What Adapter For
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How to connect drip irrigation to a garden hose faucet

Screw these onto the faucet (or the male end of a hose) in this order: a backflow preventer, a filter, a 25 psi pressure regulator, then an adapter sized to your tubing. Rain Bird sells the first three as one faucet kit.

Male hose thread, as on a spigot spout, a washing machine valve or the far end of a hose

Soft black poly tubing, .620", .700" or .710" across

What fits

Drip faucet kit, then a hose-thread adapter for your tubing size

backflow preventer → filter → 25 psi pressure regulator → 3/4" hose x tubing adapter

Available on Amazon

Drip faucet kit: backflow, filter, regulator Hose thread to 1/2" drip tubing adapter

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  • Backflow preventer on the faucet (3/4" female hose thread in, male out), so garden water can’t siphon back into the house supply.
  • Filter and pressure regulator (DIG and Rain Bird faucet regulators are preset to 25 psi). Rain Bird sells all three as one faucet connection kit.
  • Swivel or hose-thread adapter sized to your tubing’s outside diameter: .620", .700" or .710". Read the size printed on the tubing.
  • No tape on these hose threads. The washers seal them.

A garden hose runs at full house pressure. Drip emitters are made for much less, and a plain adapter has no backflow preventer to keep garden water out of the house supply.

More: Drip tubing sizes

Common questions

How do I join two brands of 1/2 inch drip tubing?

Universal 1/2" drip coupling (fits .620" to .710"). Brands sell different real sizes under the same “1/2 inch” label. A compression fitting is made for one outside diameter, so you need to know that diameter to pick the fitting.

Keep going

Drip tubing sizes.620, .700, .710Identify itwhich tubing?Connect different drip tubingGarden hose to 1/2" pipeGarden hose to 3/4" pipeConnect two garden hosesToilet supply line size

For a different part on either end, open the adapter finder with this pair picked.

Where we get our information from

The sizes on this page come from published standards and the makers’ own documents. Checked against published data from DIG Corp. and Rain Bird.

See all 3 sources
  • DIG Corp., “Tubing & Fittings for Drip Irrigation”
  • DIG Corp., “Starting a Drip System from a Faucet” and D45 backflow / D46 regulator pages
  • Rain Bird, Faucet Connection Kit

General guidance from manufacturer and standards data. Parts vary by brand, so check the size printed on the package against what you measured. For gas lines or anything inside a wall, use a licensed plumber.