Water: Every Drop Makes a Difference

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By Jeff Gamboni and Chris Jepson, local Landscape Architects

Everybody’s talking about water conservation but c’mon, who’s doing anything about it?  Let’s talk about a few steps you can take to reduce water consumption in your home garden.

Inspect your sprinkler system

At least once a year operate your irrigation system and inspect each sprinkler while looking for overspray, plugged nozzles, leaking seals and pop-ups not popping up.  Areas of washout may indicate cracked sprinkler bodies or pipe.  Blocked sprinklers will also cause poor or no plant growth with plants "drying out" and becoming stressed.  If this has happened, either move the plant or add/or relocate a sprinkler to provide better coverage.  Also, when the spray from a sprinkler is blocked the water is concentrated in a small area which often creates swampy conditions and runoff.   Additionally, there is a lack of water beyond the blockage.  Resolving this issue should result in a more even distribution of water.

Another component that should be evaluated annually is the available water pressure.  The pressure may decrease over time as a neighborhood grows and the water demand increases.  Sufficient pressure is needed to cause the sprinklers to pop-up and seal during each cycle.  If this is not happening, then the remedy is to split the circuit into two parts through the addition of a new valve.  If this is beyond your expertise or that of your gardener, you may want to consider hiring a licensed landscape contractor or irrigation repair specialist.

Modifications can be made to the way your irrigation system is operated that will increase efficiency.  If you do not have remote control valves with an irrigation controller your system should be converted.  Remove existing manually operated valves and replace them with remote control valves operated by an irrigation controller.   The capabilities and advantages of even basic models can include:

• Multiple start times which can help eliminate runoff;
• Programmable schedules;
• Automatic seasonal adjustments;
• Connection to weather stations which allows for automatic real time schedule adjustments based on "evapotranspiration" rates and temperatures

Change to Drip Irrigation System for Maximum Savings

If you are serious in making real reductions in water use there is another modification to consider: changing your spray sprinklers to drip irrigation.  Drip irrigation components have become increasingly user friendly and readily available through garden centers and irrigation supply houses which cater to the public.  Clearly, making changes to reduce water use in the landscape is a timely topic when water resources are strained due to drought conditions and population growth.  These changes also make economic sense when the cost of water is projected to increase more quickly than the inflation rate.  Hopefully, this brief discussion will provide an overview of the possible water saving strategies available in landscape irrigation and will encourage further thought, investigation and action.