Is it feasable to use a rain barrel with a soaker hose.

After a year and a half of dry conditions her in North Carolina I thought of using a waste and rain water collection barrel with a soaker hose to help water my plants. It is a 55 gallon container with an outlet 1.5 inches from the bottom to which a soaker hose can be attached. Question: If leading to level or slightly downward sloping terrain, is this a feasable set-up? In other words, will the water feed satisfactorily through the hose using the water pressure in the barrel? Has anyone else tried this, and if so, what was the result? Thanks for any information.

I've never used a soaker hose with my rain barrels, but do know that I don't get real good water pressure with a regular hose when the water level starts getting low. I would also be interested to know if anyone has tried the soaker hose. I applaud your use of rain barrels! I have 3 connected barrels (each 55 gallon) and have convinced my DH to add 3 more this year.

Without the pressure I'm concerned you won't get equal distribution of water along the length of the hose, the downhill plants may end up getting a lot more water and the uphill ones won't get much.

I tried it and it does not work very well since the pressure does the work, use the barrels water for your pots and what is near and use the hose for the rest.

drop a small pump into the barrel, and attach the soaker hose to the pump.

that'll give you the pressure you need, but you will have to monitor the set up to prevent pumping the barrel dry and burning out the pump

I have two pumps, one (300 gpm) I use to move water between my barrels, (8) and have hose connections to 3 sets of barrels. gravity feed by hose to water all the gardens works well, just takes time, lol

the other (small statue pump) is set up in a barrel containing fish (small fry) as an experiment in mosquito larva control......

gardening, it's a science experiment!

We use a 300 gpm pump also in our rain barrels. (We found a juice company near our house with 55 gallon drums...great lids that attach perfectly to your gutters with latches to keep the lid on... they sells them for 30 bucks)It does work in the soaker but if you are watering small beds you can see if the water is running low if it's attached to a regular sprinkler. That way you don't ruin your pump. Also they say never water veggie gardens with your rain barrels if they are attached to your gutters because the roofing materials (what ever chemicals they use on the shingles) can leech into the water.

Thank you for all of the good advise. I think for the price its worth a try. Thanks again.