Water Usage

[Mikeyboy]

This is my 1st posting to this site. I was recommended by a user from a different forum.

I just recently had an irrigation company come out and install a new irrigation system on my 10,000 sq ft lawn at the beginning of this month. They used all Hunter products. They installed 35 PGP stainless steel rotary heads. They set it up for 7 zones with 5 heads per zone.

I have been watering my lawn for 30 min/zone. So, that is equivalent to 3 1/2 hours per cycle. Drives me NUTS to take so long!!! I am starting at 3:30am and it completes by 7am right before someone uses the shower in our house. I have stuck a water gauge in my lawn and for 30 minutes it fills about a 1/4 inch of water. So, if I water 4 times a week, I get approx 1 inch of water on my lawn. Am I thinking correctly?

The reason why I am writing is because I have used 3 times the amount of water this past month than we usually use in a quarter billing before the system was installed. I could only imagine how much water I would use in the middle of the summer. We recently had Lawn Doctor powerseed our property and they advised us to keep the lawn wet.

The person who recommended this site to me said that I am using too much water and to post this message here because there are plenty of irrigation companies who look at these postings and can advise me if my system is setup OK and make wonderful recommendations. Is there anything wrong with what I have? Am I watering too much? With the rotary heads I have, is it correct to have 1/4 for 30 minutes?

What changes on watering tips can someone recommend so my wife does not kill me when we get the water bill? Thank you!

[loom-gen]

(1) Make sure the spray is even. if at some point in the ark of the spray water is more consentrated, you will be applying one area of the lawn with a lot more water than the rest.
(2) check for leaks
(3) One inch a week is ideal unless the temps drop. Cooler temps will allow the moisture to stay in the surface soil longer.
(4) Different heads produce different amounts of water. It seems like spray heads cover an area with three times the amount of water as swiveling "long Shot" type heads.
(5) Thirty minutes a zune should cover an area 1" only two times a week with a new hunter system. I have several hunter clocks I maintain on different accounts and my rotating head zones are set in the middle of summer for 25 min for only three days a week. My spray heads are @ 15 min. Watering in the early morning.

[Mikeyboy]

loom-gen

1) Do you consider the PGP stainless steel heads: spray heads that cover an area with three times the amount of water or swiveling "long Shot" type heads?

2) Are you saying that 30 minutes/zone with the new Hunter rotating PGP stainless steal heads should give me 1 inch of water in that area?

[Focal Point Landscapes]

Post your question in the irrigation section - lots of very knowledgeable guys over there.