How To Install Drip Irrigation Using a Simple Pop-Up Conversion Kit
Last updated: 7 March 2024
It is easy to install drip irrigation by converting an existing automatic pop-up sprinkler system.
We recently moved into a new home. In addition to an automatic lawn irrigation system, the builder installed pop-up sprinklers in the shrub beds. I have never liked watering landscape plants with sprinklers. A little water sprays over the roots and a lot ends up where you don’t want it; on the stems, trunk and foliage of landscape trees and shrubs, as well as sidewalks, driveways, and the house foundation.
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Tools and Supplies Needed
I used the Raindrip pop-up conversion kit to replace Rainbird 1800 Series Pop-Up sprinklers.
The kit has a built-in pressure regulator and filter. It simply threads onto an existing 1/2-inch riser.
Rainbird manufactures a similar kit. All of the required drip irrigation equipment can be purchased online or at your local home improvement store.
The first summer in our new home, I refused to use the pop-up sprinklers to water plants in the landscape beds. Where we live, the soils are sandy and the summers are usually dry. Our new trees and shrubs required frequent watering.
My lovely wife drug the hose around the yard hand watering three to four days a week. It took her an hour and a half each time.
After several loving hints, I decided it would be a good idea to convert the landscape beds to drip. After all, it’s a really easy project that will likely keep my shrubs and my marriage healthy.
- install drip irrigation using a conversion kit
- Pop-up sprinkler wasting water.
- Pop-up sprinkler conversion kit
- 5/8 inch polyethylene drip irrigation distribution tubing
- 1/4 inch drip tubing
- Barbed connectors
- Drip emitters
- Compression tees and couplings
- 3/4 inch hose thread x 1/2 inch compression swivel adaptor
- 1/2″ compression end plug
- Stakes
- Pipe cutter
- Drip tubing hole punch
Installing Drip Irrigation is Easy
- Excavate around the existing pop-up spray head and then remove it.
- Thread the conversion kit onto the 1/2-inch riser.
- Connect the 5/8 inch water supply tubing by using a threaded hose end adapter.
- Cap off the remaining pop-up sprinklers.
- Connect the 1/4-inch tubing and drip emitters to the supply line.
Excavate around the existing pop-up spray head and then remove it.
Install the drip irrigation conversion kit onto the 1/2-inch riser.
Connect the 5/8-inch water supply tubing by using a threaded hose end adapter.
Cap off the remaining sprinkler heads. The pop-up on the top waters the lawn. The shrub head on the bottom was capped with a plug that comes with the kit.
Use a hole punch to connect 1/4-inch tubing to the water supply line.
Connect the 1/4-inch tubing and drip emitters to the supply line.
Watering trees and shrubs, not the sidewalk, driveway or house.
I recommend flushing the system to clear dirt and debris before installing the drip emitters.
We purchased all of the supplies from a local home improvement store. The total cost of supplies was approximately $300 to convert both the front and back yard sprinklers to drip irrigation.
Overall, it was a simple project that took about eight hours to complete. Now I can use our automatic sprinkler system to water the landscape beds; saving time, and money, and knowing that water is getting to the roots…not on the sidewalk.
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