Rain falling on our lawns is like heaven on Earth when you live in some of the dry parts of the United States; especially southern California. That’s why most Americans rely on the artificial applications of water, otherwise known as irrigation. We use, on average, 320 gallons of water every day and about 30% of that is used for lawn care. As for our lawns, there are at least three different types of irrigation systems. These include, spray head sprinklers, rotating heads and the ever so popular drip irrigation, and all kinds of weather and moisture sensors to go with it.
A sprinkler system with a weather based irrigation controller is just what the doctor ordered. Most of these systems run on a timer that received local weather data throughout the day and can apply water as needed. There based on ET, “evapotranspiration” calculations.
Today’s advances in irrigation technology can also help with water savings on turf grass by using new rotating nozzles instead of the more traditional spray nozzles. Another system is the drip irrigation which is great for those looking to save more water. This is ideal for targeting smaller yards or single plants as the system runs underground only watering the root zones. With this system, you have little water evaporation and have more control over how much water you use.
Depending on the square footage of your yard and how much water you intend to converse, if any at all, one of these systems are sure to work for you. You can minimize the water usage based on the plants you have on your landscape or whether or not you have grass. These factors can make a huge difference in how much water we use on a daily basis.
