Deciding on your Water Source & Hose

Ask yourself two questions:

(1) Will I connect my Sprouter to a faucet or to a cold water pipe? The faucet must have threads.

(2) How far away from faucet or cold water pipe will my Sprouter be? That will decide the length of your hose.

If you connect to a faucet, then you need:

a washing machine hose with built-in faucet connecter,
OR a high pressure hose with faucet kit – the benefit of this hose is length,
(optional) a Y-connecter if the Sprouter will share faucet with another device, such as a washing machine.

If you connect to a cold water pipe, then you need:

a high pressure hose with adapter to connect hose to pipe,
e.g. see photo below to clamp hose-to-pipe with a saddle valve, or
download this Word doc to see photos of all adapters Dan offers, to connect your Sprouter to any pipe or faucet in your home, even to the toilet pipe!

All hoses with connectors you can buy from Dan Schaefer in Michigan and at local stores.

Deciding on Where to Place Your Sprouter

Don't locate your Sprouter more than 60 feet away from faucet or cold water pipe because you'd lose water pressure. A washing machine hose is 6 feet, and high pressure hose can go up to 60 feet.

To locate your Sprouter more than 6 feet away, you can:

use 1/2-inch high-pressure hose before the valve, and have the timer-valve at your Sprouter, or
use 1/4-inch mist-tubing after the valve, and have the timer-valve at your faucet or cold water pipe.

Dan offers both extension options.

Dan writes: "The 1/4" mist-tubing downstream from the valve is good because it's flexible and less conspicuous. It's just as safe as the high-pressure hose – its rating for burst pressure is 450 psi. Most household water pressure is 35-60 psi."

With multiple Sprouters, you branch them off after the valve, so each has its own-mist-tubing leading to Sprouter – see photo of Manifold Kit below.


The free PVC stand (an $18 value) that comes with every Sprouter. This stand is for Large Sprouter.	Sprouter valve leads into the 3/4-inch female connector of a washing machine hose, which connects to a faucet or cold-water pipe, or into a longer 1/4-inch high-pressure hose which you can snake along the skirting board to any room or even outside.

Quick-Connect Upgrade Kit – for users buying all parts locally (these parts aren't in local stores) and for all who ordered a Sprouter or Mist-kit from Dan before 9/15/03.

(clockwise from upper left) – one 3/4"x1/4" pvc bushing for valve, 1 blue auto-shutoff quick-connect adapter (screws into bushing), 1 compression ring which secures the, 1 male quick-connect adapter that fits into mist-tubing.

Today these quick-connect fittings come with all Dan's Sprouters and Mist Kits, so you easily click the mist-tubing into the valve, or unclick it to remove your Sprouter for cleaning.

You can't find them in local US stores. If you're building your own Sprouter, you can order the QC Upgrade Kit from Dan.

Dan's GoGreen custom-built Trays, made with food-grade plastic – the grooves keep your seeds in place under the automatic misting:

on the left, 3 inches x 13 inches – for beans, grains, and baby greens like sunflower, alfalfa, broccoli;
on the right, 6 inches x 13 inches – for wheatgrass, gives six ounces of juice using half a cup of wheat seeds.

Building your own Sprouter? Get a discount set of 9 trays from Dan.


High Pressure Hose – is labeled "VERY SAFE – BURST PRESSURE OF 1400 PSI." Normal household pressure is 60 psi. Its 1/2-inch diameter is easy to route through a cupboard or wall, and along a skirting board. Dan includes pre-fitted connectors for the valve at one end, and faucet or cold water pipe at the other.	Saddle Valve – has a bracket assembly to clamp it to a cold water pipe. Use this if you'd rather not connect your Sprouter to a faucet. Users in small apartments are clamping the saddle valve to a pipe under the kitchen sink, then water flows to both your Sprouter and sink. You switch water on-off normally at faucet, while the timer-valve switches it on-off at your Sprouter.

GE GXRLQ Inline Water Filter – reduces lead, cyst, chlorine, sediment, bad taste and odor; built-in quick-connect fittings make it easy to change filter, and Dan includes adapters for mist-tubing.

Manifold Kit – for connecting up to 3 Sprouters to one valve – on the left is a plug to seal off an unused port, then comes the 3-port Manifold with 3 quick-connect ("q-c" ) outlet ports and one q-c inlet, then all the parts you need to connect to the blue or white q-c adapter (that screws into bushing in valve).

The sequence is: faucet connected-to hose connected-to timer-valve connected-to manifold connected-to 3 mist-tubings connected-to three Sprouters.


INTERNATIONAL Transformer 230v – for UK, Europe, SA, Australia, etc. Notice the two round prongs – in South Africa, local stores sell a standard cheap plug into which this 2-prong transformer fits. Dan also offers an international valve with British pipe threads (metric). Order this valve if your country is metric (centimeters not inches). Valve is not pictured here because externally it looks the same as the US valve.	OFF-THE-GRID Battery Timer-Valve – ONLY for those living off the grid. Uses two 9-volt alkaline batteries, which can be rechargeable Ni-Mh type (Nickel Metalhydride) that last for 1.5 months. This battery timer-valve also comes in an international version – valve has British pipe threads (metric).
If you have power, don't get the battery timer-valve. The electrical timer with separate valve is more durable, and more flexible on start times and duration. Dan shipped the Large Mist Kit with 220v timer and metric valve, to me in South Africa. The quick-connect adapters in the Kit fit perfectly into the 19mm pipes of the valve, with a little extra teflon. I'm the envy of my rawfood support group! I hope one-by-one they will order a Mist Kit and experience the healing power of LIVING GREENS. Tweet Follow @valarcher

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Deciding on your Water Source & Hose