Take Control of Your Controller – Step 3

Did you know that the average sprinkler sprays two gallons per minute? If a lawn with 10 sprays heads is over-watered by five minutes that can waste 100 gallons.

Oftentimes, over-watering occurs because an entire yard is watered on the same schedule despite the fact its landscape is composed of different plants with different water needs. This over-watering can be easily prevented.

The trick is to:

• Have your sprinkler system separated into hydrozones – areas within your landscape divided and defined by grouping plants together with similar needs.
• To use multiple programs and start times – find the zones (synonymous with valves or stations) which water grass and annuals and assign them to Program A on your controller, while zones watering shrubs or other low-water-using plants are placed on Program B.

Program A will then have its own start times and watering lengths independent of Program B. For example, in summer, grass areas (Program A) the sprinklers may need to turn on four days a week, such as Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, while shrubs (Program But) only require water twice a week. If these different zones were to stay on the same program, then water-use efficiency suffers, along with plant health.

Next month, in Step 4, there will be more details on how to program multiple start times to increase irrigation efficiency and reduce runoff.

More information is available by visiting our website.

Contact: Shannon Reed, Public Affairs Manager
reeds@irwd.com, (949) 453-5500