Automatic Rain-Watering System for Greenhouse and Chicken Coop

Welcome Back!

Last summer I made an automatic greenhouse but there was in my opinion room for a lot of improvements.
So just as i promised in the other instructable, this year i made something brand new! and this time i added a Chicken coop also automatic with low cost and low maintenance.

The project got so big it took me all spring and some of summer to finish. therefor i will make the project in parts so it's easier to use for you!

This Part is The Water System. I made it out of cheap hardware normal used in floor heating. But will suit perfect for my purpose.
Links to the other parts will be updated throuout the summer underneath here:

Arduino Controller: -- Comming Soon --
Chicken Coop: -- Comming Soon --
Gardenbeds: -- Comming Soon --
Chicken Coop Automatic Door: -- Comming Soon --

Before i did the digging and the shopping for fittings and etc. I went out in the garden and starting measuring the distances between the junctions where the water either had to split or had to drop from a height. Then i Could add the numbers and calculate a total amount of materials i needed.

If you have a big area to work with i could recommend google earth. There you can measure distance between two points and it's pretty accurate.

For this project i used PEX hose. You can get in your local hardware shop. if they don't know what it is, then just tell them that it is the same they use for floor water heating.

In the same hardware shop it should be possible to get fittings that Fits (ha!) your choice in hose size.

I bought a lot of the parts from ebay as well:

Drip System: https://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-DIY-Micro-Drip-Irrigat...

Water tank fitting: https://www.ebay.com/itm/275-330-Gallon-IBC-Tote-T...

Water cups for chickens: https://www.ebay.com/itm/5Pcs-Automatic-Bird-Coop-...

Water Tap: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kitchen-Faucet-Tap-Bathro...

T fittings: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-2-Tee-3-way-F-F-F-Threa...
(you could just buy them at the hardware shop. but it is pretty cheap on ebay.)

Water pumps: https://www.ebay.com/itm/12v-Diaphragm-pump-385-Di...
(If you have a drop on the water so the water could just flow free from tank to watering place you could use valves instead: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8-2-Way-Normally-Closed...)

Now for the fun part!

Start by removing all that may be in the way of your digging processes. Because when you get started, you don't want to stop all the time to remove stuff that may be in the way, you just want to get this S**T done!

Remember to cut the grass in squares when you dig them up. This way it's a lot easier to patch the lawn afterwards.

If your lawn is not that hard to dig in, I would recommend you to dig below freezing depth. If this is a problem for you. in Denamrk it's about 50 cm.

Before I could start installing the PEX I had to make sure my water tank was secured to a frame in a height so that the water would flow naturally to the watering system and the chicken coop.

And before I could do that I had to clean up the area behind the shed.

I cleaned the tiles and made a quick but effective roof for the garden tools and the lawn mover. But more importantly I had room to work with the watertank.

I made a simple cross frame with some waste parts from the chicken coop and some big screws! this tank can hold 1000 Liter. And because I am educated and very clever I can estimate the equivalent weight to be 1000 kg.

The technique I used to place the PEX in the hole was continuously adding a meter and then holding it down while adding soil/grass to keep it down. It will try to twist because it's bought in spools.

I bought a cheap garden table in my local hardware shop and installed an old sink I had laying around.

I installed the water tap from ebay on it and installed the Arduino controller.

Then I installed the pumps and lastly I installed the fittings. The fittings I bought didn't have the option to mount on a wall so i designed a 3D part to snap around the fitting and then printed it and mounted it.
(STL file is uploaded if you can use it)

Then I wired all the hoses and wires for switches etc.

This part was just to figure out where I wanted the drippers and how the hose should run on the growing bed.

I ended up reinforcing the hoses with zip ties because the water pressure combined with the heat could make the hose pop off in the T junctions

The drinking cups was placed outside the chicken coop and inside. This way there is always a water source for the chickens.

The cups are designed to always be full if there is pressure on the water. when they are full they close for the water because of the weight of the water.

It's done!

I hope this can inspire you to make something similar and I hope you will check out the other parts of my "Automatic Garden System!"

Arduino Controller: -- Comming Soon --
Chicken Coop: -- Comming Soon --
Gardenbeds: -- Comming Soon --
Chicken Coop Automatic Door: -- Comming Soon --

Be sure to comment if you have any questions or if you have ideas for improvements!

Se you next time!