# Irrigation Sprinkler Gauge



## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

I found these  Sprinkler Gauge a few years ago and they are perfect for finding out exactly how much your sprinklers put out for a given time. I have used them to calibrate and adjust all my heads so they are all putting out the same rate of water. Knowing all of that also comes in handy if you have a Rachio as you can put that info into the controller. for $1.50 each, it's almost hard not to purchase a few of them to use. I may buy more in the future so I can do more heads at once. It is really an eye opener to see how much water actually gets put down each time.


----------



## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

I got a 10 pack from them last year. The price looks likes it $12.50 for a 10 pack. I might order 10 more this year as it would be nice to have more of them while performing an audit.


----------



## Wes (Feb 15, 2017)

Thanks for this post. I have used the "tuna can" method in the past, which is effective but had been looking to buy some actual gauges. The ones I found before were two to three times this price.


----------



## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Wes said:


> Thanks for this post. I have used the "tuna can" method in the past, which is effective but had been looking to buy some actual gauges. The ones I found before were two to three times this price.


That's what we are here for!!!


----------



## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

The NRG website has a 10% off coupon listed on their blog - http://www.nrgideas.com/blog/10-discount-enter-the-code-nrgtwitter-/


----------



## MsTin (Sep 5, 2017)

Mightyquinn said:


> I found these  Sprinkler Gauge a few years ago and they are perfect for finding out exactly how much your sprinklers put out for a given time. I have used them to calibrate and adjust all my heads so they are all putting out the same rate of water. Knowing all of that also comes in handy if you have a Rachio as you can put that info into the controller. for $1.50 each, it's almost hard not to purchase a few of them to use. I may buy more in the future so I can do more heads at once. It is really an eye opener to see how much water actually gets put down each time.


Thanks for this info! Just bought myself 20. I figure that it is cheaper than calling someone out to do it for me!


----------



## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

My 10 pack arrived today. Stuck 'em outnin random places just to see. I'll probably play with them for the rest of the week! &#128518;


----------



## MsTin (Sep 5, 2017)

They arrived. I have 12 zones and placed them during a 30 minute run on one zone and got barely anything in the gauges! Can this be right? My system is Hunter with Hunter sprinkler heads. :search:


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Hunter MP nozzles output around ~0.4in/hr in a proper head to head setup. This is actually a design feature to allow the soil to absorb the water instead of running of. what is your hunter nozzle/head.


----------



## ken-n-nancy (Jul 25, 2017)

MsTin said:


> They arrived. I have 12 zones and placed them during a 30 minute run on one zone and got barely anything in the gauges! Can this be right?


Are your gauges okay? I mean, like there isn't a drain hole in the bottom of them or anything? If not, then, yes what you measured is much more likely to be right than anything that we can tell you from online!

In general, irrigation systems typically put down much less water per hour than people realize. It's common to think that watering each zone for 30 minutes is a lot of watering, but depending upon the water pressure, nozzle size, placement of heads, etc., I've generally observed that watering significantly (especially if trying to do 1" of water a week all in one watering) takes MUCH longer than people typically think. In the zone where I was just moving sod this morning, it takes me 37 minutes to provide 1/4" of water. Yes, an inch of water in that zone requires 4 * 37 minutes = 148 minutes = 2 hours, 28 minutes.

People who have never measured the output of their sprinkler system are generally stunned to find out how little water they've actually been applying!


----------



## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

ken-n-nancy said:


> People who have never measured the output of their sprinkler system are generally stunned to find out how little water they've actually been applying!


+1 Truer words have never been spoken


----------



## OutdoorEnvy (Sep 27, 2017)

Mightyquinn said:


> ken-n-nancy said:
> 
> 
> > People who have never measured the output of their sprinkler system are generally stunned to find out how little water they've actually been applying!
> ...


Well now I'm kind of afraid to check! LOL!

Good info folks... I suspect this analysis is in my near future...gulp...


----------



## Pete1313 (May 3, 2017)

MsTin said:


> They arrived. I have 12 zones and placed them during a 30 minute run on one zone and got barely anything in the gauges! Can this be right? My system is Hunter with Hunter sprinkler heads. :search:


I have hunter PGP's with red nozzles installed(#6 for 360°, #3 or #4 on 180°, and #2 for 90°). My precip rate is around .2" an hour. There was a couple reasons I set them up for such a low precip rate, but like you are seeing, 30 minutes would barely wet the bottom of the gauge as it takes me 300 minutes to put down 1".


----------



## MsTin (Sep 5, 2017)

g-man said:


> Hunter MP nozzles output around ~0.4in/hr in a proper head to head setup. This is actually a design feature to allow the soil to absorb the water instead of running of. what is your hunter nozzle/head.


I have rain bird 12H nozzles and Hunter PGP with the blue nozzles mostly installed.


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

My weather station has only recorded an inch of rain in the last month, so the irrigation system is getting a good workout.

I noticed these gauges are back in stock on my Amazon Wish List. Whether you have an in ground system or are using hose end sprinklers, these will tell you A LOT about how much water you are actually putting down. :nod:


----------



## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

I hate that these seem expensive. You would think they would be about half that


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

kolbasz said:


> I hate that these seem expensive. You would think they would be about half that


I'm on the other side - I think they're a great value. They're basically $1.50 ea, plus shipping - 10 gauges for less than 20 bucks. Knowing the actual precipitation rate of each zone could save someone that much on their water bill in short order if they find that they are over watering - or save some real headaches if they find they aren't watering enough or have dry spots in their sprinkler design.


----------



## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

As an alternative, if quick and cheap is the order of the day, I got around 75 plastic shot glasses at 7-11 free for the asking and hot glued a framing nail on the bottom of each.

The sides are sloped so they are not as 100% accurate as Ware's, but certainly close enough. I need a lot of them so cost is a factor.

Here's a photo from when I made them (rule for scale - and yes, the line of them keeps going right on down the countertop):


----------



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Delmarva Keith said:


> As an alternative, if quick and cheap is the order of the day, I got around 75 plastic shot glasses at 7-11 free for the asking and hot glued a framing nail on the bottom of each.
> 
> The sides are sloped so they are not as 100% accurate as Ware's, but certainly close enough. I need a lot of them so cost is a factor.
> 
> Here's a photo from when I made them (rule for scale - and yes, the line of them keeps going right on down the countertop):


That's awesome. Only issue with using tapered containers is that the actual amounts won't show up accurately, but for relative comparisons, no one cares about that. If you do find a way to calibrate them, please let us know. It should be doable. I looked it up once...there's some math involved.


----------



## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

Guy at work eats tons of tuna, asked him to save me some cans. He laughed, then said ok.


----------



## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

Green said:


> Delmarva Keith said:
> 
> 
> > As an alternative, if quick and cheap is the order of the day, I got around 75 plastic shot glasses at 7-11 free for the asking and hot glued a framing nail on the bottom of each.
> ...


Thanks! Yes, works great for relative measurements and is "close enough" for measuring PR.

There are a bunch of things that affect absolute accuracy of PR measurement. Outsplash effect of a shallow container and wind aerodynamics also come into play when considering container size and shape. If recollection serves, the ideal container shape is a deep cylinder with straight sides on the inside and convex sides on the outside, elevated above the surface plane. It"s all academic when close enough really is close enough. :mrgreen:

Sort of look at it this way. If I knew all the zones' PR with absolute accuracy to within a fraction of a millimeter, what would I do with that data? No matter how closely crop ET, rainfall and soil characteristics were known and tracked, there's still going to be microclimate issues and ET differences from wind variations, plant nutrition, plant hydration, etc. etc. So we are generally happy with averaging ET and rainfall to come up with this near universal rough guess of needing about an inch a week, and watch plant response to see if an adjustment from that is needed.

Well what if my PR measurement is off (and we know it is) and I start with 0.8" per week actual believing it's 1". That may well be enough and away I go. Or it might not. Might turn out based on observing the plants that it ends up needing 1.5" per week on average. Either way the process is the same. Set a baseline amount and go from there. So close enough really is close enough. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


----------



## unclebucks06 (Apr 25, 2018)

Orbit has their 12 pack for 65% off for father's day. Use promo code SMARTDAD65

https://store.orbitonline.com/store/products/sprinkler-catch-cups-12-pack/


----------



## PokeGrande (Mar 25, 2018)

Ware said:


> My weather station has only recorded an inch of rain in the last month, so the irrigation system is getting a good workout.
> 
> I noticed these gauges are back in stock on my Amazon Wish List. Whether you have an in ground system or are using hose end sprinklers, these will tell you A LOT about how much water you are actually putting down. :nod:


Darn, too late, currently unavailable as of the time of this post. How much was this 10-pack on Amazon?


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

PokeGrande said:


> Darn, too late, currently unavailable as of the time of this post. How much was this 10-pack on Amazon?


They are usually under $20 delivered for 10 gauges. You can also order them direct from NRG.

Alternatively, these Orbit Sprinkler Catch Cups look nice - I like the wider throat on these.


----------



## TigerinFL (Mar 29, 2018)

these are what I ordered. they worked well.

https://www.conservationmart.com/p-1330-niagara-rain-gauge-n3179.aspx


----------



## PokeGrande (Mar 25, 2018)

Ware said:


> You can also order them direct from NRG.


That's what I did - just under $15 for 10 delivered. Used a coupon that was previously posted. It won't be available to ship until July 16 so wanted to check and see if much of a price difference. Thank you.


----------



## Greenrebellion (Jun 13, 2018)

I have the 10 pack sprinkler guage mentioned in this thread. They are great.

I don't know if any of you are as crazy as me, but I actually printed out "maps" of my lawn and I record where I place the gauges on the map and what readings I get and then use that data to fine tune sprinkler nozzles and run times. Yes, I'm a nut!


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

^ you are among like minds. Why measure precipitation when you could to soil moisture probes too?


----------



## rickta24 (May 10, 2018)

unclebucks06 said:


> Orbit has their 12 pack for 65% off for father's day. Use promo code SMARTDAD65
> 
> https://store.orbitonline.com/store/products/sprinkler-catch-cups-12-pack/


Thanks for the heads up! Just ordered two packs for the price of one!


----------

