How to Build a Dual Purpose Garden Hose

Sometimes you need to crimp your garden hose and remove the nozzle to let water run out faster, and other times you need the nozzle in order to spray the water harder, for example, in washing your car. Rather than ruining a perfectly good hose by constantly crimping it and re-crimping it, a better idea is to simply take an already leaky hose and fix it up so that it will do both jobs without ever having to remove the nozzle in the first place.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Old leaky hose
• Phillips Screw Driver
• 'Male' and 'Female' Hose Connectors
• 'Y' Hose Coupling
• Spray Nozzle
• Sharp Cutting Tool

How to Build a Dual Purpose Garden Hose

1. Take a good look at your raggedy old garden hose and figure out where the leaks are. This is easy to do just by running water through it. Take a black permanent marker and mark each hole on both sides.

2. Cut through the hose on both sides of each leak, and remove the holey segments. Also cut a length of good hose about six to eight inches long. Set this segment aside for later.

3. Purchase a pair of garden hose connectors for each part of the hose that has been cut, making sure that the couplings are a pair that can be screwed together, 'male' to 'female', thereby joining the separated ends of the hose into one complete unit again.

4. Purchase a 'Y' coupling to screw into the end of the hose. Insert the end of the six to eight inch segment into a 'male' hose connector, the end of which is attached to a 'female' hose end connector which is screwed on to the end of one of the 'Y' nozzles. The 'Y' nozzles each have their own little shut-off valve that you can turn to stop or release the water.

5. Attach a hose spray nozzle to the opposite end of the 'Y' attachment. It will easily screw into place and it can be used for high-powered water usage. Make sure the opposite valve is shut off when using the spray nozzle. When you wish for heavier water flow, close off the spray nozzle spigot and open the opposite one and just let the water run out.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure you catch all of the leaks in your old hose before you complete your project. If you forget a leak it will only get worse.
• Tighten all the screws as tight as possible to prevent the hose from leaking from the conjoined areas.
• Be very careful when using any kind of sharp cutting tool. Always cut away from your body rather than towards it.

Resources

• www.communityonline.com