How to Install a Yard Sprinkler System? I love to garden but honestly I am a lazy Gardner. Everything I grow is perennial. The only annuals I grow are vegetables. So it should come as no surprise that an automated system does the watering for me.
The advantages are: You do not have to find the time to water, you will easily be able to accommodate watering ban in your area if one exists and your plants and trees will be able to absorb the maximum amount of moisture.
The first two advantages are quite obvious. So let us take a look at the third. Watering between 3 and 4 am is the most ideal time. The water will be absorbed in the soil before evaporating and since the sun will rise within hours of watering, any water on the leaves will evaporate without causing any leaf burn, fungus or moss growth. You will also end up saving water. Now that's one classic Dollar saved-Dollar earned while you sleep.
How do you plan your sprinkler system? Well, first you need to know a few basic rules.
Your system is composed of main supply line, automatic valve deck, zone supply lines, the sprinkler heads and a control panel.
Step one is to draw a plan of where your watering zones are and where you will put your main control area where all your automatic valves will be mounted. So to simplify the process imagine this property. The house sits on a 100 feet by 100 feet corner property. The house sits on a plot that is 30 feet by 30 feet and is 15 feet from the back on one side and 35 feet from second back side. You know actually go ahead and draw this on a graph paper so it will be easy to follow.
Ready? Ok, now mark the back side of the house where you will configure all the automatic valves. Now draw a line around the house and to the front and use 90 degree turns as you go. You have 20 feet of house foundation shrubbery in the front. A sprinkler head will cover 10 feet per head five feet on either side. So mark 5 feet from the start of the shrubs and draw your first circle for the first sprinkler head. Then go 10 feet and mark your second circle.
You can have one to six sprinkler heads (SH) per zone without loosing significant amount of water pressure. When you loose pressure you will loose the distance or the amount of coverage.
So far you have two SH. We can safely add two more. Turn around to the side of the house where you have another 20 feet of shrubs. You know what to do. Call it zone one. There is one more small detail we need to take care of. A pressure release valve is needed at the end of the zone line.
Pressure release valve acts as a gate and shuts off soon as your zone comes on and water pressure builds. When the zone valve shuts off, the pressure valve opens automatically letting water drain out from the pipe. This way during hot summers water will not steam out damaging the vegetation and the drained pipes will not freeze in winter. Preferably the pressure valve should be installed facing down into a small pit filled with pebbles, gravel or sand.
Continue with other zones repeating the process. All trees must be tied into one zone unless you have more than eight trees. Trees typically require 50 to 80 gallons of water per week. Instead of sprinkler heads use soaker tubes you will save water as the water from SH tend to run off. Shrubs need 10 to 15 gallons every 3 days. Lawns need water every other day for 15 to 25 minutes. Remember this when you set the time on the timer unit.
The Lawn: Depending upon how big the lawn is you may need to zone this in front and rear, that is have two zones. The SH for the lawns will cover the lawn from 20 to 55 feet and is adjustable from 90 degrees to 360 degrees. One to four SH will do the trick. Keep these to the minimum as the SH for the lawns are pricy. Be sure the lawn sprinkle head stays 1 - 2 inches below the ground level or you will damage it with your lawn mover.
Alright now we need to get supply water to the automatic valve deck from just after the water meter. If you know point of entry into the house of the main water line then you are in great shape. You can assume a straight line from the meter to the house and dig in any convenient spot to splice in your sprinkler supply line. If you do not know the point of entry you will need to dig 2-3 feet after the meter till you find 1 inch supply line. From the point where you want to splice into the supply line draw the line to the valve deck.
You are done with your planning. Now before I give you your supply list you should get the total of running footage for all your zones. Say you have 5 zones including your vegetable patch. The total running footage is 455 feet. The PVC piping comes in 10 feet sections so you will need 50 of those plus two just in case. Get SCH40 as it will withstand weathering much better than the cheaper one and the difference is minuscule compared to having to dig the pipes up often to make repairs. Say you measured 62 feet for the main supply line. Now let's go shopping.
Shopping List:
52 PVC 10 feet ¾ inch SCH 40 pipes
8 PVC 10 feet 1 inch SCH 40 pipes
8 shrub head semi circle SH
2 pop up heads for the lawn one fron one back yard
6 automatic valves with one inch input and ¾ inch out
8 T PVC 3/4 inch to ½ inch socXsocXRFPT the ½ inch is threaded to attach the risers
10 risers ½ inch to attach sprinkler heads
2 risers ½ inch to ¾ inch to attach lawn heads
5 pressure release valves
5 90 degree ¾ to ½ inch SXFPT to attach pressure valves facing down
1 PVC pipe cutter
1 one inch pipe T to splice off main supply
4 additional one inch Ts to configure the water supply to four auto valves
1 one inch 90 for the last auto valve
1 one inch inline compression splice to reconnect house supply near the T splice
1 one inch gate valve to shut off the sprinkler system for the winter close to the splice.
7 one inch coupling
6 ¾ inch couplings
1 to 2 PVC pipe primer
1 to 2 PVC pipe glue
5 Automatic Valves
6 zone timer computer ( They come 4, 6 and 8 zones)
1 Rain sensor. This shuts the system off for 24 hours if it rains 1 inch or more.
When you have the supplies, lay the pipes down on the ground just like you planned. Join them but loosely. Put your automatic valves where they should be and so on. Take a picture. Again, take a picture and keep it for your records.
Next start digging the trenches with your shovel about 6 to 8 inches deep to burry the pipes.
Ok so the trenches are dug. You have the system loosely laid down and connected just the way you planned it. Now all you need to do is join the pipes in the zone layout. Where you want to join apply primer to pipe and the inside of the T. Just one round around is fine. Then do the same with glue and quickly press in the pipe into the T. Careful the threaded side should face up. Hold the joint in place for 30 seconds and move onto the next attaching the risers as you go but not the SH.
Now attach the five automatic valves. The ¾ inch out on the valves goes to the zones. So attach zone one to 1st valve and so on. Then connect the one inch supply line using one inch T and the 90.
You are almost done. Start on the supply line. Be sure to turn off the water at meter. You will need to let these joints dry as per recommendation on the glue bottle which is usually 2 hours. Continue to attach the supply line all the way to the auto valves.
Testing and flushing the system. After recommended drying time turn on the main supply gate valve and check for leaks up to the auto valves. If ok manually turn on the first auto valve. Run it for two minutes then shut it off. Attach your SH to the risers on this zone. Manually turn on the valve again and adjust the sprinkler heads. Proceed to repeat the steps with rest of the zones.
Attach the computer or the timer per instructions. Manually test the timer. Attach the rain sensor per its instructions. Repack the trenches. Walla you are done.
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In conclusion, your most complicated part is going to be attaching the automatic valves. Just follow the steps of loosely attaching everything. Estimate the lengths of the pipes as you will not be able to push the joints all the way in without getting them stuck. Do not forget to prime before applying the glue. This project will bring joy and pride when your neighbors stop to watch the show. Don't forget to set your final watering times to start after 3 AM. Good Luck.
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