Soaker hose with a rain barrel

Question

I have a simple setup with a rain barrel, and I'd like to run a soaker hose from it to water some flowers at my house. I am hoping to find a soaker hose that will be reliable enough to use for a few years at least, and I'd like to avoid the complexity of dealing with a drip system if possible.

I tried this product, which worked so-so for a little while, but as many reviews stated, it virtually stopped letting any water out after a few months. I took off the cap and let some water run through it, but that didn't seem to help. I disconnected the hose and put a coat hanger in each end to try to dislodge any debris that might have gotten clogged inside, but I didn't find anything, and the behavior was the same after that.

I have read that a 200 mesh filter could help keep a soaker hose from getting clogged with debris. I also plan on elevating my rain barrel with cinder blocks in order to gain a bit more pressure. But I will need another soaker hose to run to another area, and I'd like to replace my current soaker hose, which I think is useless now.

Where can I find a reliable soaker hose that will work with a rain barrel?

I've come across the following in my search, but I have no idea whether they're reliable, since I could find very few or no reviews for them online.

1. DripWorks - actually couldn't find any proper soaker hoses for low pressure there, just something called a soaker dripline
2. Rain Barrel Soaker Hose, also seen on Mr. Drip and Rain Barrel Man

And searching on the following sites produced only products that required higher pressure than rain barrels or products with many poor reviews.

1. Amazon
2. Home Depot
3. Lowes

Where can I find a reliable rain barrel soaker hose? Or should I give up this search and use a drip hose instead?

Answer 1

Collecting rain water in barrels is a good thing I guess. In some states it is actually illegal, such as mine, Oregon. Hoses can only work using the weight of the water and water's surface tension. Not hoses with holes. You could get away with a longer solid hose with a few feet of drip holes but yes, forget using a soaker hose with a rain barrel.

Here is an idea I've used that will make a difference. I had to water flower baskets that were 20 feet off the ground. I got a hot water tank and when you fill that hot water tank with psi 60 or whatever the pressure is coming out of the hose from the tap is included in that tank. I was able to water my plants as if I was connected to the TAP the city water pressure.

You could also look into a ram pump.

If there were easy peasy solutions you would have already heard about them. I would dig a dog gone trench (depth depends on your zone), lay some 1" pvc pipe and if you are on a well? forget about rain barrels. In the city you are probably illegal. You are also in danger of promoting mosquitoes in a big way. Keep those barrels tightly closed.

Just to water some flowers? Sounds like too much work for flowers. Grins.