# Seeking opinions on budget setups



## turfnsurf (Apr 29, 2020)

After much research, I have found that a full irrigation system will not be in my plans for my current home, given that we will not be in this home long enough to have gotten enough usage out of it to justify the cost outlay.

With that being the case I was curious of people's thoughts on the Rainbird Easy to Install Sprinkler System. While it has limited heads, I could buy two of these and the coverage would satisfy my problem areas.

My municipality requires backflow preventers, but I don't know if that is for full setups or even modest ones like these. And if I would still need one, I am not sure how they work - is it something I need a professional to install, or is it a simple piece that I can buy and attach to my setup?

Before I pulled the trigger, I wanted to get opinions on this as well as other setups.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

I just went through this. I didn't want anything super complicated and even better if it came in a kit. I found the Rainbird ETI system. I didn't order the kit but went to the big box store and bought the 1/2" tubing, 6 sprinkler heads, hose timer and fittings. I had 3 sprinklers running on the 1/2" line. I'm honestly not sure if my flow would have supported 6 sprinklers. Doing the bucket test, I thought I had around 12 GPM but according to the Orbit hose timer, it was more like 6.3 GPM. Could be that's all my sprinklers could put out with those nozzles. Not sure.

My plan was to have each sprinkler cover and area with little to no overlap (i.e. Head to head coverage). After running it for a few days I realized that I wasn't getting an even "rain curtain". It seemed heavier towards the end of the throw. After more reading, I realized sprinklers were designed to have head to head coverage. So, If you want to irrigate a small square, instead of having 1 in the middle, you are better off having 1 on each corner where the heads can throw to each other.

I ended up biting the bullet and buying 3/4" pvc for my runs and running 1/2 swing pipe to my sprinklers. I was able to reuse the sprinklers I purchased. And after buying the automatic valves and controller. I think I DIY'd it for around $500. Suckiest part was burying the pipe. I did it all by hand, If I were to do it again I would rent a trencher.

I think it just depends on what size area you are trying to cover, what is your system pressure and GPM, are you going to bury the 1/2" tubing that comes with the ETI?

I am very new to this and by no means an irrigation expert. Just sharing my experience.


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## turfnsurf (Apr 29, 2020)

kalcormier said:


> I just went through this. I didn't want anything super complicated and even better if it came in a kit. I found the Rainbird ETI system. I didn't order the kit but went to the big box store and bought the 1/2" tubing, 6 sprinkler heads, hose timer and fittings. I had 3 sprinklers running on the 1/2" line. I'm honestly not sure if my flow would have supported 6 sprinklers. Doing the bucket test, I thought I had around 12 GPM but according to the Orbit hose timer, it was more like 6.3 GPM. Could be that's all my sprinklers could put out with those nozzles. Not sure.


Was there any particular reason that you didn't go with the kit? My guess is that since you're handy, you were able to save some money by purchasing DIY. If that's the case, that's not me, so I need the kit with all the fittings.

According to my bucket test, it takes 30 seconds to fill a 5 gallon bucket, which I believe means that my setup can support 10 gallons a minute.



> Suckiest part was burying the pipe. I did it all by hand, If I were to do it again I would rent a trencher.


I definitely intend on doing this. My soil is very clayish, and I could barely get to the recommended depth when I used a half moon edger, so I am not trying to struggle with that all day.



> I think it just depends on what size area you are trying to cover, what is your system pressure and GPM, are you going to bury the 1/2" tubing that comes with the ETI?


I am looking to use one kit for the front lawn (immediately by the front door) and the north side of my property. In this walkaround of my property, you can see the area if you go to the 0:56 mark all the way to 1:35. This shows my front radius that I want to cover and the side of the house. Those ungodly bushes are gone by the way.

In that video, I was also thinking about getting a second kit for the back side of my property (in the video, it starts from 1:35 to about the 2:06 mark)

Those are my extremely needy areas. Apparently the other parts of my lawn seems to get adequate sun and water because it's mostly dense.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

It was more because I'm impatient. Lol. Didn't want to wait for the kit to ship so, I grabbed what I could locally.

I would fit everything up above ground. Zip tie the sprinkler heads to some makeshift stakes. Make sure you are happy with the coverage and there are no leaks before starting trenching.

Read up on precipitation matching. I'm not sure if the kit comes with extra nozzles. I believe the sprinklers in the kit come with a .75 GPM nozzle installed. May need a few different nozzles depending on how you layout your system.


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## turfnsurf (Apr 29, 2020)

Does anyone know if I should have (or if I need) a backflow preventer for this kit?

ETA: Within the instructions manual, there is a line that reads: " You must confirm that the faucet to which the system will be attached includes a hose bibb vacuum breaker or other anti-siphon device to protect against backflow of water"

When I look at the inventory for my local stores, the hose bibb vacuum breaker looks like a fairly small device. Is that all I'd need?

I am not sure what an "anti-siphon device" is. I am looking for assistance on what that might be. Ultimately, if I can avoid having to install an actual backflow preventer that would be great.


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

I think this would be what you need


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## Utk03analyst (Jun 8, 2019)

When I did my hose bib install my house already had a hose bib vacuum breaker like the first one in the picture provided by kalcormier. I just picked up 3/4 inch poly pipe from Lowes and had a Melnor 4 way timer. I actually trenched and put the poly in the ground and then went from the 3/4 poly to funny pipe to PGP's. I got around 6 gpm's out of my hose bib and used 1.5 gpm nozzles in the pgp's. I later did a full irrigation install and was able to just reconfigure somethings to connect to my value box vs. hose bib.

I think poly pipe fittings and rotors will be just a s cost effective as the kits and also allow for future conversion. If I had to do it all over again I would have started with going from my hose bib to a manifold with valves. I just like the flexibility of my gen1 rachio and on ebay it cost what the melnor cost. The valves would make it less cost effective but the flexibility of a controller to me beats the pain of setting up the timer and having to deal with shutting the hose bib off for rain to keep from having to tweak the timer.


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