# DIY Home Irrigation Questions



## jeepsrt8 (Apr 5, 2021)

Good Morning Everyone,

I am in the process of adding an inground irrigation system to my property. I have been doing a lot of research and would appreciate any feedback from individuals with more experience and expertise. I am looking to add a four-zone system to my property. The property currently has a 3/4" water line with 13 GPM and 100 PSI.

My first question is regarding the PSI. Looking at different sprinkler types it appears a high PSI is actually not beneficial as it uses more GPM which reduced the number of sprinkler heads per zone. Would I be better off adding a pressure-reducing valve or going with in-line valves with flow control?

My next question is regarding the pipe diameter. I was planning on running 3/4" Hydro-Rain Blue-Lock lateral pipe from the valve box to each sprinkler and teeing off with 1/2" to make the sprinkler connection. I live in the northeast and experience freeze-thaw conditions and thought the Blue-Lock pipe would be better than the PVC as it has a better chance of expanding rather than bursting. Has anyone ever used the Blue-Lock? Any pros or cons?

Due to the lawn area being irregular I thought it was better to use spray heads instead of rotary to ensure proper coverage as well as avoiding overspray onto the mulch bed, home, and adjacent properties. Based on the attached document that shows the proposed sprinkler layout and zone layout does anyone foresee any problems? Is the lateral supply line to zone one too far? I was planning to use Rainbird 1804 Sprinklers with the HE-Van Spray Nozzles, but am open to other recommendations as well.

My last question is regarding the controller and valves. I was planning to install a Hunter Pro-HC 6 with a Hunter Flow Sensor. Should I also install a master valve or is that redundant with the Hunter Flow Sensor?

Thank you again for all of your help.


----------



## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

Showing distances on the layouts would help with actual recommendations on part numbers.

Head to head triangular spacing is always my recommendation. Also MP rotator nozzles where you can adjust the distance and the angle are pretty great when you are calibrating and making sure your overall precipitation frequency (bottom 3 average divided by total average) is high enough (>70% is good enough for me). Get nozzles that have a range that extend a little past what you have so that you aren't stuck with it not 100% reaching.

Zone 1 : get the heads that rotate past 180 degrees so you aren't left with 0 coverage grass. Put the 90 degree nozzle on the bottom right side of the pool in the crevice and adjust the angle to make it work.

Zone 2: get some heads on either side to make it more evenly distributed

Zone 3: best layout i have seen.

Zone 4: you have some areas getting 3 sprinklers worth of water and some only getting 1. Not sure what I would do about that though not knowing the distances.


----------



## jeepsrt8 (Apr 5, 2021)

@mjh648 Thank you for the reply. I do plan on adjusting some of the heads past 180 degrees to eliminate some of the coverage at zone 1. The program I am using is not as flexible with angles. I updated the plans to include dimensions as well as some of your other recommendations. Thanks again for the help.


----------



## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

Biggest thing to tackle IMO is making sure the heads are getting water from other heads. That's why head to head is the best. You can't rely on that sprinkler head to water the grass right where the head is if that makes sense.


----------



## jeepsrt8 (Apr 5, 2021)

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions based on the Hydro-Rain pipe or any of my other questions? Appreciate the help!!!


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

You're not achieving head-to-head spacing in a lot of places - especially in zone one.


----------



## bernstem (Jan 16, 2018)

Yup, increase the radius of the heads in zone one. Each head should be getting watered by the sprinklers nearest to it. That will result in every spot of lawn getting water from 3+ heads. As an example, zone 4 in the bottom right square area should have 4 heads all throwing 15 feet. It is missing one in the top left of the square.

https://www.irrigationtutorials.com/sprinkler-coverage-nozzle-selection-sprinkler-spacings/


----------



## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

I'll chime in here to give you another opinion, but I must say I agree completely with the previous feedback on head-to-head layout. If there's anything that we as a DIY'ers can do to create a better system is a more efficient layout, where as much of the landscape gets the same precipitation amount as possible. Here's a quick read on Distribution Uniformity (https://www.irrigation.org/IA/FileUploads/IA/Resources/TechnicalPapers/2011/TheEffectOfSpraySprinklerSpacingOnDistributionUniformity.pdf). You'll see that the far reaches of the throw get 1/3 the amount of water as does the areas near the spray head. That's what everyone is alluding to. Here's a graphic of the MP Rotator throw, for added reference. 


As for your other concerns



jeepsrt8 said:


> My first question is regarding the PSI. Looking at different sprinkler types it appears a high PSI is actually not beneficial as it uses more GPM which reduced the number of sprinkler heads per zone. Would I be better off adding a pressure-reducing valve or going with in-line valves with flow control?


High PSI is detrimental to to valves, fittings, pipes, etc... no different than a home water supply where it can shorten the life of fittings and fixtures. The spray pattern is also affected being pushed out at that pressure (imagine your morning routing trying to handle 100psi out of your bathroom faucet! No matter how small the stream it will still be pressurized and misting). 
With your size yard a PRV in the valve box can be more economical than paying for multiple pressure-reducing valves/heads. If you had long 100' runs or some major elevation change then reducing it at the valve or even the head makes sense. This is a matter of economics though. Either way running 100psi though pipes puts a lot of pressure on fittings and connections, even when static.



jeepsrt8 said:


> My next question is regarding the pipe diameter. I was planning on running 3/4" Hydro-Rain Blue-Lock lateral pipe from the valve box to each sprinkler and teeing off with 1/2" to make the sprinkler connection. I live in the northeast and experience freeze-thaw conditions and thought the Blue-Lock pipe would be better than the PVC as it has a better chance of expanding rather than bursting. Has anyone ever used the Blue-Lock? Any pros or cons?


I don't have direct experience with the blue-lock as we don't use it here in the southeast as much, but i see it as an economics issue again. The convenience factor must be worth the added cost. In your region you'll have the added benefit of the HDPE flexibility characteristics but at a cost. Price out those fittings before you decide.



jeepsrt8 said:


> Due to the lawn area being irregular I thought it was better to use spray heads instead of rotary to ensure proper coverage as well as avoiding overspray onto the mulch bed, home, and adjacent properties. Based on the attached document that shows the proposed sprinkler layout and zone layout does anyone foresee any problems? Is the lateral supply line to zone one too far? I was planning to use Rainbird 1804 Sprinklers with the HE-Van Spray Nozzles, but am open to other recommendations as well.


I would say spray heads are the least efficient from the 'water on the ground' perspective (especially if you don't reduce that pressure! You'd essentially have a misting station; fun for the kids, not efficient water delivery though). With your relatively short throws I'd go with the rotator-style nozzles. Not sure on your soil type or slope but the relatively low precipitation rates really help with runoff as well. Traditional sprays tend to put out the most water and that's what the rotators compare themselves to in their water-saving claims. Look into the specs of those and you'll see what I mean.



jeepsrt8 said:


> My last question is regarding the controller and valves. I was planning to install a Hunter Pro-HC 6 with a Hunter Flow Sensor. Should I also install a master valve or is that redundant with the Hunter Flow Sensor?


As I've understood it, flow sensors are essentially circuit breakers for broken pipes, etc. It alerts you (shuts off?) when certain parameters are exceeded. Some are metering devices (to tally up irrigation use) which is cool & informative, but once you price out your blue-lock system with flow control, etc etc etc, I have a feeling you'll eliminate some of these choices.

One last point as far as layout and zoning... with your pressure & flow availability you can probably consolidate a couple of your zones if you go with the Rotators. I have up to 15 heads on 1 zone with similar specs as you, and did so because I prioritized head/head coverage (ie, more heads placed for optimum coverage). Keep in mind sun vs shade, high vs low spots, etc, and separate them by how much water you'd anticipate they'd require relative to the other sections. 
Good luck!


----------



## RVAGuy (Jul 27, 2020)

I installed this valve;https://ussolid.com/u-s-solid-motor...ull-port-9-24-v-ac-dc-2-wire-auto-return.html I selected it because the Hunter controller doesn't have a very high amperage circuit, so this unit powers up and uses a very small current to keep it open. Once the voltage is terminated, the capacitor on the valve is used to close the valve. The controller is only capable of 24V x .28A = 7W, where the valve is specified at 5W.

The call on the master valve is on you. The drawback of a master valve is that it pressurizes and depressurises your main, causing stress (some people say). I like that if I get a small leak, I can use this and not worry about fixing it until it gets bad enough to repair. I currently have a bypass piped around it for normal operation, until I get a small leak. It's a small add (maybe $100 that was a no brainer for me when saving so much installing it myself).


----------



## jeepsrt8 (Apr 5, 2021)

@corneliani thank you for the very detailed response. I completely agree with you that the PSI is too high for the sprinkler system and needs to be reduced to ensure proper flow and functionality of each head. That will be addressed with a pressure regulator at the interior of the building. Your recommendation to switch to a rotator-style nozzle is a good point. The thing I am struggling with is the irregular shape of my yard especially in zone one and around the pool. I took a look at switching from the HE-Van spray nozzles to the R-Van nozzles. I am going to try laying it out with the R-Van nozzles and see if that helps my layout at all. Thank you again for all of the help and comments.


----------



## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

For irregular shapes, a low-output system - like the rotators - may be the best way to go. The inevitable overlap of sprinklers at 0.38"/hr will be way more forgiving than a high-output system. Yours seems to be a case of precision vs brute force. 
Btw consider shifting your heads to start at the corners. Your left-rear corner, for ex, will receive half the amount of precipitation as the side strip will, as currently laid out.


----------

