SAVE $ ON IRRIGATION WATER BILL

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Old 04-22-2011, 03:01 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by captain1202 View Post
Our lawn is quite brown at the moment and our weed guy said to water at 60 min/zone (7 zones) for the next month before he fertilizes.

I have gone around and checked all heads for leaks and spray patterns. Noted several loose collars on the rotary heads which not only caused the spray pattern to be generously covering my neighbors lawn as well, but also causing a good deal of leakage.
Next step is to examine more closely for leaks from the base.

Also, on the rotary heads, the size of the red,blue,green nozzle insert determines the gpm output of the head. Check your manual for details.

I believe the best way to test for proper watering amounts is this: Put some flat tins or tuna cans around the lawn. Run the zone for a pre-determined amount of time, say 15 minutes. Check the depth of water in the cans,average them out and multiply by 4 for your hourly rate.
Most St. Aug. experts seem to recommend either 3/4" or 1" of water per week. It is best to water infrequently and deep. Get a rain gauge so you can take into account any rainfall for the week.

1" of water per sq. foot = .6234 gals so it's easy to estimate your usage and needs from there and calculate your needs and usage.

By doing the math you can also determine if you should be looking for leaks.

Also having maintained over 3 acres of "putting green" lawn for several years I can attest that longer is better, 3"-4" at least. Helps keep the lawn moist in the dry spells and captures and better utilizes rainfall.

Hope this helps.
Read the above carefully. Actually measuring the amount of water in water gauges ( as captain mentions, tuna cans will do) is the only practical way to go. The length of time any head should run is determined by the size of the nozzle (GPM, gallons per minute) and the area that head is covering (square feet). The GPM of a nozzle is determined, in part, by the water pressure.

Instead of getting out the measuring tape and inspecting each nozzle for its GPM, just get out those tuna cans and measure the results. If you are getting one half inch and want one inch just double the time on that zone. If you get one half inch in one part of the zone and one inch in another part, you will have to change nozzles to get an even output.

Having said all of that, I just noticed some wilted spots in my St, Augustine grass It is time for me to practice what I, and the captain, preach.
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