Daily Improvisations

Subscribe to posts here!
  • Inside the Homestead
    • Cooking and Food
    • Helpless Female
    • Playing House
    • Sewing
    • crochet and knit
    • Music
  • Out in the Garden
    • Gardening in Southwest Idaho
    • Straw Bale Garden Project
  • In the Workshop
  • Out with the Chickens
    • Animals
  • Around the Globe
    • Life in Taipei
    • About Town
  • My Books
    • Home Projects and Crafts
    • Life in General

How to Make a PVC Pipe Manifold for a Netafim Drip Irrigation System

July 10, 2017 by Laura Blodgett Leave a Comment

What is a manifold and what is Netafim?

Honestly, I had to look up the word manifold. I have heard it off and on my whole life, but pretty much thought of it as “part of a car.” But when I was at the sprinkler parts store (Pipeco in Nampa), explaining how I thought I wanted to design a Netafim network for my flower bed, someone used the word manifold. In case you also aren’t sure here is the relevant definition of manifold:

a pipe or chamber branching into several openings

Netafim is a specific brand and type of drip irrigation tubing. Although there are components to design it to fit various garden sizes and shapes, the tubing is super simple. It was designed so that no other parts are needed. You just lay the tubing where you want the water and it drips from the sturdy built in emitters.

How to Make a PVC Pipe Manifold for a Netafim Drip Irrigation System

How to use a PVC pipe manifold with Netafim

You can be very creative with how you set up Netafim systems for your garden beds. Before I made this particular set-up, I had already put in three other types, and one other was done for me in a square planter box. However, the area I needed to get water to this time was larger and of a more varied shape.

A PVC pipe manifold was one of the recommended options. Since I have worked with PVC pipe before under my husband’s tutelage, I was pretty sure I could do this. And, oddly, it sounded fun. The idea is to create a branching system of Netafim tubes that are more easily placed and can more efficiently dispense water with uniform coverage.

It requires some cutting and gluing of PVC pipe, but it isn’t expensive and isn’t a touchy process. Nothing has to be exact and none of the assembly requires great feats of strength. Even though I greatly appreciate all the very helpful pointers my husband did give me along the way, I was able to do all of the work by myself. Considering that I am a 56 year old woman with lingering tendonitis in one elbow, I am pretty sure that means most people could do this.

How to build the PVC pipe manifold

This is where video comes in handy. I made this YouTube video because I think seeing the process makes it much easier to understand. If you still have questions after you watch it, please feel free to ask in the comments.

List of supplies and tools:

  • roll of Netafim emitter tubing of desired length
  • scissors for cutting Netafim
  • something to hold end of tubing closed, such as the clip they sell or a small piece of 1″ diameter PVC pipe
  • landscape pins or u-pins to hold down irrigation tubing
  • hose end connector
  • Netafim pieces that connect Netafim to the PVC pipe T-connectors
  • 3/4 inch schedule 40 PVC pipe
  • PVC pipe T-connectors with 2 smooth openings at opposite ends that 3/4 inch PVC pipe will fit in, and threads on the middle opening to screw in Netafim connector
  • PVC piece to cap off non-hose end of manifold or a PVC elbow with one screw end for the last Netafim connector.
  • a measuring tape
  • a pencil to mark where to cut PVC pipe
  • a handheld saw
  • sand paper
  • PVC primer to put on before glue/cement
  • PVC glue/cement

A summary of the process

  1. Determine the length you want the manifold
  2. Cut PVC pipe pieces of appropriate length
  3. Glue PVC pipe pieces and T-connectors/elbow connector together
  4. Screw Netafim connectors to the manifold
  5. Attach Netafim tubing of appropriate length
  6. Bend and secure ends of Netafim tubing
  7. Place Netafim tubing in garden bed, using u-pins as needed
  8. Turn on water to test

The possibilities of Netafim

Some of my Netafim systems are hooked up to my automatic sprinkler system. Some of them need to be hooked up to a hose. Some are in large garden beds. Some are in patio pots. Netafim is easily repaired by splicing in a new section, unlike soaker hoses which are destroyed by one wrong move with the shovel. The tubing is also more durable than soaker hoses.

I am obviously a huge fan of Netafim. Every time I decide to try to use it, there end up being possibilities that I didn’t know existed.

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Gardening in Southwest Idaho Tagged With: PVC Pipe Projects, southwest Idaho gardening

Get the Daily Improvisations Special Updates Email

Sign up to get my emails and get a free pdf explaining the Three Big Mistakes Gardeners Make and How to Avoid Them

I have had good experiences shopping with fabric.com!

If you want to read a heartwarming story about how a mother deals with a daughter's death, read this book.

If you have ever wanted to cook pizza in a brick oven in your own backyard, this book is for you!

Basic Facts Guides to Gardening in Southwest Idaho

a list of blog articles covering the basics to help you with your garden in southwest Idaho
FoodSaver Outlet - Save up to 50%

My Other Blogs

  • Bible News Press
  • Fun Fitness After 50
  • Fun Learning Chinese
  • The Happy Libertarian

Blogroll

  • Anemone Flynn
  • Fine Gardening
  • Gourmet In The Field
  • Sew 4 Home
  • Society for Barefoot Living
  • The D&B Supply blog
  • The Garden Professors

Past Improvisations

Improvised Categories

Making sure you know that:

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links, including affiliate links to amazon.com. See disclosures here.

All pictures and content including the name and logo “Daily Improvisations” are Copyright (c) 2017 by Laura Blodgett, unless otherwise noted. Please contact the author with any questions or comments.

Tags

Backyard Oven backyard weeds book reviews Chef Betharoni chickens Cori Lou Costa Rica crochet and knit decorating even I can do dehydrating flowers flowers from seed Gardens Around the Globe helpless female injuries insects interview Maui music organizing poems PVC Pipe Projects questioning the establishment recipes restaurant reviews sewing southwest Idaho gardening sprinklers stock market diaries Taipei Taiwan technology know-how The Best Little Chocolate Shops underground house unimpeded parenting Wild Greg Adventure

Copyright © 2018 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in