Kim Haworth and irrigation manager Tom Wyatt answer some common questions about watering your landscape.
One of the biggest challenges faced by the irrigation team at Epcot is that of interrupting the sprinklers when it starts to rain. Wyatt explains that the park employs rain-shutoff devices, which the average homeowner can also install. The device simply mounts on a surface (a fencepost, for example) where it can detect rainfall (figure A). After the sensitivity has been adjusted, the device is wired to a control box (figure B) where it interrupts the operation of the sprinklers once a detectable amount of rain begins to fall.
To determine how much water your lawn is receiving from the sprinklers, perform the "tuna can test": place an empty tuna can on the lawn where water from the sprinkler will hit it. Leave the sprinkler turned on for 6 minutes, then measure the amount of water that has collected in the can. Multiply by 10, and that's the amount of water the sprinklers put out in an hour.
Different types of soil require different amounts and frequency of irrigation. Sandy soil, for instance, holds less water than clay soil and must therefore be watered more frequently. Because one lawn may contain soils and plants with varying requirements, Wyatt recommends "hydrozoning," or grouping types of plants according to their needs.
> Note: For a tour of Disney's Epcot Center map, click here , available using  .
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