Irrigation and Water Management By Dennis McKernan, CID, CGIA, CLIA, IA Instructor Making the Most of Your Summer
Maximize your time and efforts this season with proper irrigation system maintenance and scheduling
easy to lose sight of some key concepts regarding irrigation main- tenance and proper scheduling. Forgetting some of these key
F Adjusting this arc early in the year will save water.
or most landscape and irrigation contractors in mid to northern climates, the season is upon us — it’s “pedal to the metal” time!
In the midst of getting new people trained, starting new jobs, becoming familiar with new equipment, it is
water-conserving concepts allows mistakes to be made during in- stallation or maintenance of our systems. These mistakes come back to haunt us later in the summer in the form of increased water or maintenance costs, or as reduced profits on new installa- tions. Some key concepts that allow us to “keep our eyes on the prize” are as follows:
1. Adjust for optimum performance at the season’s start-up When irrigation systems first get started up each
spring, it is always a good idea to check each sprin- kler’s performance. The system operating pressure should be close to design pressure. When doing the spring check-up, make sure you check operating pressures — under “lifelike” conditions. If the nor- mal static pressure is 55 psi when a residential irri- gation system turns on at night, then you need to make sure you do your system check when the static water pressure from the house is close to 55 psi. Performing a system check at 10:30am, when the city’s water main pressure is only 45 psi due to high water consumption, will definitely affect your system’s performance. The system runs just fine, but when tested at below-normal pressures, it appears to be running poorly. Make sure you do your spring tests under lifelike pressures. It is advantageous to check a sprinkler’s radius of
throw and angles of coverage at the beginning of the season. Forgetting to do so can lead to water being applied that does not irrigate the desired plant materials. This water is costly to the home- owner, and is wasted in the sense that a plant does not take it up. I’m sure many of you have seen sprinklers whose arc of coverage extended beyond the planted area — onto sidewalks, boulevards and
It is advantageous to check a sprinkler’s radius of throw and an- gles of coverage at the beginning of the season. Forgetting to do so can lead to water being applied that does not irrigate the desired plant materials.
16 Landscape and Irrigation May/June 2011 www.landscapeirrigation.com
