Lawn Sprinkler Tips

I recently received an email from a gentlemen who had a question about irrigating a 1/2 acre with a limited water supply. He told me that he has about 900 – 1000 gallons of water available from storm water run-off that is held in a holding tank every time after it rains.

He went on to ask me if this would be enough water to irrigate with. Well the answer is yes and no. The supply would be used up very fast, but here’s what I told him he could do with it:

The “average” sprinkler system that we build down here is around 16 gpm’s (gallons per minute). To cover 1/2 acre with 2.0 (2 gpm) rotors, you would need about 24 rotor heads. This would be three separate 16 gpm zones.

In sandy soil we run the rotors for 45 – 60 minutes approximately once every three days. I’m assuming that your soil has more of a clay base up there which means it isn’t very permeable and running the rotors for 45 minutes would be inefficient due to run-off.

Let’s say that you run your rotors for 20 minutes per zone. This is 320 gallons for each zone X 3, which equals 960 gallons per cycle. So, your 900 – 1000 gallons of water would be just about right for half of your yard.

I wouldn’t go with any smaller rotor nozzles than 2.0′s because you won’t get enough distance out of them. I personally like using 3.0 rotor nozzles with my designs, but I use 2.0′s when I am dealing with a limited water source.

I also wouldn’t cut the run time per zone under 20 minutes for the rotors because it is better to water you lawn less frequently, but longer. This will saturate the soil and then encourage the roots to go deep for water. I always see people who water for short intervals, every day and this is not good. Watering short & frequently will cause the roots to stay shallow and makes for unhealthy grass.

As far as a pump goes, I would recommend a Sta-Rite 1&1/2 hp, horizontal centrifugal pump. The HMSF is a durable and reliable model. As long as it is not further than 20 vertical feet between the water and the input of the pump, it will not have a problem. If you have a long horizontal run of pipe, 10 feet of horizontal run is about equal to 1 foot of vertical lift.

I hope I’ve helped shed some light on this topic for some of you in a similar situation. Check out my ebook at the bottom of this page and can decide if you think it may have any more information that might help you with your particular situation.

Scott Young
http://www.autolawnsprinklers.com

Irrigation & sprinkler supplies such as PVC fittings and PVC pipe are manufactured by many different companies. Other supplies such as irrigation sprinkler heads have fewer competitors, but still a small variety to choose from. The most popular irrigation supplies manufacturers are Rainbird, Toro, Nelson, Hunter, and Orbit.

You have a decision to make when planning out and installing a lawn irrigation system in your yard. You want your landscape irrigation system to be something you can easily understand how to adjust and work with; you don’t want something that is so complicated that you can do anything with! With this in mind, it is important to choose a brand of products that come with comprehensive user manuals that are easy to follow.

You want to choose a company that stands behind their products with warranties. You want to choose a company that has customer service available to answer questions about their products. Not all companies provide this service, so it is up to you to investigate and make sure you understand what you are buying.

When trying to decide what brand of irrigation sprinklers you are going to use with your in ground lawn irrigation system it is important to keep all the above information in mind. If you feel comfortable with the products you are going to install for you lawn irrigation system, you will not get frustrated trying to figure everything out on your own if you run into problems.

A final word of advice: Finding replacement parts for generic brand sprinklers is next to impossible. Purchase name brand parts from true irrigation suppliers, not from the do-it-yourself home stores.

Of the many irrigation systems out there, I see many manual systems out there that were put in by novices. These are just your good old do-it-yourselfers who’ve read a little bit about putting in a sprinkler system and have managed to get one working in their yard. However, most of these systems must still be turned on and off by a person. You must go out turn on one section, then go back later to turn off that section and turn on another.

There are a few problems with this setup. First of all it is an inconvenience to have to do all of your watering manually. Secondly, most people don’t have the time to be turning on and off their system every couple of days. Third, if you are manually watering, then you most likely don’t have your landscape on a regular and uniform watering schedule!

Your landscape will love the consistency that an automatic lawn sprinkler system will give it! You can program the timer to come on once every three days, or on certain days of the week such as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Your system will run for the precise amount of time needed to give your lawn the proper amount of water; no more and no less.

If you happen to have a manual sprinkler system in your yard, don’t worry you can convert it! With the use of some electric valves, a good quality digital irrigation timer, some 18 gauge multi-strand wire, and a pump start relay with appropriate 12-2 or 14-2 wire you too can convert your manual system to a much more helpful automatic irrigation system.