Routine Irrigation System Maintenance
Owning and caring for an irrigation system is very similar to maintaining a car or other vehicle. The are numerous working parts that work very hard and frequently. These parts do wear down and break due to normal wear & tear and basic maintenance can help extend the life of certain components for both cars and irrigation systems! I am no mechanic, but I am an irrigation specialist and I know how to design, build, manage, and care for irrigation systems
Because of human advancement and modern technology, many things such as cars and sprinkler systems are just too complex for an average person who does not specialize in that field. Fortunately just as with a car, there are a few basic things that many people can do themselves to help maintain and upkeep their automatic lawn sprinkler system. Below I have listed a few things you can do yourself to help maintain, preserve, and use your sprinkler system for maximum efficiency.
1. Routinely do a "walk-through" or detailed inspection of each zone on your system
2. During this inspection make adjustments to heads that are out of alignment.
3. Using a type of small flag (found at irrigation or home improvement stores), mark-out clogged nozzles, breaks, or other problems with the system.
4. Repair PVC and or PE pipe breaks
5. Replace bad heads
6. Flush out the clogged spray heads and then replace the bad nozzles and/or add new nozzles
*7. Check your timer/controller program and set for maximum efficiency.
*A general rule of thumb is to run your system once every three days, but there are many other factors such as soil condition, type of landscape, climate, irrigation layout, and weather conditions that go into figuring your proper timer programming schedule. Common sense comes into play here. No matter what your soil, weather or other conditions, your lawn DOES NOT need to be watered everyday! I see this mistake often in the field. If you step of your grass and it springs back up, then it does not need water. Water early in the morning if possible. Mid day is not good because you loose too much due to evaporation and running in the middle of the night will leave the lawn moist for longer causing potential other problems.
Your lawn needs a dry-out period to help become healthy! Water as long as you can based on your soil so the water will travel deep which will encourage the roots to go deep in the search for water. Water less frequently. Short, frequent watering will cause your roots to stay shallow and make for a weak lawn that is more susceptible to pests and fungus. A common mistake I see is that a customer will believe that there is a lack of water problem when really it is a combination of over-watering plus bug or fungus problems.
You should check your irrigation system at least once every three months. I reccomend even more frequent during the spring & summer months. A little bit of adjusting, repairing, and applying a proper water schedule can make a big differnce in your landscape and your water bill! Have a fun summer and enjoy your yards!
Scott Young
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com
Because of human advancement and modern technology, many things such as cars and sprinkler systems are just too complex for an average person who does not specialize in that field. Fortunately just as with a car, there are a few basic things that many people can do themselves to help maintain and upkeep their automatic lawn sprinkler system. Below I have listed a few things you can do yourself to help maintain, preserve, and use your sprinkler system for maximum efficiency.
1. Routinely do a "walk-through" or detailed inspection of each zone on your system
2. During this inspection make adjustments to heads that are out of alignment.
3. Using a type of small flag (found at irrigation or home improvement stores), mark-out clogged nozzles, breaks, or other problems with the system.
4. Repair PVC and or PE pipe breaks
5. Replace bad heads
6. Flush out the clogged spray heads and then replace the bad nozzles and/or add new nozzles
*7. Check your timer/controller program and set for maximum efficiency.
*A general rule of thumb is to run your system once every three days, but there are many other factors such as soil condition, type of landscape, climate, irrigation layout, and weather conditions that go into figuring your proper timer programming schedule. Common sense comes into play here. No matter what your soil, weather or other conditions, your lawn DOES NOT need to be watered everyday! I see this mistake often in the field. If you step of your grass and it springs back up, then it does not need water. Water early in the morning if possible. Mid day is not good because you loose too much due to evaporation and running in the middle of the night will leave the lawn moist for longer causing potential other problems.
Your lawn needs a dry-out period to help become healthy! Water as long as you can based on your soil so the water will travel deep which will encourage the roots to go deep in the search for water. Water less frequently. Short, frequent watering will cause your roots to stay shallow and make for a weak lawn that is more susceptible to pests and fungus. A common mistake I see is that a customer will believe that there is a lack of water problem when really it is a combination of over-watering plus bug or fungus problems.
You should check your irrigation system at least once every three months. I reccomend even more frequent during the spring & summer months. A little bit of adjusting, repairing, and applying a proper water schedule can make a big differnce in your landscape and your water bill! Have a fun summer and enjoy your yards!
Scott Young
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com
posted by Irrigationman at
7:46 PM
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