The Planet Whizbang hose-barb fitting, installed in a plastic bucket, can be utilized for other purposes besides portable garden irrigation. Here are some possibilities...
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Whole-Garden Irrigation?
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| The Chapin Living Waters Irrigation System (photo link) |
Chapin Living Waters is a company that has developed a bucket irrigation system for “subsistence farming” in third-world nations. It utilizes a hanging bucket that feeds into lengths of plastic drip tape arranged down rows of vegetables. The company says the bucket gets filled once a day and can water a garden that will feed a small family.
I applaud the effort to help so many people. If you have an interest in doing something like this in your garden (or maybe even with several "patio plantings"), you can experiment with the idea using the Planet Whizbang brass hose-fitting in the bottom of a bucket, like they show in their pictures.
I applaud the effort to help so many people. If you have an interest in doing something like this in your garden (or maybe even with several "patio plantings"), you can experiment with the idea using the Planet Whizbang brass hose-fitting in the bottom of a bucket, like they show in their pictures.
This idea is, however, not something I have an interest in doing because dealing with lengths of flimsy plastic drip tape with tiny holes can be problematic. If the water in the bucket is not filtered and clean, small debris can clog up the holes, and there are often problems getting sufficient water pressure to the end of the drip tape line when using a low pressure system.
Besides that, I'm of the mind that third-world people in areas with minimal rainfall would be much better served by utilizing Steve Solomon's wisdom about gardening in such soils, and by supplementing water needs of certain vegetables with the fertigation/irrigation bucket, as explained in his book, Gardening Without Irrigation: or without much, anyway.
When I look at the internet pictures where the Living Waters system is being used I usually see lush green vegetation in the background. So there is subsoil moisture and some rainfall, and Steve Solomon's dry-gardening techniques would be very useful in such situations. You can find a link to a free copy of his book Here.
When I look at the internet pictures where the Living Waters system is being used I usually see lush green vegetation in the background. So there is subsoil moisture and some rainfall, and Steve Solomon's dry-gardening techniques would be very useful in such situations. You can find a link to a free copy of his book Here.
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Poultry Waterer
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If you happen to raise chickens and use a “chicken tractor” (read about mine Here and Here), you may be familiar with the Plasson "broiler drinker". I’ve used these waterers for many years and couldn’t be more pleased with their quality and durability. |
| That there is a chicken tractor (in my front yard). Notice the red Plasson waterer and the white plastic bucket. The bucket is full of water that gravity-flows via a plastic tube into the waterer. A Planet Whizbang brass hose fitting in the bottom of the bucket makes the hose connection very easy. |
I gravity-feed water to my Plasson drinker from a bucket on top of my chicken tractors. Nothing could be simpler. But you need some sort of watertight hose fitting in the bucket to feed the waterer. The Planet Whizbang brass hose fitting will accommodate the 5.7-millimeter ID hose used on the Plasson waterers.
You can install the hose fitting in the side of the bucket, just as is done with he bucket irrigation setup, or you can install the fitting in the bottom of your bucket reservoir.
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Water Level
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| This picture is of a magazine article I wrote for Fine Homebuilding magazine in 1994. It never occurred to me back then that a water level could be used as a bucket irrigation tool in the garden, or vise versa. |
If you put a longer hose on the Planet Whizbang irrigation bucket hose fitting, and fill the bucket halfway with water, you’ll have yourself a water level—the most remarkably dependable and accurate leveling device known to man.
Years ago, when I was a remodeling contractor, I used a water level (with a 35-foot hose) for all kinds of projects. And I even wrote an article for Fine Homebuilding magazine about water levels (see picture above).
Here’s how a water level works, and one way to put the tool to use....
A water level works on the principle that water always seeks to level itself. Theoretically speaking, if we had a square room that was sealed off so that we could fill it part way with water, once the water was in the room and stopped moving, it would be perfectly level.
If we were then able to make a mark at the top of the water in each corner of the room, and drained the water out, we would have for reference marks that were perfectly level with each other. Such reference marks would be very useful for numerous remodeling projects in the room.
If we measure up or down the same amount from each mark, we can use those marks to snap a level chalk line or run a level string line. These accurately level lines could then be used to install a level row of cabinets, or windows, or establish a level top line for wainscoting. If we wanted to re-frame a new floor, the marks would help us to get it perfectly level. The same would apply to framing in a lower ceiling in a high-ceilinged room. We could also use the level line to pitch a plumbing drain pipe from a bathroom above.
It is, of course, not practical to fill a room with water, but the exact same outcome can be achieved with a bucket of water and a length of vinyl tubing. Set the bucket on a sawhorse or stepladder in the middle of the room. Take one end of the tubing (with the other end attached to the bucket) to one corner of the room and hold it against the wall. When the water in the hose stops moving up and down, the level of water in the hose will be level with the water in the bucket.
If you do this, making a mark in each corner of the room, without moving the water reservoir bucket, and without losing any water out of the hose, you will have four reference marks that are perfectly level with each other—just like if you had filled the room with water.
Note: it is important that the water hose have no kinks or other obstructions (don’t stand on it), that there be no air bubbles, and that the end of the hose is not obstructed. Also, some red food coloring in the water makes it easier to see the water in the hose.
I’ve used a water level outdoors for such things as leveling forms for small concrete pads, laying concrete block walls, and putting siding on a house.
Years ago, I spoke with an elderly man who had been a mason for 30 years. He had helped build many notable buildings in Central New York starting back in the early 1940’s. He told me that water levels were commonly used on these projects.
So when you get a Planet Whizbang bucket irrigation hardware kit, don’t forget that it can also be used as a water level when the need arises.
Click Here for more information about using water levels.
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Aerobic Tea Brewer
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I’m experimenting with utilizing the Planet Whizbang bucket irrigation hardware kit to make a compost tea brewer. If my experiments are successful, I’ll post about it here. Stay tuned....,
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| Aerobic tea brewers sell for $100 or more. I'm pretty sure I can make a nice little brewer for a lot less, using the Planet Whizbang bucket-irrigation hardware kit, and a few other parts. |