Water conservation? It's all in your head...

Water is an important resource. Thus, landscape professionals must do all they can to conserve it. One step to take is scheduling regular inspections of turf and landscape sites to make sure all sprinklers are performing efficiently. During this weekly or monthly inspection, check each zone for excessive wet or dry areas and turn each zone on to make sure the heads are properly adjusted.

What to Inspect

Look for signs of broken risers beneath the sprinklers. Sometimes this is obvious (unleashed water is creating a traffic-stopping geyser), sometimes it's not (a cracked riser will allow water to well up around the sprinkler and create puddling). Also check the sprinkler riser wiper seal for flow-by. A very small amount of water emitting past the seal is acceptable (while the system is running). But, a constantly leaking head must be repaired or replaced.

Common Problems

Low head drainage can be reduced or stopped with the use of an internal check valve that can either be factory-installed into new sprinklers or added to those already part of a system (ask your distributor which part number is appropriate for your particular sprinkler needs). Poor irrigation coverage can also be a sign of clogged filters or nozzles, so it may be time to clean out the dirt and debris.

Other Problems

If you have an installation with old brass gravity-style spray heads, they may not be popping up high enough to clear grass and ground cover. Pop-up impact heads are noisy and occasionally a customer will want them replaced. Or, perhaps too many old sprinklers need replacing and it is simply time to upgrade the system.

It is very important that poorly performing or broken sprinkler heads be adjusted or replaced as soon as possible. When a specific sprinkler is not operating as designed, the performance of all other heads on the zone is affected and proper coverage of the entire landscape cannot be accomplished.