With increased water restrictions likely in the future, upgrading your irrigation system and controller can help save water and reduce water bills.

A good example of this is a project in Ross where we had installed several new sections of planting with drip irrigation, but much of the existing system was 20 years old or more. Old impact sprinklers and fixed spray brass nozzles were being used to water the existing planting beds with a good deal of overspray and waste.

An examination of the existing water use on these two types of sprinklers in this project illustrates the value of upgrading an irrigation system:

Impact sprinkler: For an old fashioned impact sprinkler the amount of water applied is typically 3-10 gallons per minute. For a newer and more efficient matched precipitation rotor, the application rate is typically .5-1.5 gallons per minute. The difference in water output means that the newer rotor will apply water more slowly, giving more flexibility for scheduling and resulting in less runoff and waste.

Brass Fixed Spray Nozzle: These sprinklers output 1-3 gpm, as opposed to .5-1.5 gpm for the newer plastic sprayhead designs. Again, this will result in less water use and better efficiency.