Heyo, New here and have some piping questions. My apologies if this gets complicated.

I'm building and Aeroponics system as a hobby. So everything needs to be potable water friendly.

I am connecting a water pump to a 1 inch pvc line. That 1 inch pvc line will run horizontal on the ground, feeding multiple buckets and preferably have reducer tees along the way to connect 1/2 inch mostly flexible tubing to, that runs approx 2 feet into a 5 gallon bucket.

Hope your still with me...

The 5 gallon bucket i want to run 1/2 inch hard pvc through the wall to the center of the bucket and up to about mid level. Then tee off left and right horizontally about 4 to 6 inches and stop(capped off). Into the horizontal top pieces i will attach misters.

The entry point into the bucket is confusing to me. I would like it be mostly leak proof, there will be no standing water in the bucket. I will build a drain line back to the pump but it will be a gravity drain. I want to use the flexible tubing to run between the main 1 inch pvc line up to the entry point, but i dont know how to connect it. Want it to be detachable to move around if possible.

I dont know what all the connections are called. I went to the local hardware store and have a few ideas, but i am hoping to get some more experienced advice.

Please share thoughts, opinions, advice and ideas. Thanks in advance.

If I understand your question: Your drain back to the pump will have to drain as much water as the pump pushes to the buckets. Can you send a drawing of what you propose? It will help us to understand the question and what you want to accomplish.

Flexible and detachable sounds to me like a washing machine hose might work.

So, you will be pumping from a storage tank and returning to the same? You want to look at bulkhead fittings.