Lawn Sprinkler Design
When designing a lawn sprinkler system, the first thing that you must do is to determine a head layout. This is where you plot where each individual sprinkler head will go on your lawn. This can be done on a plot or drawing, but must also be done using mark-out flags in your actual yard. Use different colored flags to represent different zones or sections of your yard.
The two main kind of sprinkler heads you should be using on your lawn will be fixed spray heads and rotor heads. Spray heads don't rotate and put out water in a defined pattern depending on the nozzle that you select to install on the head. Rotor heads also come with different size nozzles for amount of water distributed, but rotors throw an average of 30 feet. I use rotors in areas where the heads can be spaced out from 25 - 35 feet.
You must keep rotors and sprays on separate zones since they have different precipitation rates. Sprays put out water about three times faster than a rotor head, so they saturate an area faster. If you mix rotors and sprays you will end up with parts of your lawn having to be either over or under-watered. So to avoid this problem, just make sure when doing your sprinkler head layout to section the yard accordingly.
Another important key to lawn sprinkler design is to have head-to-head coverage which will help accomplish even-precipitation. Head-to-head coverage is where the water from one sprinkler head reaches to the next sprinkler head. If the heads are spaced too far apart you will have gaps, hot-spots, or just uneven watering.
Pipe sizing is another factor that you must determine when designing your irrigation system. The size pipe you will need for your mainline and lateral line will depend upon the volume and pressure of the water source you are working with, plus the layout and volume each individual zone on your system demands. There are pipe friction loss charts which can be found to assist you with these calculations. In my e-book I describe a simplified design process that will eliminate the guess-work for you and works great for almost all residential sized systems.
Designing an automatic irrigation or sprinkler system for your lawn and landscape is not rocket science, but there are a few things that you must understand and apply to get it right. Most people who come in to the project with the right knowledge, tools, and time can easily complete their own project.
Scott
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com
The two main kind of sprinkler heads you should be using on your lawn will be fixed spray heads and rotor heads. Spray heads don't rotate and put out water in a defined pattern depending on the nozzle that you select to install on the head. Rotor heads also come with different size nozzles for amount of water distributed, but rotors throw an average of 30 feet. I use rotors in areas where the heads can be spaced out from 25 - 35 feet.
You must keep rotors and sprays on separate zones since they have different precipitation rates. Sprays put out water about three times faster than a rotor head, so they saturate an area faster. If you mix rotors and sprays you will end up with parts of your lawn having to be either over or under-watered. So to avoid this problem, just make sure when doing your sprinkler head layout to section the yard accordingly.
Another important key to lawn sprinkler design is to have head-to-head coverage which will help accomplish even-precipitation. Head-to-head coverage is where the water from one sprinkler head reaches to the next sprinkler head. If the heads are spaced too far apart you will have gaps, hot-spots, or just uneven watering.
Pipe sizing is another factor that you must determine when designing your irrigation system. The size pipe you will need for your mainline and lateral line will depend upon the volume and pressure of the water source you are working with, plus the layout and volume each individual zone on your system demands. There are pipe friction loss charts which can be found to assist you with these calculations. In my e-book I describe a simplified design process that will eliminate the guess-work for you and works great for almost all residential sized systems.
Designing an automatic irrigation or sprinkler system for your lawn and landscape is not rocket science, but there are a few things that you must understand and apply to get it right. Most people who come in to the project with the right knowledge, tools, and time can easily complete their own project.
Scott
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com
posted by Irrigationman at
6:43 AM
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