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  • Water Matters: Preparing for Irrigation
  • From "DIY Watering Your Lawn"
    episode DWYL-101
    advertisement

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    Figure A

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    Figure B

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    You can open your water meter to find the size and type of material. You'll probably have to dig down deeper, find the pipe and connect to it.

    The typical lawn zone requires approximately 15 to 22 gallons of water per minute, although the lawn featured in this workshop utilizes an especially large and complex system due to the size of the property. One large section of the property, in fact, uses an irrigation system usually reserved for sports arenas (figure A). Each of the sprinkler heads shoots water out at a distance of 55 to 60 feet, and each puts out 15 gallons per minute, for a total of 60 gallons per minute.

    In one large lawn zone featured, Chuck Coddington explains that pop-up rotor heads were installed around the edges first, to establish all the hard lines. Then the voids were filled in with 360-degree heads in the middle to give head-to-head coverage and 100-percent efficiency.

    Along the driveway, rotor heads have been set to oscillate at different angles, with a 360-degree head in the yard.

    Before you begin installation of an irrigation system, keep in mind that a lot of planning is going to be involved. Here are the very first steps you must take in order to install an irrigation system:

    1. Walk around the property, familiarizing yourself with any obstacles and potential problem areas.

    2. Call your local utility company so they can mark their lines -- you don't want to dig into utility lines!

    3. Call the water company and find out the capacity of your water system so you can design off of those numbers.

    4. Determine what your water source will be.

    5. Find where the water source is located and where it will hook up.

    Once you've found the source of the water, you must make several determinations about the water source, including water-meter size and amount of water pressure. You may need to call your water company for help with this step.


    RESOURCES :
    Lawn Care for Dummies
    Model: 0764550772
    Author: Lance Walheim
    Hungry Minds, Inc
    (January 1998)

    Handbook of Water Use and Conservation: Homes, Landscapes, Industries, Businesses, Farms
    Model: 1931579075
    Author: Amy Vickers
    (2001)

    To order this title from Amazon.com, click here.


    WaterPlow Press
    Website: www.waterplowpress.com

    Rain Bird Sprinkler Heads and Components
    Rain Bird Sprinkler Mfg. Corp.
    Website: www.rainbird.com

  • ALSO IN THIS EPISODE: