An efficient irrigation system is the result of a good system design, careful operation, and timely maintenance.- A good system design allows control of how much water you want to apply and where.
- Careful operation helps to limit waste.
- Timely maintenance will keep your irrigation running at its peak performance and efficiency.
Last month‘s column covered irrigation start up, including adjustments, checking for leaks, and setting proper run times. This edition focuses on watering efficiency.
Water Efficiency can be affected by many factors. Let’s start from the ground up, literally.
- The type of soil you are watering - from sand to clay and everything in between.
- The type of plants that need water (grass, flowers, shrubs and trees) which could be broken down further: turf grass, wild grass, annual or perennial flowers, and old or young trees and shrubs.
- The type of climate and exposure.
In-ground landscape sprinklers are about 50% efficient. Evaporation, poor maintenance and poor design have the largest impact on efficiency. The major factors that affect in-ground irrigation (Pop up and rotary sprinkler heads) watering efficiency is evaporation. The two major factors that affect evaporation are heat and wind. This can be resolved by not running your irrigation on a hot, windy day and by setting it instead to come on during the cool calm of night when evaporation is minimized.
Another factor affecting efficiency is proper maintenance of your irrigation system. If your irrigation system runs during the day, when you’re asleep or not home, then you may never notice leaking heads, leaky fittings, bad or wrong nozzles, or too much water (puddling).
The last major factor is watering during or right after a rain event. Irrigation that runs while it’s raining wastes our natural resources. This can be combated with a rain sensor installed by a trained professional.
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