An automatic watering system for a terrace is very simple to install. All you need is a simple tap. A 220 volt power supply is not necessary.
Let's get rid of the idea that such an installation is only useful during your absence, for vacations: like any watering system, it is a comfort that can be used most of the year, and that allows to save water.
Most of the big DIY stores sell all the material you will need. It is very easy to install, the fittings being, for the most part, to be fitted without tools.
Principle of installation of the system
- At the beginning, a tap on the terrace.
- We place on it a "double outlet" which will allow to multiply by 2 the fittings.
- On the first one, we screw a battery programmer (use good quality alkaline batteries: Varta or Duracell for example).
- The second outlet will remain free and autonomous in order to easily wash hands, fill a bucket...
- After this programmer, connected by a piece of garden hose, come the filter and the regulator.
- The filter prevents particles from blocking the small sprinklers placed in the pots (or planters).
- The pressure reducer is used to lower the pressure and regulate it. All the rest of the installation works in low pressure: from 1,5 to 2,5 bars.
- Since the installation is now in low pressure, it is necessary to unroll polyethylene pipe of diameter 13x16mm (in the Garden department, in GSB).
- For the terraces made on slabs, it is possible to pass this pipe underneath: the discretion of the installation is then total.
- At the end of the pipe, put a small stop valve rather than a plug, this allows to drain the pipe before winter: once the pipe is emptied of its water, the major part of the installation remains in place outside.
- From this main 13x16 pipe, we will create many branches, to go up in each pot, with small 4mm (or 4,6mm) pipe. This pipe should not be used as the main supply; we cut short lengths of it (from 1 to 5 meters) which will be connected to the 13x16 pipe.
- Finally, at the end of the small pipe, a dripper or a micro-sprinkler (usually reserved for very large containers) is installed. The installation must include one or the other. I strongly advise against mixing these two sprinklers, which are very different in terms of the amount of water they deliver.
- The only thing left to do is to fix the dripper with a small spike (or ground spike) so that it does not touch the ground directly but is slightly raised.
Tips for use
Set the timer for watering late in the evening, ideally at night, or early in the morning. If the trays can't hold water, why not do three short waterings...? With a good battery, you can water several times a night, for more than six months, without ever changing the battery.
But before winter, bring in the timer, remove the battery and put in a new one the following year.
With a simple installation like this one, you save time, peace of mind, you use less water than with your watering can, with a much better result.
