I've installed a small irrigation system. For now its only going to service my back yard, but I plan on expanding it later. I installed the 1" main line to a valve box where I can extend in the future.

Now I need to connect the 1" line to my house at a hose faucet. The line that comes from the house is 1/2". I plan on removing the faucet, installing a 1/2" tee, and a 2" extension to reinstall the faucet.

My question is what type of material should I use for these connections, and what is the best way to go from the 1/2" supply line to the 1" pvc shut off valve in the ground directly below my connection.

The 1/2" pipe from the house is some kind of metal, I cant tell as its been painted over a few times, and I'm not sure what type is typically used? The only metal tee I see is galvanized. Is that ok to use? Then I would connect the pvc into the galvanized and use a few reducers to get to the 1" size? Any suggestions on the best way to do this?

Thanks, Bill

 

The problem that I see is that you are trying to feed a 1" irrigation system from a 1/2" faucet line.

How many heads @ GPM do you have installed.

You are going to be very limited in the capacity, maybe 1 or 2 heads!

 

So when I was doing the design using an online program, I measured my main service line coming into the house at another hose faucet I have at 3/4" and that's what I used. I only realized today before posting this that the faucet I am connecting to is 1/2" and I never thought it would make a difference. After reading your reply, I re-ran the design using 1/2" and it like doubled the number zones needed. Thank You for bringing that up!!

So I already have 7 heads installed, and now it would be split into 2 zones at 3 gpm (its a pretty small area) if I use the 1/2" connection, plus a few modifications to split it. Seeing it will double the cost of valves, not to mention the confusion of having 12 zones, I will most likely have to connect to the 3/4" before expanding it, and I can use the main line I already have installed for future zones.

Do you have any suggestions for the connection materials / fittings from my original question?

Again, thanks for realizing my error!

 

I would definitely connect it to your 3/4" main directly after the meter. Any other location, you'll be fighting for volume with whatever else is on that branch.

If you want to connect it temporarily to the 1/2" hose bib pipe, you can use the existing threaded connections and use galvanized pipe and fittings to make the connections. It's the quickest solution. BUT - I would typically NOT recommend using galvanized pipe in any plumbing system since it has a tendency to rust and degrade over time. It would be better to convert to copper and sweat the connections, or use some other method for joining the pipes.