Soda Bottle Sprinkler

by bennelson

76K16434

Intro: Soda Bottle Sprinkler

The other day, it was over 100 degrees, and the little girl needed some summer fun. A lawn sprinkler would have been great, but I didn't have one. I headed to the recycling bin and pulled out a 2-liter soda bottle.

In my box of assorted plumbing parts, I pulled out a garden hose spigot. This one is designed to screw onto 3/4" threaded pipe. That's close enough to the threads on a soda bottle to just screw the bottle right into the end of the spigot.

On the hose end of the spigot, I threaded on a garden hose. This one happens to be a double-ended (female/female) hose, which is similar to a clothes washer hose. The female connection on both ends lets you connect the spigot on the soda bottle to a standard outdoor garden hose faucet.

I punched three holes in the soda bottle with an awl - two facing up, and one out on an angle.

Also, by adjusting the knob on the soda bottle, you can make it go from a high-powered sprinkler, down to a low-power drinking fountain!

See more fun, recycled DIY projects at EcoProjecteer.net!

  I later made another version of this sprinkler, which uses ONLY a water bottle as the sprinkler material. Click here to see the MK2 Soda Bottle Sprinkler.

32 Comments

Jewel Homes 1 year ago

Your link to your video about this is great! It fixes the new problem that the soda companies have changed their thread size. Pop bottles no longer fit garden hose thread. I used to use the bottle lids as custom sprinklers or water jets, but they don't fit anymore. I tried heating it the bottle, and it worked!

Michael_Bell 11 years ago

how much pressure can those coke bottles handle?

bennelson 11 years ago

I'm sure that if you have ever shaken a bottle of warm soda, you can feel how much pressure can build it. I would imagine that soda pressure is about the same as garden hose pressure.

I don't think you have to worry about the bottle exploding or anything.

Since there is a valve right on the end of the bottle, you can always use that to lower the pressure to however you would like it.

askjerry 11 years ago

They can handle 80psi fine, most homes are pressurized to 50-60psi. We had experimented with 2-liter bottles and had put them far out at the end of a long air line... they usually failed between 120 and 130 psi. If you stick to pressures around 1/2 of that... like the garden hose... no problems.

Since you are using water which is non-compressive, if it did fail it would just rip and be fairly harmless. (Unlike high pressure air which expands with a boom.)

So it should be quite safe... and a great idea if you have the parts laying around.

Jerry

If you want to know more about water and 2-liter bottles... I suggest you look up "Water Rocket" for some interesting reading and video.

northcalgreens 11 years ago

Great info, i know those bottles are tough but never thought to go blow some up with my air compresser. Well i guess i'll be out back testing soda bottles lol

askjerry 11 years ago

Just two points...

1) They go KA-BOOM pretty good... makes a shotgun sound tame.
2) You probably don't want to be within 50 feet of them.

If you don't think the percussive energy release from one is much... think again. Just be safe.

northcalgreens 11 years ago

thamks askjerry, ive made a bunch of the "dry ice bombs" and yes they are very load when they go off! this was much safer and cheaper. the neighbors wernt to happy though. guess i"ll br giving it a little rest. maybe wait til after they arent so tired of all the fireworks

bloomautomatic 11 years ago

Also, it has holes in it, so it's not going to develop full line pressure in the bottle. And if it did start to rupture, it would probably form a tear starting at one of the holes. As the hole gets bigger, pressure will drop off quickly.

dcannell 11 years ago

Water rockets (wrockets) pump them up to well over 50 psi regularly. Cover them with fiberglass and one Australian is up to 400 psi (I think).

Dave
NAR 90099
KB1TVH

The cloud 1808 8 years ago

and you can put holes in the bottom only and water plants evenly

SIRJAMES09 11 years ago

simple, cheap, & moron proof(speaking of myself). awesome ible Sir!!

I can already think of ways to use other plastic bottles or other things to make a sprinkler for the kids... 8)

One can do amazing things with PVC schedule 40 piping!! 8=D

for those who may not know what PVC schedule 40 pipe is, if you go into any hardware store in America, the white plastic pip is the schedule 40.

bobjacksonjr 11 years ago

All white PVC pipe is NOT Schedule 40. It must say on the pipe 'SCH 40'. The stores will often also have a thinner, lighter. cheaper PVC pipe that will still use the standard fittings, but quickly becomes brittle in sun light.

veeguy 11 years ago

You are correct. There are many schedules of pipe. Schedule 40 and schedule 80 are two of the most common, you can order schedule 120, but it usually is not stocked. The gauge lighter than schedule 40 must be a specialty product, because as far as I know there isn't a schedule 20. All the various schedules have a common outside diameter, so they can use the same fittings. Only the inside diameter changes. As far as UV, I have seen heavier PVC break down in long exposure, so I would give any PVC intended for outside use a coat of spray paint after it's finished.

askjerry 11 years ago

I agree... UV light turns PVC to dust after awhile. If you paint it with even a moderate spray paint... it makes it last MUCH longer... just from keeping the UV from reaching it.

And yes... the Schedule 80 PVC is very thick... I sometimes put it in my lathe to thread it or make stuff with it. I find it very useful.

I didn't know about Schedule 120... that has to be extremely thick.
Did some Google'n...

SAE
http://www.all-about-pipe.com/pvc-pipe-dimensions.html

METRIC
http://www.pipestock.com/pvc-pipe-dimensions/

OTHER
http://flexpvc.com/PVCPipeSize.shtml

bobjacksonjr 11 years ago

Thanks VeeGuy and AskJerry, I have used PVC primer for sun protection on a small pontoon boat I designed and built for a friend. It is a (very) small copy of the US Navy's 'Sea Fighter'. A very cool ship that is not effected by waves. Now I'm designing a small, stable, 2 person Kayak with provisions for a trolling motor (I'm 65) to get me home, since I live on a large lake. I'm just finishing up some PVC deer fencing that is only 5 ft tall, but it works for blueberry bushes.

veeguy 11 years ago

Its a great idea. Besides making a cheap sprinkler and reusing a plastic bottle, this is much safer than using a factory built sprinkler. . If you have ever stepped on a metal sprinkler while "running through the sprinkler", you know the pain and injury it can cause. Stepping on a 2 liter bottle will just squish it a bit, no harm, no foul!
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