The annual EPA Smart Irrigation Month campaign reminds us to water responsibly. Here are some check list steps that can get you started on the path to DIY lawn sprinkler system management:
Sprinkler Maintenance Checklist
Once a month, turn on each of your sprinkler valves during daylight hours and perform an inspection. Some automatic sprinkler timers allow you to set a test run, or you can program each station to come on successively for one minute.
Check the following:
*GENERAL MAINTENANCE
YES NO
¨ ¨ Is any water being sprayed on the street or sidewalk?
¨ ¨ Are there obstructions preventing the water from reaching the desired areas?
¨ ¨ Are there any observable leaking sprinkler heads or breaks in the pipe?
SPRINKLER HEADS
YES NO Are any heads…
¨ ¨ missing?
¨ ¨ broken?
¨ ¨ clogged?
¨ ¨ pushed too far into the ground?
¨ ¨ tilted or spraying in the wrong direction?
PRESSURE
YES NO Is the pressure…
¨ ¨ too low?(spray is not reaching all desired areas, spray is forming large water droplets, there are doughnut
shaped dry areas, rotor speed is too slow, rotors are not rotating)
¨ ¨ too high?
(spray is overshooting desired areas, spray is misting and there are dry areas between heads,
rotor speed is too fast, rotors are not rotating, heads are leaking)
*Source: www.conservewater.utah.gov
2 comments:
Hi Craig,
I came back from vacation and the lawn is yellow and the irritrol electronic watering box is flashing and there is a burned out fuse. I replaced the box and now the box doesn't flash but the solenoids make a buzzing noise but they don't open up. When I checked them outside the valve and hooked them to the old 24v transformer they popped up and down with electrical current.
What gives? New box, solenoids that operate outside the valve housing but not inside the valve housing. And the rain dial shows nothing wrong. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance.
Hi thudpilotbmx, I did a post on your comment. If you like free sprinkler advice, pass my blog around.
Craig
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