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I'm setting up a simple irrigation system on my farm to deliver water to my fruit trees. What I want to do is to run a hose (a simple garden hose) through 1.25" schedule 40 PVC pipe to protect it and then bury it under a shallow trench (maybe 6-8") right in front of my garage apron. Then I would fill in over top of the pipe with sand and then gravel. Our cars would drive over it, but no heavy machinery would drive over top of the pipe. To be clear, I am simply interested in getting the hose protected and out of the way. I'm also looking to fill in the drop off at the end of my garage apron with rock, so the idea is that I could kill two birds with one stone here.

Will this work? I'd hate to do all of this work and then crush the pipe and destroy the hose the first time I drive over it. Thanks for your help!

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    I'll add another 2"-3" of sand below the pipe to provide a better cushion to disperse the force on it. Also, you shall watch out for the frost-heave potential of your local.
    – r13
    Jun 8, 2021 at 18:01
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    Treat it like electrical conduit: Deeper (no absolute here, since it isn't actual electrical, but 12" - 18" would be good) and set it up in a way that you can pull the hose out and replace it if needed. Alternatively, why not set this up as actual plumbing pipe with fittings on each end to attach hoses, etc.? If you do that, you may want to consider scheduled 80 instead of schedule 40 for extra strength.
    – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact
    Jun 8, 2021 at 18:16
  • The sweep 90s of sch 80 allow pulling of flexible water line through
    – Jim Stewart
    Jun 8, 2021 at 19:17
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    Why put a hose in the pipe? Just use SCH80 pipe.
    – JPhi1618
    Jun 8, 2021 at 20:16
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    I would want schedule 80 with or without ends as suggested, that shallow schedule 40 may crush on a hot summer day.
    – Ed Beal
    Jun 8, 2021 at 23:03

1 Answer 1

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Rather than "hose in pipe", use 200 PSI (if you want the tough stuff) black polyethylene pipe, and appropriate fittings, and no hose inside it. (Or schedule 80 pipe as suggested in comments, but IMPE black poly will take more abuse without leaking, and it's sun-resistant, for where it comes out of the ground.)

For extra crush protection, butt it up hard against the garage apron and backfill with concrete (which can be low-grade, or a weak mix) until you are an inch or two above the pipe.

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