It’s the weekend, it’s starting to warm up- and that means lawn care season is just about here. CocoonTech has a great thread about making your own sprinkler system. There are enough electronics, planning, schematics and parts to make this a fun project. If I had a yard, I think I’d hook the sprinklers in to a weather reporting system along with a local “do not water” notification system so they won’t turn on if there’s a water shortage. Link.
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A couple other topics a DIY’er should consider that are not mentioned in the link:
Backflow prevention – most states require a plumbing fixture connected at the water source that prevents any water from flowing back into a house should the house loose water pressure. This is an important safety devise.
Know your city/town requirements – some require a building permit… some allow sprinkler heads in the right-of-way, some have specific backflow prevention devices (AVP, PVB or RPZ, etc)…. You may choose to skip the permit (your call)…but know the city requirements.
Spend some time and learn a little about water volume & pressure. Your house or a well will only provide so much water (GPM) as a certain pressure. Sprinkler zones are “sized” based on the amount of water available from the house/well. Miscalculate and the system will not work. (I believe a number of web sites provide info on this…try RainBird.)
Consider renting a “pipe-puller” – its much less destructive and will install pipe underground in about 1/50 time required by hand…at least in the Midwest.
An alternative to connecting to a weather station would be to connect the system to a Mini-clik (prevents watering after the sensor detects a predetermined amount of rain fall) or a moisture sensor in the soil. Both are very inexpensive and connect into the controller or the neutral (common) valve wire.
“Fun Project” – I ran a company that installed 100’s of systems so I would not consider it fun…but it will provide exercise, understanding of water & electricity.
Once you have an irrigation system you’ll quickly learn how nice they are.
Good Luck!!