Using Lake Water for a Landscape Irrigation System

Well, I just got done eating dinner with my family and have stepped in to my office to do my daily writing. I was answering my customer emails a little earlier and ran across a question from a gentlemen who is thinking about pulling water out of a lake in his back yard to supply water to his lawn sprinkler system.

Pulling water out of a body of water where you can legally do so can be an excellent alternative to city water or having your own personal well. The main thing you'll want to make sure is that the water is not contaminated, and second make sure that there are no legal restriction to you using this water source.

You can get a water sample and send it in to any number of water purification companies. They'll have their labs test it and send you results back in the mail. You want to make sure that the water doesn't contain too many unnatural contaminants before using. Most likely you will be fine. Check with your local public works or county growth department to find out if you can legally use this source.

After you've cleared all of that up, it's time to get to work. Now the instructions listed below will work for MOST systems, not all. I always recommend that you double check with a professional irrigation or well contractor before actually setting up to make sure you have covered everything. With that in mind, here's how you can pull water out of a lake for use with your residential lawn sprinkler system:

You'll want to get a 1&1/2 HP horizontal centrifugal pump (Sta-Rite is the
brand I'd recommend). You'll need to get a small concrete square slab (about
2' X 2') to place the pump on. Dig a small square area and place the square
slab there, then mount your pump on top.

On the suction side of the pump, you'll install a 2" brass (Strata Flow is
the brand I recommend) check valve right after a 2" X 1" thread X thread
galvanized nipple.

You'll need some kind of filtration to keep all the nasty lake stuff out of
your pump. I like the Sure-Flow (self-cleaning filters) brand and they can
handle up to 50 gallons per minute, which is more than enough.

Follow the instructions on the filter. It attaches onto the end of the 2"
pipe going into the lake. There is also a spot for a 3/4" return line which
makes the filter spin. You'll start this 3/4" line starts right after the
output side of your pump and end it in the 3/4" spot on the filters.

You'll then extend 2" pipe, 3/4" pipe and filter down into the lake. You
will need to make sure that the filter is at least 18" from the bottom of
the lake and 2' submerged under the water so that it will pull water properly.

It really is easier than it sounds, you just have to get out there and do it! The biggest problem you may face is trudging through the murky water of the lake, be careful! If you are ever in doubt, call the help of a qualified professional.

Scott Young
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com

How to Determine Your Available Flow and Pressure for Your Lawn Sprinkler System

In today's article I'm going to explain to you how to measure available water flow and pressure your water source will be able to provide for your lawn sprinkler system. There three most common water sources available are well water, city water, and reclaimed (recycled waste water) water.

Well water or any water delivered from a creek will be drawn out and delivered to the lawn sprinkler system through a pump. What kind of pump you have depends on how deep a well you are using, how much water your pump must push, how far the water must flow, and how hard against gravity the pump will have to push the water.

City water and reclaimed water lines are pressurized by city or county pumps installed throughout your area. If tapping into one of these lines, you will not have access to the pump that control it, but it is usually dependable 99.5% of the time.

Measuring all three sources will require you to have a stop watch or watch with a second hand and 5 gallon bucket.

Measuring your available flow through your pump will require you to get water from an unrestricted spot. What I mean is to measure directly from the output of the pump or right after the first 90 degree fitting, not from the hose bib. Time how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket full. If you fill it in 15 seconds, then you have 20 (5x4) gallons per minute available to work with.
To measure pressure you'll want to get a pressure gauge with a hose bib adapter. After the gauge is screwed on, turn on the water supply and read what the PSI is. You'll want at least 40 psi, and no more than 75 psi for a residential sprinkler design. Most lawn pumps, city water supply and reclaim water supplies all fall within this range.

Measure pressure from a city water or reclaimed water source in the same manner as the pump, simply connect the pressure gauge to a hose, turn on and read. Measuring flow from a city water or reclaimed water source will be similar to measuring flow from a pump. If you have any questions you can always call your local public works or water authority to ask them the available flow and pressure.

Scott Young
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com

Lawn Sprinkler Design

Lawn sprinkler design can be a challenging task if you are inexperienced to this skill. I've seen many people attempt to do their own design and end up with a less than satisfactory lawn sprinkler system. When it comes to automatic lawn sprinklers there are even more things that could go wrong for the amateur.

Once you have learned the skill it becomes easier, but if you are a professional like myself who does this for a living, you will still be presented with problems from time to time. Whether it is an exotic landscape or a just plain picky homeowner, problems will arise and issues will need to be resolved. The professional irrigation contractor will overcome and learn from these problems.

Luckily for you, you probably don't do this for a living. If you are planning to design and install your own lawn sprinkler system then you will be working with a person that should be easy to deal with; yourself! If you are putting in your own system then you have the opportunity to tailor your system to your specific landscape and even plan for future expansions; if you know what you are doing.

You can have a professional contractor or even a landscape architect design a lawn sprinkler system for you and then you can follow the plans provided, but you may still be posed with a problem. You may have a design and even a materials list in hand, but still not understand the process behind installing the lawn sprinkler system.

So hiring someone to do the design for you may only solve half of your problem. You must still have someone teach you or show you how to actually install the system. A better way to do the system would be to read a book that teaches you how to do both the design and the installation. There are tutorials and instructions online, but many are incomplete and hard to understand for the non-professional.

When getting a book, make sure that you get one that is meant for the novice. Also make sure you are getting the information from a qualified source. You don't want to end up following instructions from someone who's experience in designing and installing sprinkler systems is putting in a sprinkler system with their Uncle Bob 10 years ago.

Scott Young
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com