You beat me too it , I was going to read the whole thread before I asked the question , seems it could be a nice little dual purpose setup and the theory could be expanded on for a complete setup running several buckets,
Something to consider , any given store that caters to the irrigation trade will have a MUCH wider selection of misters , various drip nozzles star heads , 90 degree and 180 heads and other emitters , capillary lines etc than any "hydro" store does and more than Home Depot or Lowes. I do irrigation for a living at times on an orchard level scale so I see the markup on this stuff and it's incredible how much it is. On a technical level there isn't all that much difference in a drip feed system and a top feed hydro system beyond timing , emitter sizing and the evacuation of runoff , and iff I'm doig topfeed I just drain to waste anyway , costs more money ultimately but better control and less hassle a bit , though a bit more maintenance intensive. I think I'll expand on this a bit , I've got a couple of the heavy duty plastic tubs and lids setting around and a bunch of PVC and connectors , I wonder how many two inch sites I can fit in a lid.....