I am garden sitting for a friend. She is a 'master gardener' and a bit anal. She and her husband live in a condominium, and share the hose hookup with their neighbor. Their neighbor just recently moved into the unit, and from what she told me, didn't like people coming into his/her yard all the time. When I was given instructions for caring for the yard, my friend had this new set up for watering the garden which I believe she described as a high pressure constant flow system. Does that make sense? All I had to do was flick a switch and go to it with a water wand. The neighbor's father had apparently hooked this up for them, and it is still attached to the neighbor's water supply but runs into my friend's yard.
I've been careful about turning it off after use, but I noticed the last time I used the hose that there seemed to be a lot of water pressure on the hose. The next day I came over there had been a puddle of water on the paving. However, I was only watering the pots and (as per her instructions) only used the water which had been sitting for the last few days in watering cans etc. for de-gassing.
The system is directly attached to the neighbor's faucet, where it is split. This end has a metal switch which can be turned on or off. The hose runs through the neighbor's yard to my friend's and is connected to her hose on a reel. There is another switch at this point. There is a rotating lock at this point as well, and at the end of the hose where the water wand is attached.
Today was the first hot day since she left, and of course, there is no water pressure. I went to the neighbor's unit, no one home. I fiddled around with the different switches. I couldn't seem to get it to run from the neighbor's end.I turned on the faucet. His hose starting squirting water, her connection nothing.
I ended up hauling buckets of water from the kitchen sink, and no doubt will do the same tomorrow. I felt like the Socerer's Apprentice before he cast the spell on the broom. I'm praying for rain. Fortunately I bought some hard lemonade today.
I'll continue to try to contact the neighbor, but does anyone know how these systems work? My friend is in a retreat for the week. I hope it isn't to control stress, because if I've wrecked the system/kill her plants that will undo all her good work. TIA Dora2