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Plan an Efficient Irrigation System
An irrigation system can be tricky to design and install, even with experience. Many building supply centers offer design services or classes to help you design your own. In a water-efficient yard, sprinklers are used to irrigate turf areas only while drip irrigation systems are recommended for trees, shrubs, and flowers.
You can purchase drip emitters with varying flow rates and specialized heads for flower beds, ground covers and gardens. Since drip systems give plants, shrubs and trees the water they need without waste, you'll save time, water and money when you design your system with a healthy amount of drip irrigation.
Many landscapes require a change in the grade or slope of the yard. Make sure level surfaces are graded with a slight slope so they will drain away from your home's foundation.
If you've added berms or terraces, consider installing your irrigation lines before bringing in additional materials.
(The irrigation trench depth will be more uniform when dug through a level surface). If you're planting the sloping sides of a berm or terrace, the grade of the slope must not exceed three feet of run for every one foot of rise (3:1).
If you have an old or galvanized pipe system, you may want to replace it with plastic PVC pipe. Galvanized pipe can slowly plug up, rust and corrode, leading to a leaky system.
Whether you're installing an irrigation system in a new yard or modifying one in an existing landscape, you can save money by doing most of the work yourself. However, consider your time schedule and mechanical abilities before you jump in - you may find that you'll get it done quicker and with fewer headaches by calling a landscape contractor to do it for you.
Whether you're using spray, rotor or impulse-type sprinklers for turf, make sure to provide sufficient overlap in your design. Check the manufacturer's instructions for suggested overlap distances. Also, be careful not to locate sprinkler heads behind trees or objects which might impede the spray and deprive your lawn of valuable water.
You'll need to perform some annual maintenance, because drip emitters and sprinkler heads get clogged and lawn mowers occasionally damage spray heads. Also, adjust your controller for changes in water amounts needed over the season. Drain your system at summer's end to prevent it from freezing and cracking when the weather turns cold.
Water Quality Protection
Precautions are necessary to prevent contaminated water from entering your irrigation system. Bacteria and other microbiological contaminants may enter your system through malfunctioning valves or broken sprinkler heads and subsurface pipes. Water may also become chemically contaminated if you are applying or injecting fertilizer
into your drip irrigation system.
Potential contamination from your irrigation system becomes a serious issue should backflow occur. Backflow is a flow reversal which may occur from a broken water main or from a flowing fire hydrant. In order to protect your home from backflow, an appropriate "backflow prevention assembly" must be incorporated into your irrigation system.
Properly installed and maintained backflow prevention assemblies will prevent contamination and are required by state and local laws.
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