I'm by far not an irrigation expert. Though I've read a lot and have been to classes on irrigation there's a LOT that I don't know about lawn irrigation systems. So, will appreciate any knowledge I can gain from you guys.
Here's the deal. I do a lot of maintenance work for this guy at his vacation home. He bought this house 2 years ago and has had nothing but problems out of the irrigation system. He thinks his water bill is outrageously high. I have no clue if it is or not.
Kind of wild guessing I'd say his system covers about 4,000 to 5,000 square feet (not measured). He has 8 zones on a Rainbird system that covers his lawn, 4 flower beds and probably 4 beds that are mostly shrubs. (I'll get more info today... maybe). The tests I run show there is no leak in the water supply line between backflow preventer (check valve) and the solenoid type valves (zone valves)... (holds 90 psi air for more than 15 minutes). Main supply from meter is 1" PVC with 70 psi pressure.
With valves to his garage, house, and irrigation system turned off the main supply line (about 1,000 feet from meter) shows 31 gallons of water per day are going through the meter. His water bill reflects that he paid for about 24,500 gallons of water last month. His controller is set to run the system 10 to 20 minutes (various times) for one cycle per day. This works out to somewhere around 942 gallons of water per day when irrigating.
There is a slight valley along a hillside between his lot and his neighbor. This valley stays soggy wet when sprinkler system is running. No other obviously wet areas.
The lot is roughly 100' x 150' with a house and garage that has a footprint of roughly 3,000 sq. ft.
This is the type of controller/timer he has. http://www.rainbird.com/documents/turf/RightChoiceProductSheetESPModular.pdf
My question is... (1)Does this sound like a reasonable amount of water for a relatively small yard.
(2) What suggestions do you have for looking for a leak in one zone? (I'm thinking he may have one zone gushing water out of a broken pipe after a valve in the wet area). (3) what range of volume of water output can be expected from a typical "pop up" lawn sprinkler of the rainbird type? (where can I find info for estimating output for designing a system?... estimating water output).
Here's the deal. I do a lot of maintenance work for this guy at his vacation home. He bought this house 2 years ago and has had nothing but problems out of the irrigation system. He thinks his water bill is outrageously high. I have no clue if it is or not.
Kind of wild guessing I'd say his system covers about 4,000 to 5,000 square feet (not measured). He has 8 zones on a Rainbird system that covers his lawn, 4 flower beds and probably 4 beds that are mostly shrubs. (I'll get more info today... maybe). The tests I run show there is no leak in the water supply line between backflow preventer (check valve) and the solenoid type valves (zone valves)... (holds 90 psi air for more than 15 minutes). Main supply from meter is 1" PVC with 70 psi pressure.
With valves to his garage, house, and irrigation system turned off the main supply line (about 1,000 feet from meter) shows 31 gallons of water per day are going through the meter. His water bill reflects that he paid for about 24,500 gallons of water last month. His controller is set to run the system 10 to 20 minutes (various times) for one cycle per day. This works out to somewhere around 942 gallons of water per day when irrigating.
There is a slight valley along a hillside between his lot and his neighbor. This valley stays soggy wet when sprinkler system is running. No other obviously wet areas.
The lot is roughly 100' x 150' with a house and garage that has a footprint of roughly 3,000 sq. ft.
This is the type of controller/timer he has. http://www.rainbird.com/documents/turf/RightChoiceProductSheetESPModular.pdf
My question is... (1)Does this sound like a reasonable amount of water for a relatively small yard.
(2) What suggestions do you have for looking for a leak in one zone? (I'm thinking he may have one zone gushing water out of a broken pipe after a valve in the wet area). (3) what range of volume of water output can be expected from a typical "pop up" lawn sprinkler of the rainbird type? (where can I find info for estimating output for designing a system?... estimating water output).
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