With persistent drought conditions in the US, especially in the western half of the country,
we all need to find ways to reduce our water consumption.
Many people will actually be required to do this to comply with local water restrictions.
According to the EPA, nationwide, landscape irrigation accounts for nearly one-third
of all residential water use, totaling nearly 9 billion gallons per day.
In this video we will touch on several opportunities to help you reduce your
landscape water usage. The first thing you can do is to perform a simple inspection of
your irrigation system. Leaks, broken heads, clogged nozzles,
arc-adjustment, and overspray are a few of the things that are easily checked.
Inefficient irrigation systems will need to run longer, which wastes water. A water
audit will also help to determine the efficiency of your irrigation system.
Next, review your controller programming. Adjust the programming seasonally, at a minimum,
to apply the ideal amount of water required to maintain a healthy landscape. If possible,
schedule your irrigation to run in the early morning or evening. Wind affecting sprinkler
performance and water lost due to evaporation will be less when watering during these times of day.
Also check your irrigation system for run-off. Run-off occurs when sprinklers run too long,
especially where high-precipitation rates, slopes, and clay soils exist. If water is running off
into the street, the irrigation run-times are probably too long. Switch to rotary nozzles,
which have lower precipitation rates than sprays, or use cycle-soak programming,
where irrigation run times are divided into shorter cycles with soak times in between.
Smart irrigation controllers are another great water savings tool.
Most include internet connectivity, allowing them to access local weather
data which is used to automatically adjust irrigation runtimes.
If irrigating smaller turf areas, convert traditional sprayhead nozzles
to high-efficiency nozzles. Rotary nozzles like the Toro Precision Rotary,
Hunter MP Rotator or Rain Bird R-VAN have larger water droplets and lower precipitation rates.
Typically, high-efficiency nozzles are almost twice as efficient as standard sprayhead nozzles.
Another opportunity to reduce water use is to
Check for high-pressure. If the dynamic pressure exceeds the ideal
operating pressure for the nozzles being used, it will cause misting and fogging,
leading to inefficient watering. High-pressure can be addressed at the backflow preventer,
irrigation valve, and even with the sprinkler heads.
In some states, pressure regulated sprayhead bodies are now required.
Other states are already scheduled to follow. Pressure regulated sprayhead bodies regulate to
the ideal operating pressure for the nozzle. This eliminates the misting and fogging
associated with high-pressure, saving as much as one gallon per minute, per sprinkler head.
You can also improve water efficiency by converting landscape beds and planters
irrigated with sprayheads to low-volume irrigation. The Retro Drip Adapter from Landscape
Products helps to simplify the transition. The adapter replaces a spray head in the landscape,
providing a connection for drip tubing or inline emitter tubing.
Caps are used to cap off any remaining spray heads in the area.
Other options to consider for reducing landscape water use
is converting turf areas to synthetic turf, or xeriscape the areas using mulch,
hardscape and drought tolerant native plants that require much less water.
Finally, check with your local water provider to see about rebate opportunities
for increasing the efficiency of your irrigation system.
For more information on irrigation products that can help reduce water use, stop into your
local Ewing branch. To find a location near you, visit us online at EwingIrrigation.com.