Central Florida is the lightning capital of the world.  Sprinkler systems are a favorite target for lightning.  With zone wires running out and all over any property one lightning strike can hit any wire and destroy the valve solenoid and/or travel back to the timer and at least damage it or blow it off the wall into pieces.  Pumps are another favorite target.  Proper grounding is key.  However, nothing will survive a direct hit.  Proper grounding will take a nearby hit and hopefully allow it to pass harmlessly through your equipment.  Paige Wire has a excellent grounding method at there web site www.paigewire.com/education.htm.  When installing any electrical equipment proper grounding will help protect that equipment from not only lightning strikes but dirty power or power spikes.  A properly trained sprinkler person will know how to ground the equipment using ground rods or hire a company that specializes in electrical grounding.  Get your sprinkler system protected but have your home or business checked out too.  Over time grounding systems will deteriorate and fail providing you with no protection.  Keep in mind that it is common for lightning damage to occur but it may not appear for several weeks or months.  Your sprinkler system may work okay but over time it starts acting up and then finally fails completely.  Upon opening the timer panel or motor cover there is the smell of electrical burn or even a burn spot from a lightning strike from days, weeks, or months earlier.

With the right fixtures and proper installation low voltage landscape lighting allows you to admire your landscaping at night while having parties, family events, or just personal time.  The extra lighting can also provide a little extra peace of mind knowing you or your loved ones can easily see there way should they come home late at night.  Installation is relatively easy.  Since low voltage lighting uses only 12 volts most codes do not require licensing and the wire can be run under the mulch and not buried.  Bulb type and hours usage are key.  On existing systems if a single bulb burns out it is best to replace all the bulbs on that wire run.  All bulbs are rated in hour usage so when one 5000 hour bulb burns out the others will not be far behind.  Plus, as each bulb burns out the voltage increases to the other bulbs shortening there life by half.  Technology has come a long way with bulbs that last up to 10,000 hours or LED fixtures with 50,000 hours of life.  Voltage is another key.  These fixtures are rated for 12 volt.  Using more will reduce the life of the bulb significantly.  Multi-tap transformers can help with an assortment of 11 volts up to 22 volts.  By using less voltage by as little as 1/2 a volt per wire run can in some instances double the life of the bulb without losing very much light.  Test the last fixture on the wire leg for proper voltage.  Be sure to at least use a transformer with a timer to activate the lights and turn them off later on in the night.  A photo cell will also keep the lights off as the days get longer.  Both items will increase the life of the bulbs by months if not years.  A true landscape lighting installation will highlight the landscaping and architecture in subtle light blends.  You should never have to shield your eyes from too much light or stumble around from a lack of lighting.

If you have an existing sprinkler system a little pre-planning can solve a lot of problems and save you money.  Once you know exactly where the new pool or addition is going contact a sprinkler company to come out and locate all of your electric valves, valve wiring, well, or pump wire and flag all of your heads.  At best the timer, valves, and wiring will be on one side of the house and away from the work.  All that needs to be done now is dig down and cap off or re-pipe around the project area.  By flagging off the valves and heads the contractor can see them and plan a path for the heavy equipment and hopefully not damage any heads or valves.  If you have mainline and wiring within the project area they must be relocated outside the project area or lowered deeper into the ground below a sidewalk area and encased in a sleeve (SCH 40 PVC pipe).  Piping in one sleeve and wiring in another sleeve.  Relocate heads outside the project area.  Due to heavy equipment it may be best to return after the completion of the project to install the heads.  Be sure to put ”zero” minutes on any zones in the project area.  No need to water where the landscape will be destroyed.  This method saves time and money versus trying to repair after heavy equipment have ripped the piping and wiring out of the ground.  Plus, some codes require that the sprinkler system and landscape must be installed before the inspector will sign off on the pool or addition.  If you are planning on having a sprinkler system installed tell your designer or installer that you may add a pool and/or room addition in a certain area.  They can install the sprinkler system so the piping and wiring are not effected and only minor adjustments are needed.

I recently left a residential sprinkler system repair job in Minneola Florida that I bid on to install but I didn’t get about a year ago.  As I always do I designed the system to apply water as evenly as possible throughout the property.  However, the homeowner chose to go with a company that “guaranteed 100% coverage” and save about 30% off my quote.  Her yard was full of brown spots and the sprinkler system was running all kinds of programs in an effort to compensate.  She finally gave up when she realized that the installer didn’t know how to solve the problem and he refused to return her calls after a while.  After my upgrades and repairs she ended up paying more than if she had used me in the first place.  The even application of water and 100% coverage often mean two different things in the sprinkler business even though they sound the same.  A true professional will apply water as evenly as possible throughout a project.  To do so requires a certain number of heads in a certain area known as head to head coverage.  The 100% coverage person will cover the same area but will use less heads in an effort to save on parts and labor.  Unfortunately less heads require your watering time to be increased significantly to make up for the loss of even water application.  Most of the time less water is applied in a effort to meet watering codes, landscape diseases are a huge problem due to constant watering, and worst of all watering 24 hours a day still doesn’t help due to the lack of heads.  Its always better to apply water as evenly as possible with the correct number of heads.  If its too much water you can always throttle back the run time.  But in most cases where there are not enough heads there are a limited number of options available to solve the problem.

Do it yourself and save money.  Check out our DIY section on this web site for information that may help you solve your problem or give you the information you need to decide if a professional is needed.  If its a timer problem the owners manual can be a big help.  Or try the manufacturers web site.  They usually have a DIY section with videos to assist you.  You can also leave a comment here or send an email and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

Check out your sprinkler system every few months for broken heads, pipes, or plugged nozzles.  Make sure all the spray heads and gear drives are pointed in the right direction and are operating properly.  Raise, lower, add, or relocate as needed.  Replace defective heads with more efficient equipment.  Check out your rain sensor and make sure it is working.  If you don’t have a rain sensor-get one.  If you have a above ground pump listen to it.  If it hums on every zone then your good.  But if it sounds like its full of rocks and struggling to pump water it has a lack of water to the pump and this is cavitation.  If it squeals a lot the bearings are going and need to be replaced.  Check out your backflow preventer for leaks and make sure it is supported properly.  It has to be tested annually by law so any internal problems will be determined at that time.  Look at your timer and check for proper time and correct if needed.  Replace the back up battery annually.  Adjust your zone run times according to the time of year or adjust the water/seasonal adjust feature.  Open the timer panel and remove any insects or nests.  Plug any holes or openings that insects can enter.  Make sure the timer wiring conduit to the valves is not cracked and replace if damaged with at least SCH 40 pipe or gray conduit.  Local codes may require other.  Regular sprinkler system inspections will help maintain a beautiful landscape, keep repair cost down, and save water.  Most professional sprinkler companies offer sprinkler system inspection services on a quarterly basis or per your schedule at a very reasonable cost.

In Florida we have lakes everywhere so you would think water was plentiful.  You wouldn’t think that we have been in a statewide drought for 20 years.  For those of you that were in the Clermont or central Florida area back in 97 and 98 the drought was so bad that numerous lakes dropped way down or even dried up.  The experts predicted it would take a hurricane to get us out of this drought but we had 4 hurricanes hit the central Florida area in 2004 and we are still in a drought.  The amount of water that mother nature provides has been the same for thousands of years.  Unfortunately as more people move into the state more water is being removed from our aquifer faster than mother nature can replace it.  Water restrictions were  implemented to slow that effect.  Nationwide water is becoming a scarce commodity and water wars are very common with one state suing another over water usage.  According to the 2010 Census there are close to 19 million people living in Florida.  Imagine if every person made an effort to save 1 gallon of water a day.                                          Sprinkler manufacturers are coming out with all kinds of water conserving equipment.  You can still get your basic timer that will run your sprinkler system but for a few dollars more you can upgrade to an ET timer.  ET stands for evapotranspiration which is a calculation that determines how much to water each zone for based on data you provide.  Or install a weather station and each zone will be watered based on local weather conditions, plant type, soil type, along with other factors.  This equipment saves 30% to 50% of the water you normally use and saves wear and tear on your sprinkler system and landscape.                                                                                                                                                                                                              Gear drives, spray heads, and drip irrigation have come a long way too.  Heads can come with check valves that prevent them from draining water after the zone has turned off.  And/or pressure regulators are available in the head to regulate pressure at a preset pressure for best efficiency.  For example, I came across an all spray system and the landscape was severely stressed.  The operating pressure was 70 PSI.  Maximum operating pressure should be 30 PSI.  The pressure was so high that the water was shooting into the air as mist and very little was hitting the ground.  After installing a pressure regulator and setting it for 30 PSI the fine mist turned into large droplets hitting the ground and worked very well after that.  Most electric valves have the option of installing a pressure regulator on them.  By operating a sprinkler system at its proper PSI more water will be applied evenly requiring less water to irrigate.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Drip irrigation has made huge advances in technology over the past 10 years.  Drip irrigation is great in areas where bushes and trees are planted.  By using the right tubing or emitter you can save thousands of gallons and water precisely what the plant needs.  Another plus is weed control is great since you are only watering at the base of the plant versus normally spraying water everywhere.  For new construction rainwater harvesting is fast becoming an option.  A large tank is buried and collects rainfall from the roof of the building.  This water is then used to irrigate with.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       More and more water suppliers are looking at any and all options to conserve water.  Unfortuanelty the tried and true method is price increases.  We all must do our part to conserve as much water as possible.  The alternative will be to increase the cost of water so much that we will not be able to afford to irrigate anymore.  It has already happened in other parts of the country.  Spend a little money now and upgrade your system to conserve as much water as possible.  Do this yourself or have a professional sprinkler company make recommendations for you or have them do the work for it.

Gallons per minute and velocity (speed of water) dictate this.  In irrigation 5 feet per second is the maximum you want to move water to prevent water hammer.  Pipe sized too small generates higher velocities and when a valve is turned off the water slams to a stop and rattles the pipes and possibly and eventually damaging the pipes or valves.  Plus, smaller pipe creates higher friction loss robbing you of pressure.  By understanding this fact is why smaller pipe does NOT create more pressure.  It develops higher velocity creating the illusion of higher pressure.  If using CL200 pipe do not exceed these flow rates:

1/2″ CL315     6 GPM,  3/4″     10 GPM,  1″  16 GPM,  11/4″     26 GPM,  11/2″     35 GPM,  2″     55 GPM 

By staying within these flow rates will prevent or at least considerably reduce the risk of water hammer.  This information is readily available in the technical section of all the major sprinkler manufacturers such as Rainbird, Hunter, Toro, or Weathermatic.  Follow the same guidelines for SCH 40 pipe.  Especially when plumbing the suction side of the sprinkler pump.  On the discharge side of the pump we can easily overcome problems such as elevation, long pipe runs, valve PSI loss, or other mechanical losses by simply calculating these losses when sizing the pump.  However, we are very limited on the suction side.  All friction losses such as lift, pipe friction, check valve, intake devices must be done to create as little loss as possible.  By doing so will significantly increase the pumps performance.  Locate the pump as close to the water as possible, size the suction pipe according to maximum GPM (if not larger), use a fat boy PVC check valve with a 1/2lb spring, and use a lake intake or screen that creates the least amount of friction loss.

If you have the option of pulling water out of a lake or from a shallow well its usually a cost effective option.  City water from a meter is getting more expensive year after year.  A properly sized pump for your sprinkler system can make a world of difference.  Unfortunately there are all kinds of different types of pumps and most sprinkler companies are relying on the supply house person to size the pump right.  Some will but most won’t.  More often than not I will see a pump on a sprinkler system that is constantly struggling to maintain pressure or flow or may have excessive pressure and cycles on and off a lot.  An undersized pump with too little pressure and/or flow and the zones barely work is fairly common.  The timer is the brains of the system but the pump is the heart and it can’t struggle when it operates.  If you have a pump that is struggling then an upgrade might be the option.  A poor performing pump effects the operation of the heads and the application of water evenly.  You will always have brown spots, need to water longer than you should, and a struggling pump can work so hard that its normal life span is shortened.  Bumping up horsepower may be one option but multistage pumps are another option.  Keep in mind that too much flow and pressure are better than just right.  You can throttle back pressure and flow but a pump that barely works will soon be struggling as it begins to wear out a year or so down the road.  Lets dispel a major myth about pumps… high pressure does NOT make a pump work harder.  Medium to high pressure puts less work on the pump.  Lower pressures and higher flows make the pump work harder.  So pick a pump with a little extra pressure for longevity and the sprinkler system will work more efficiently.  Also, never plumb/pipe the pump based on its inlet and outlet tap.  These taps are based around achieving pump performance so pipe/plumb your pump according to gallons per minute.  This information can apply to both above ground centrifugal pumps or submersibles.

Rain and/or moisture sensors are required by Florida state law and have been for numerous years.  I’m a firm believer in rain sensors because when installed and adjusted properly they work very well and will save a great deal of water.  Why irrigate when sufficient rain has fallen?  Moisture sensors are better than nothing but I’m not a big fan of them.  In July of 2009 Florida Statute 373.62 was passed stating that all sprinkler systems are required to have a rain or moisture sensor and if any work is done on the sprinkler system by a licensed contractor the rain or moisture sensor must be tested for proper operation.  If the device is defective it must be replaced before completing any other work on the sprinkler system.  Rain sensors are inexpensive, readily available, and easy to install.  You also have the option of stepping up to additional features such as freeze, wind, or weather stations.