With a water connection in the garden, the strenuous lugging around of watering cans is finally an end. In any case, the supply line to the pond, stream and paddling pool becomes child's play when you no longer have to laboriously maneuver meter-long hoses around the garden. These instructions explain step by step how to set up a water tap yourself.
How can I set up a water connection in the garden myself?
To install a water connection in the garden yourself, you need PE-HD plastic pipes, sand, grit, a paving slab, wooden boards, a post shoe and tools. Lay the pipes in a trench 30-35 cm deep and connect the main line to the branch to the tap. Install the water tap on a pavement and design it as you wish.
Material requirements and tools – This is what you need
Thanks to modern plastic cold water pipes, laying a water pipe in the garden is not the preserve of an experienced plumber. Connection work up to the meter is reserved for the regional waterworks. DIY enthusiasts can of course take action themselves to install a water connection in the garden. The following materials and tools are required:
- Cold water system with 32 mm pipes made of polyethylene PE-HD including accessories
- Sand, grit
- Pavement slab
- Wooden boards
- Post shoe with screws
- Teflon tape
- Pipe scissors or fine hand saw
- Drilling machine
- File
- Spade
- Wheelbarrow
Competent providers of cold water systems provide requirement calculators for the material on their websites. Once the length of the supply lines has been determined, all required couplings, T-pieces, angles and connection screws are included in the scope of delivery. Therefore, please create a precise plan that includes all locations where water should be available in the garden.
Please note that these are exclusively pipes for a cold water system in the garden. Temperatures must not exceed 20 degrees Celsius. The maximum pressure is 12.5 bar.
Preparation work – Let’s get started
Plastic pipes made of high-density PE-HD for underground laying are available from retailers as rolled-up rings with a length of up to 50 meters. Roll out the flexible pipe in the garden according to your sketch plan and weigh it down with stones. At the measured junction from the main pipe to the tap, place fittings and other parts as well as the pipe cutters on the floor, ready to hand.
In contrast to house connections, water connection pipes in the garden do not have to be laid at a frost-free depth of 80 to 100 cm. It is therefore sufficient to dig a 30 to 35 cm deep trench for the plastic pipes. Fill with fine sand halfway up so that the pipes are not damaged by stones. Place the main pipe in the trench, but only fill it in after you have made sure that no water is leaking using a pressure test.
Install water connection – How to do it
Measure the exact distance at the junction from the main pipe to the tap. Please also use a 32 mm diameter pipe for this supply line so that a sufficient amount of water can always flow through. Then dig a trench 30 to 35 cm deep, which is then half filled with sand. Proceed as follows:
- Cut the PE main pipe at the measured point with pipe cutters or a saw
- Smooth the interface with a file to prevent damage to the rubber seals
- Push the union nut, clamping ring and O-ring onto the line
- Connect the pipe, screw fittings and union nut and tighten hand-tight
Finally, the main line and branch are connected using screw fittings and union nuts. To ensure that everything is tight, please make sure that you first push the fitting part of the screw connection in as far as the second stop before tightening the union nut.
Connecting and designing the water tap – tips & tricks
The cold water system comes with a matching dispenser pipe that you connect to the end of the branch line. We recommend a pavement slab as the base for the gas pump, in the center of which you drill a hole for the pipe to pass through. After the pressure test, fill the trench with sand and grit as a base for the concrete slab.
Ideally, a post shoe gives the gas pump pipe additional stability. A wooden board acts as a back wall for the water tap, screwed to the post shoe with carriage bolts. Attach the connection piece for the faucet to the back wall at waist height using stainless steel screws and connect it to the gas pump pipe using an angle. Please do not seal the thread on the angle with hemp, but with Teflon tape.
In the last step, create the connection between the tap and the connection piece, carefully sealed with Teflon tape. If you cover the water tap point with wood all around, the back panel is doubled so that the wall panel for the tap is located directly behind the front panel. Use a hole saw to create the opening to connect the tap and the connection piece.
Tips for connecting to the house connection
The water can only flow when the water connection in the garden is connected to the public supply network. In modern new buildings there is usually already a plastic pipe in the ground for the house connection. With a T-piece, the connection is made in no time.
If you would like a connection to the garden pump or a deep well, specialist retailers have practical solutions. This also applies to the transition to narrow copper cables in older houses using screw connections, adapters and coupling pieces.
Tip
Do you use your water connection in the garden for irrigation as well as the supply line to the pond and various water features? We then recommend additionally installing a garden water meter at the tap. This way you can save on sewage charges.