.

We have kits available with different lengths of soaker hose suitable for most garden sizes, and kits with LDPE supply pipe included for more complex layouts.

Our Soaker Hose Kits contain all the components you need for easy installation and allow you the flexibility to lay your soaker hose kit in a way that compliments your garden layout.

Shop Soaker Hose Kits

Probore Soaker Hose

Our 16mm (20mm external diameter) Probore soaker hose is perfect for watering larger gardens or commercial environments, such as vineyards, allotments, orchards, or sports fields. Use 16mm elbows, tees, and joiners to create a system that is perfectly designed to meet your watering requirements and keep your plants in the best condition.

Probore soaker hose has a larger internal diameter meaning it can water larger distances of up to 80m and can emit between 3-5 litres of water per hour.

Top Tip: The 16mm Probore soaker hose is compatible with our 13mm quick-click connector for a simple connection to the tap.

Shop Probore Soaker Hose

Frequently Asked questions

soakerfaq

How do I keep my soaker hose in place?

For accurate delivery of water, push a Ground Stake into the soil every metre length of the soaker hose. A ground stake can ensure your soaker hose sits directly at the base of the plant you wish to water meaning the water emitted is delivered directly to the plant’s roots. Top Tip: Ground stakes are ergonomically designed to secure pipe into position without causing any disruption to water flow. We do not recommend using tent pegs as an alternative due to the internal pipe bore restrictions this will cause.

Shop Ground Stakes

soakerfaq

My soaker hose drips onto areas I don’t want to water!

A Soaker hose is porous along its full length and will continue to leak where it is installed between planters or on a patio. In this instance, these in-between lengths are not watering any plants and wasting water. Use a Garden Hose Pipe or LDPE pipe to supply water between planters or from the tap to the area you wish to water. A soaker hose is compatible with the Quick Click Connectors used on your garden hose pipe or can easily be connected to LDPE Pipe using a Barbed Joiner.

soakerfaq

I cannot fit my connectors onto/into my soaker hose.

Soaker hose is compatible with barbed connectors that fit the internal diameter of the hose, for example, use 13mm Barbed Connectors for 13mm pipe and 16mm Connectors for 16mm pipe. As joins between lengths of pipe will need to be watertight, the barbed connector will require some force to push it fully into the pipe for a secure connection. Once the barb is installed it will lock into the wall of the pipe and prevent pipe dislocation whilst the system is in use. You may notice some flaring around the wall of the pipe but this is normal. Please note: Soaker hose is not compatible with nut lock connectors. 

soakerfaq

Can I use my soaker hose on uneven terrain?

Whilst soaker hose is highly effective and the ideal solution when watering raised beds and planters, it is not pressure compensated and is not designed to be installed on exaggerated sloped layouts. In circumstances where an area you would like to irrigate is of more challenging terrain, try using a Pressure Compensated Drip Line System.

soakerfaq

I am going on holiday, how do I keep my plants watered?

There is no need to rely on the neighbours to keep your plants watered when you are away on holiday. Simply connect your soaker hose system to a Water Timer for automated irrigation set to specified watering days and frequency. Why not try a water timer to automate your garden irrigation even if you are not due to go on holiday – The ideal time-saving solution leaving you with more time for more important things.

soakerfaq

Extending your current irrigation system?

If you already have a soaker hose irrigation system in situ, you can always expand your system to irrigate other areas of your garden. The HydroSure brand offers a range of components such as Barbed Connectors and Valves, Irrigation Supply Pipe and Hose Joiners to build a network of soaker hoses capable of watering more complex garden layouts.

Top Tip: Don’t forget to purchase additional Pipe Stakes for every extra metre of pipe.

soakerfaq

My soaker hose does not emit along the full length of the hose

A soaker hose is designed to be run in long lengths up to 30-metres. It does, however, require the use of an End Cap to plug any open end of the system and maintain water pressure within the pipe allowing more effective watering along the length of the hose. Whilst a 30-metre run length is ideal for most at home domestic gardens, a larger garden or allotment may have a longer length that requires irrigation. In situations such as this, a soaker hose irrigation system is still an effective method of irrigation but will require multiple lengths to be run at different times. Separate the available water using a Multiple Outlet Water Distributor to water each length independently. Top Tip: Use LDPE Pipe or Garden Hose to supply water to your soaker hose as it gets further away from the tap. This type of pipe contains the water promoting maximum water flow meaning it can be run in much longer lengths.

soakerfaq

My soaker hose is spurting all over the place!

Soaker hose operates at low pressures and does require a pressure reducer to regulate water pressure to the correct level for optimal functioning. Install a Pressure Reducer directly to the tap before your tap connector to ensure your soaker hose is seeping and not spurting.

soakerfaq

Drip Irrigation vs. Soaker Hose

Both Soaker Hose and Dripline are one of the most effective watering methods as they deliver water directly to the plant's roots. Drip Line, however, delivers a uniform application of water and with much longer run lengths up to 200 metres that are both consistent and easily measurable by litre per hour output. Dripline is also available with built-in Pressure Compensation ideal for sloped terrain and Anti-Siphon varieties for reliable protection against root intrusion when installed sub-surface.

A soaker hose is a more flexible irrigation method as water seeps through the porous layers along the length rather than at individually spaced outlets where the drip line is concerned. Whilst the soaker hose is easier to set up as it is compatible with connectors that fit a regular garden hose pipe, it is limited to run lengths of up to 30 metres when using a 13mm Soaker Hose and up to 80 metres when using a 16mm Soaker Hose.

The accurate and reliable delivery of water from drip line requires initial expense and maintenance in terms of additional filters and system flushing to minimise emitter blockages. Soaker hose, however, tends not to block so requires minimal planning when building a soaker hose system.