Ever wonder just how much water your lawn and other plants need each week? From March - October, the Consortium publishes a weekly watering number each Thursday. 

Ever wonder just how much water your lawn and other plants need each week? From March - October, the Consortium publishes a weekly watering number each Thursday. 

Your sprinkler is a critical part of your watering efforts, and that makes it a critical part of your water conservation efforts.

Proper and timely maintenance is essential for sprinkler systems. To help, we've compiled this one-page guide to Sprinkler Maintenance (PDF). In addition, we offer these guidelines to help you get the most out of your sprinkler system — while doing the most you can to conserve water.

Choose a Water-wise Irrigation System
To conserve water, your irrigation system should send large drops of water close to the ground, which is more water-efficient than spraying a fine mist. We recommend rotor heads or drip systems, rather than less-efficient pop-up spray heads. Drip irrigation is a great alternative for trees, shrubs, perennials and groundcovers.

Cross Connection (Backflow) Protection
All irrigation systems are required to have backflow protection installed. Backflow protection prevents the mixing of irrigation water that may have been exposed to fertilizers and other outdoor chemicals with drinking water. Contact your local water provider for specific information regarding cross connection rules and regulations - be sure to ask for the cross connection or back flow specialist.

Program Your Sprinkler System
Automatic sprinkler systems aren't completely automatic. For example, they don’t adjust themselves when the weather gets hotter, or when it rains. Program your system so you don’t deprive or over water your plants or lawn.

Get Into the "Zone"
Automatic sprinkler systems have multiple "zones," each controlled by its own solenoid valve. To program your system, simply set your controller, the "brain" of your system. There are three types of controllers: electro-mechanical, solid state and hybrid. The most popular type of residential controllers is hybrid, which combines the versatility of solid-state operation with the convenience of mechanical programming.

Rain Sensors
Rain sensors save time and money. They interrupt the common circuit that operates the electronic valves until the water from the rain has evaporated. When the water has evaporated, the rain sensor restores the common circuit and the controller will resume turning the system on and off.

For more information, visit our Weekly Watering Schedule and read our 7 Basic Steps for Creating Water Efficient Landscapes (PDF) brochure.

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