Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - A Watering Notice from Deans
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Old 04-09-2023, 07:34 AM
jrref jrref is offline
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MP 800 and the red 1000's are generally used on lawns here in the villages. I also like the Rain Bird equivalents. The trick is to determing how much water you are putting on each zone. Generally a lawn needs at least 1 inch of water per week depending on the type of grass you have. In order to determine how much water you are applying you need to put a measuring cup in each zone area and after you run your sprinkler system, check to see how much water each zone got. You can get them on Amazon Amazon.com Depending on the results you can adjust the amount of time you water per zone and adjust the sprinkler heads accordingly.

But although Dean's is right in everything they said, water is expensive so you want to water smart. In order to water smart you really need to replace the manual sprinkler timer with a WiFi one like the Rachio-3. You can pick these up on sale or on ebay for about $125. A WiFi sprinkler control will be able to know when rain is in the forecast and adjust the watering schedule accordingly instead of just watering blindly every couple of days. The Rachio will pay for itself in about 6 months in the amount of water you save. If you have an older home you want to also check the rain sensor on the outside of the house. Typically they only last about 5 years because the sponges inside the unit dry out. I can't tell you how many people are watering after a significant rain becasue their rain sensor is not working. You can get a replacement at Lowes for about $20.

Concerning dirt in the reclamed water, i strongly suggest you install an irregation filter. For a couple hundred dollars this filter installed near your irrigation valve box will filter out most of the sand and dirt that cloggs all your sprinkler heads. Even if you have a professional come and clean them out, the MP rotor heads sometimes can't be cleaned and you will need to replace the head. All this said for the cost of one or two visits from a sprinkler professional you can install an irrigation filter and pretty much never have clogged sprinkler heads ever again. If you are interested in a filter call Chuck Grospitch on 440-823-4273. He can also install a Rachio controller and fix your sprinkler system if it needs it.

Remember you want to water your lawn to keep it nice and green but you want to water responsibly and save money at the same time.

Hope this all helps.