Sprinkler systems and irrigation timers are usually forgotten by the home owner, landlord or property manager after being installed. For the most part the home owner can just set it and forget it; until there is a problem. There are a few common problems which usually go undetected by the home owner until detrimental effects occur.
Most of the time, the recommended time to water the lawn is in the early morning hours. One of the most common problems is that the sprinkler heads are out of adjustment or alignment. Months may go by before the home owner may realize this fact until the lawn begins to display signs of suffering from a lack of water.
The majority of sprinkler setups or layouts will suffice at first, but another problematic situation and one that is a bit more involved may not occur until several years after the initial sprinkler installation. Foresight and the expected growth of trees, shrubs and bushes are often not taken into account by many when installing an irrigation system. The end result can be that the spray pattern is being partially or fully obstructed by branches or trunks. In this scenario, the home owner will have three options: cut down the tree, drastically cut back the overgrowth or relocate the sprinkler head.
Relocating sprinkler heads may not seem to be too difficult. When a sprinkler head is moved, however, very often an additional sprinkler head may need to be added in order to compensate for an area which is no longer being covered by the new spray pattern. When adding a sprinkler head or making any changes to the physical layout, the existing pipe sizes may not be adequate.
A well designed sprinkler system does not use one size of pipe throughout the entire system. The reason for this is as the pipe runs become longer or additional legs are added, a decrease in water pressure can occur. When this occurs, the previous spacing of sprinkler heads will no longer be sufficient to cover the lawn. In some extreme cases the pressure may be so low as to not allow the sprinkler heads to pop up.
The complexity of irrigation timers can also pose significant frustration for home owners or landlords. Newer timers are more simplified in their design and operation than those timers from many years back. With modern day programmable irrigation timers, several distinct programs can be setup with greater ease and more intuitive functioning to allow for different seasons and zones.
Regardless of the current problems that the home owner or landlord may be experiencing it is often easier and wiser to have a professional irrigation specialist inspect and service the irrigation system. It is quite easy for a home owner to louse up the sprinkler system and then in frustration decide to turn the whole system off. By not ensuring the system is setup properly and working at 100% efficiency, the home owner or landlord is just wasting money.
For more about the topic of sprinkler systems and proper law.n fertilizing, please visit or call www.advancedirrigationmn.com at 612-599-8675.
Article independently authored by Dan Elliott. The content herein may or may not reflect the views and opinions of Advanced Irrigation of Minnessota.
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