How to Optimize Your Irrigation System
An irrigation system is responsible for maintaining the health and beauty of your landscape, however, it can also rack up a hefty water bill if you are not careful. According to a recent survey, a massive 50% of irrigation water is wasted because of runoff, overwatering, evaporation, wind, or simply a faulty sprinkler system design due to shoddy installation and poor maintenance. Fortunately, there are a few things that you can do to optimize your irrigation system.
Know exactly how much water your lawn and landscaping requires
The first step to reducing your system’s water usage is to make sure the system is not using an exorbitant amount of water to begin with. While your irrigation installer will be able to handle these calculations it is also easy to measure this yourself. To do this, place a clear cup on the floor close to the irrigation nozzle, and turn on your sprinkler system for around 15 minutes, and see how full the cup gets within that timeframe. Grass lawns generally only need half an inch of water a week, so if the cup has collected 0.5 inches of water within the timeframe, you only need to run the sprinklers for 15 minutes every 7 days.
Make sure the system is releasing water uniformly
Of course, not all sprinklers release the same amount of water, so it is important that you perform that cup test in different places in your yard. For example, if the cup fills up faster in one area, then you have a uniformity issue. To remedy this, inspect and replace the irrigation nozzles in question.
For more details on our sprinkler system design services, please do not hesitate to contact us at this number (817) 736-2811, to make an appointment with Taylor Irrigation, we are based in the Burleson, TX area.