How to do a Bucket Flow Test
Firstly choose the tap you would like to use for your irrigation. Make sure no other water is been used in the house, and do the test at a time that water use in the local area is low, i.e. not at dinner time.
Fill a bucket with the tap on full and time how long it takes to fill; turn this into litres per minute. A rule of thumb is to use a design flow that is half of what you have measured.
The above rule of thumb is not accurate, and it is possible your water supply may not be able to supply 50% of your flow test at operating pressure. If you decide to use this rule of thumb, it is advisable to test your biggest zone flow with the actual sprinklers to ensure it works before you install, so adjustments to your design can be made.
It is also likely you may be able to have bigger zones, so doing a proper pressure/flow test could easily pay for itself.
Bucket Test Formula
(60 / Time in seconds) x bucket size in litres
Let's say you filled your 10-litre bucket in 15 seconds.
Time = 15
Litres = 10
So through the equation we have 60 Divided by 15 = 4
4 x 10 = 40 litres per minute
Max L/pm for our irrigation is 50% of this therefore 20 L/pm
Please Note: the message at the end about low-density pipe being rated to 300 kPa is only related to the Lateral 3 bar Product.
For high rated pipe, please see 5 Bar rate lateral pipe, LDPE or MDPE