Garden Hose Water Flow Meter

[billt460]

I have a large palm, (Bismarckia Nobilis) in my front yard that requires a lot of water. I have it on my irrigation system with several other plants. But I can't run it long enough on that station without over watering everything else.

So to compensate I have a 25 foot soaker hose wrapped around the trunk several times, and buried under several inches of mulch and bark. With a garden hose attached to it, and buried up to the front yard hose spigot. Which I have a manual watering timer on.

The problem is I don't really have a handle on how much water I'm actually giving it. The flow rate on these soaker hoses vary a lot, depending on make, diameter, length, and water pressure at the spigot. Also, over time the flow can get reduced because of calcium buildup. So I was looking on Amazon, and I found this and bought it.

https://www.amazon.com/Measure-Cons...37507&sprefix=water+flow+meter,aps,184&sr=8-4

I was surprised at how much water I was putting down. In just 15 minutes that soaker put down 14 gallons on the flow meter. I would have guessed less than half that. Before I installed it I filled a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket right to the top. And it said 5.0 gallons on the meter. So it's pretty accurate.

It will be interesting to see how much water I'm using to wash the cars, along with other things. How long it will last is anyone's guess. It's under the eve, so what little rain we get won't hit it. The digital display comes on as soon as it receives water, and automatically shuts off a few minutes after it stops.

 

[tbm5690]

They also make units with timer to automatically turn on and shut off after a given amount of time or quantity...sounds like that might be useful to you to automate so that this tree gets watered 100% automatically like it were on the system alone.

Additionally, for irrigation in general flow rate and water quantity are important to know for any irrigation system to properly set up each zone.

 

[Dadillac]

I bought the same meter to run for my pressure washer. Bought a DI tank to remove water spotting and wanted to keep track of gallons used. Quality meter and happy I bought it

Don

 

[billt460]

I bought the same meter to run for my pressure washer. Bought a DI tank to remove water spotting and wanted to keep track of gallons used. Quality meter and happy I bought it

Don

I'm going to try it the next time I fire up my pressure washer. I'm curious to know if it pumps the advertised GPM.

 

[dlundblad]

I’ll have to buy one of these for when I fill our stock tank pool this year. Didn’t know such a thing existed.

When you get the needed water to time ratio dialed in, they also make timer controlled shut off valves. Our local zoo uses Orbit brand valves for their landscaping. I figured if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me. I’m going to buy one this year for our tree line irrigation setup. They get watered twice a week for 4 hours. 1 gallon per hour emitters. 81 trees.