How To Choose A Garden Pump Hose

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

A correctly chosen garden pump hose is the best helper for watering your summer cottage. With proper storage and proper care, it will not only last a long time, but also fully justify its cost. How to choose a truly high-quality garden pump hose, and what criteria for its selection would not hurt to pay special attention to?

Material

The material from which the garden hoses are made is a fundamental factor in their durability. Some of the most popular garden hoses are rubber hoses. Surprisingly flexible and at the same time durable, they are absolutely not afraid of temperature changes or friction against hard objects. Moreover, such hoses are quite heavy, since sometimes they can consist of four layers. Rubber hoses can easily withstand a pressure of 40 bar, and their average service life is twenty years.

Plastic hoses are always single-layer, flexible, transparent and very lightweight. They also have a very serious drawback - excessive fragility. During use of these hoses, kinks form on them, which not only block the access of water, but also lead to a fracture of the plastic. And at too low or too high temperatures, plastic hoses are often deformed, however, they also quickly deteriorate from all kinds of mechanical damage. They, as a rule, do not withstand a water pressure exceeding 5 bar, and limescale often forms inside them. Recently, you can see on sale corrugated plastic hoses, on which no creases are formed, however, such options also cannot boast of good wear resistance - on average, they last two years.

There are also plastic hoses with fabric cushions (Tricotline). It is thanks to the fabric that these hoses become more flexible, as well as reliably protected not only from kinking, but also from deformation at too low temperatures. Kinks of such hoses are not terrible, and the pressure that they are able to withstand is 35 - 40 bar. And the average service life of plastic hoses equipped with fabric gaskets is much longer than that of their ordinary plastic counterparts - it is fifteen years.

Nylon hoses are very flexible, durable and lightweight, but temperature drops and a water pressure of more than 5 bar are categorically contraindicated for them. Most often, their guaranteed service life does not exceed a year. Silicone hoses boast resistance to sudden temperature changes, PVC hoses are very wear-resistant, resilient and flexible, and metal-braided hoses are not only very strong, but also do not twist (most often metal is used in the production of corrugated hoses).

Reinforced hoses

are formed by three layers, therefore they are often called three-layer. The inner black PVC layer helps protect the hose from algae growth and enhance its UV resistance. The second layer is also made of PVC, and between the two layers, manufacturers place a thin nylon mesh. And the third layer of PVC is always soft and painted in a wide variety of shades. The water pressure through such hoses, which can reach 35 bar, is always distributed very evenly. When the temperature drops significantly, the reinforced hoses become rigid but not deformed. It should be noted that this is the most durable and most expensive variety of garden hoses.

Drip irrigation hoses

For drip irrigation, two types of hoses are provided: oozing, or porous, and spray. Oozing options are always equipped with porous walls that allow water to seep along their entire length, which in turn makes it possible to water all the necessary vegetation without much difficulty. Typically, these hoses are attached to conventional hoses, after which they are pulled between the rows of plants and buried near their stems in the ground. This is an ideal solution for irrigation of those crops that are extremely unimportant to the ingress of moisture on fruits with leaves (tomatoes, etc.).

And the spray hoses have three rows of equally spaced micro-holes. In most cases, they are fixed on low supports.

Choosing a hose for different types of pumps

Surface pumps designed for water intake from natural reservoirs or from wells create a vacuum in the hoses, which means that high ring stiffness is very important for the hoses connected to such pumps - in the absence of such, atmospheric pressure will simply crush their walls. The most suitable for water intake will be hoses made of rubber reinforced with nylon - the ring stiffness of such hoses will be provided due to a sufficiently high wall thickness (as a rule, it is equal to three to four millimeters). Corrugated PVC hoses are also used a little less often - the fact that they are corrugated also prevents them from collapsing at moments of rarefaction. And sometimes polyethylene pipes are also installed for the water intake - despite the fact that they cannot boast of high flexibility, they are much tougher than all other options.

Vibration pumps are also designed for water intake (they are distinguished from surface models by the fact that they are submersible and do not draw in water, but push it up), and they also create a vacuum in the hoses, respectively, for these pumps you should purchase the same hoses as for surface models - from rubber reinforced with nylon or corrugated hoses made of PVC.

Drainage pumps, often called drainage-fecal pumps, are used to pump out cesspools, country septic tanks, natural reservoirs and drainage wells. Absolutely any hoses can be used with such pumps, since neither excess pressure nor vacuum is created in these cases. Reinforcement in this case will not be an advantage, but it will not become an obstacle either. The most important thing is that the diameter of the purchased hose always matches the size of the pump nozzle itself.

For pumping stations designed for irrigation or stationary water supply, it is best to purchase PVC or polyurethane hoses reinforced with synthetic thread - they compare favorably with wire-reinforced options in better compatibility with fittings, since adapters and couplings made for garden hoses are simply not designed for too much rigid reinforcing frames.

Diameter

Its throughput will largely depend on the diameter of the hose. If your garden pump is not very powerful and generates a small head, it is best to opt for a hose with a small diameter. And for a very long hose, a larger diameter is required.

The standard garden hose diameter is 13 mm and is sufficient for watering small to medium sized areas. However, other hose options can be found on the market, with diameters of 16 mm, 19 mm and 25 mm. Special adapters are usually purchased for them.

What to look for when buying?

The very first thing you need to pay attention to is the material from which the hose is made. So that this valuable assistant does not let you down in the midst of the season, it is better to refuse the idea of purchasing a single-layer plastic hose - such options wear out very quickly due to all kinds of mechanical damage and breakdowns. A reinforced hose is most suitable for a garden pump. It is also important to ensure that the selected hose is environmentally friendly - the material should not contain harmful chemical elements.

Do not discount such an indicator as resistance to temperature extremes. Inexpensive plastic hoses, periodically exposed to high temperatures (about forty degrees), quickly deteriorate. As for PVC hoses, they are able to withstand temperatures up to sixty degrees above zero. True, if in winter the thermometer drops below minus twenty degrees, such hoses will have to be hidden from frost.

The next important criterion is the number of layers. Good quality hoses usually have three to four, and ideally they are reinforced with synthetic fibers. Of course, this is a rather expensive and very difficult option, but such hoses can last up to twenty years, and in these twenty years they will fully pay off!

As for the surface of the hoses, which can be both smooth and ribbed, in this case it is important to take into account that the ribbed hoses are much more comfortable to hold in your hands - wet smooth hoses constantly slip out of them. And in order to determine the length of the hose, it is important to understand exactly where it will be connected to the pump and where the most extreme watering point is located - the length of the hose should allow it to reach this point unhindered.

It will not hurt to take into account the water pressure. The description of each hose usually indicates for what water pressure it is designed. As a rule, for ordinary watering, a pressure of 5 bar is quite enough, however, in any case, it is better to purchase an option with at least a small margin.

And, of course, any garden hose must be flexible so that it is comfortable to move around the site, easily bypassing any obstacles. But it is better to refuse from transparent hoses right away - under the influence of sunlight, they begin to become overgrown with algae. In this case, it will be much easier to buy a new hose than to clean the one that suddenly “bloomed”!