On Feb 6, 4:20 pm, wrote:

Does this seem easy/straigt-forward? Am I missing anything in the
thought process?
Would I still need to measure PSI and GPM for 3-4 heads in this small
area? Would I need a backflow prevention mechanism for connection to
an above-ground faucet?

Since you're asking this question NOW, I have to assume that you're
located somewhere where freezing of the pipes is not an issue. If not,
you might want to go deeper than 6 inches.

Otherwise, seems simple enough to me. Some 1/2 inch PVC, put threaded
T's with cut-off risers where you want the sprinkler heads. You should
be able to find a PVC adapter to go from your PVC pipe to either male
or female garden hose threads, run a length of garden hose from there
to your hose bib. Put a Y-adapter on your hose bib so you can leave
your sprinklers connected and still use a hose. Even lazier, I have
seen (but never used) battery powered hose timers - you connect the
timer to the hose bib, and the hose to the timer - I assume you can
set them for frequency and duration - not sure what happens when the
batteries die, probably stops watering.

Small circuit like that, you probably don't need to worry too much
about PSI and GPM. One of my circuits at home runs 6 popup heads,
combination of full-circle half-circle and quarter circle through 3/4
inch pipe, think my pressure is something like 55-60 PSI, don't
remember, it's been a while. It's not rocket science, you just need to
make sure you can deliver the required total flow rate of the
sprinkler heads at your delivery pressure. Toro and RainBird both
print little planning guides you can pick up at Home Depot - they have
a chart that shows how many GPM can be delivered through a given size
pipe at a given pressure - just make sure the total GPM of all your
sprinkler heads is below that number. Not a big deal to measure the
pressure, I bought a small pressure gauge when I did my sprinklers,
think it cost 6 or 7 bucks. Or maybe a neighbor has one you can
borrow, it's something you use once and then put away in the garage.

You definitely want some kind of backflow prevention on there to
protect your drinking water, wouldn't want to suck garden water with
fertilizer or insecticide back into the house, would you? In many
localities, code requires backflow diverters on outside faucets. If
you don't have one, you can buy a diverter that screws on to your hose
bib, don't know what they cost, but they look like they shouldn't be
more that $5 or so.

Hope this helps,
Jerry