Residential sprinkler systems are typically used to irrigate lawns, shrub areas, flower and vegetable gardens. They are used by homeowners in the Rochester area with a variety of lot sizes and sources of water for irrigation, such as city water, wells and ponds. If city water is used, a back-flow preventor is required by NYS law, to protect the public water supply.
A typical sprinkler system will consist of pop-up sprinkler heads, which are normally retracted and flush with the ground, solenoid valves and an electronic controller. A variety of sprinkler heads can be used, depending on the application, including rotor-pop-up, impact-pop-up, spray-pop-up and drip-irrigation-emitters. The sprinkler heads are connected through the solenoid valve with the water supply by underground semi-flexible poly pipe. The solenoid valves are connected to the electronic controller by low voltage underground wire. Because the water supply in a typical home is inadequate to operate all of the sprinkler heads simultaneously, the system is split-up into several zones. The number of sprinkler heads in one of these zones depends on the type of sprinkler heads used and on the available water supply. The valves for each of these zones are turned on sequentially by the electronic controller. This means that only the sprinklers in one zone are operating at any given time. The electronic controller also has the ability to control the time and duration of the watering for each zone. A rain sensor can also be incorporated into the system to suspend the watering cycle if a predetermined rainfall occurs.
Key Facts about Sprinkler Systems
Sprinkler Systems
