Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Mar 29, 2016 11:36 am Hi all,
Hopefully some experts will chime in but was just looking for some opinions for my irrigation design on a new build we are completing. We are located in Inverell in nsw so it's quite hot and dry in summer and cold and frosty in winter. My FIL works at a plumbing store so I get good prices on hunter and toro (leaning towards hunter at the moment easier to get stock apparently) We're planning on turfing the top side and front of the house with buffalo,I think the local place has Sir Walter but will have to check. The turfing is in the build contract but only a price so I think the builder will be flexible they have cut a fair bit off the lawn area. Hopefully when they fill the block with topsoil they can wait a while for me to get in a follow some of Fu Manchu's soil prep guide before the turf goes down. The low side and rear area will be a long term project either turf plugs and some plastic turf pavers or maybe concrete for driving and bike action for the kids but a 3m easement makes to tough. It will be irrigated hence the 8 station controller but not immediately. Anyway current irrigation system looks like an hunter x core 8 station controller which we will mount at the eastern lower corner of the block where we have a rain water tank and a 25mm mainline from the water meter to feed the rain water back up for the toilet. So we will run a main line from there to the solenoids with a filter and double check valve. Main line pressure around here is around 50psi and about 35l/min so we have done our calcs on 30l/min Only really have a plan for the main lawn area where the bulk of the turf will be laid. Have attached my current design. Have used hunter SRM04 as they seem to have a sweet spot around the 5-6m mark which seems to be what I need. Was going to go to MP rotators but seemed costly by the time you buy the head and the pop up. Will be broken into 2 zones all 180degree and under and the rest on another zone to try and manage the precipitation rates a bit. Anyway will keep working on more plans the top triangle section on the plan will be a garden bed and there will be garden along the top fence line so was hoping to do a zone probably of sprays to cover the garden bed,fence line, front turf and feature tree. I'm planning on running a prv of 30psi would this be recomended on the mainline or on the laterals so I can have some wriggle room later with radius? Anyone have opinions of disc vs screen filters? Any opinions on hunters solar sync? And lastly indoor controller mounted in weather proof enclosure or go straight for the outdoor unit? Sorry for the long post but I find irrigation super interesting now that I'm getting deeper into it and realise how much of an art it is. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Edit - picture orientation Re: New build - Irrigation system 3Mar 29, 2016 12:05 pm Hehe more of a green art I guess unfortunately I have the Budget of a hose watering system combined with a wife who needs a team of Gardeners to avoid killing things. So I'm considering it an investment in my turf which is a considerable investment in itself lol Re: New build - Irrigation system 4Apr 03, 2016 2:36 pm Here's my thoughts based on what I've bought/installed in my place recently: * I went with an Irritrol outdoor controller, 6 zones. I had to get 2 because I had no way to get the water from the front to the back (should have thought of that before we did some concreting). I'm sure the Hunter will be fine. * think about getting a wireless rain sensor. No point watering if it rained yesterday. * Have you thought about subsoil irrigation? I'm running Netafim Techline under my lawn. * Make sure you put a valve at the start of the system and a master control solenoid. The valve should be before your backflow device and the solenoid after. The master solenoid means your system is only "charged" when its time to water. Could save a flood if a pipe breaks. The valve let you turn the water off at the earliest point if you need to work on the system. * If you can get cheap parts then think about using barrel unions to connect stuff. Otherwise screwed/glued connections make it hard to replace individual parts if you need to. * Disc filters are fine for domestic applications * Do you mean LFV (line flushing valve) rather than PRV? I bought LFV's and had trouble getting them to shut off (probably due to the pressure being too low). Called the place I bought them from and they said "yep, they do that". Apparently they aren't really needed. They recommended just using barb valve's and turning them on for a minute every 6 months or so. * Make sure you do up any poly ratchet clamps tight. I've had a couple burst off. Always seems to happen right at the start of the program too. Re: New build - Irrigation system 5Apr 03, 2016 4:04 pm Thanks for the reply Matt. -Pretty set on the the solar sync for a rain sensor seems to tick the boxes -looked at a subsoil system but the prices were a bit much after a big build and some unexpected costs. The main lawn is about 260 sqm so would have used ALOT of subsoil from what I researched but maybe I missed something? How big is your system? -Have a ball valve going in before the double check and filter. Hadn't thought of a master solenoid does that use one zone on the controller? - are barrel unions the same as saddles apparently the FIL likes using saddles for risers etc - Meant PRV (pressure reducing valve) water pressure here is about 70psi but the srm seems to have a sweet spot around 36psi so need something to drop the pressure. Pretty sure we're going to run an adjustable valve in the mainline then fine tune with nozzles and or radius screw Re: New build - Irrigation system 6Apr 03, 2016 7:37 pm grog186 Thanks for the reply Matt. -Pretty set on the the solar sync for a rain sensor seems to tick the boxes -looked at a subsoil system but the prices were a bit much after a big build and some unexpected costs. The main lawn is about 260 sqm so would have used ALOT of subsoil from what I researched but maybe I missed something? How big is your system? -Have a ball valve going in before the double check and filter. Hadn't thought of a master solenoid does that use one zone on the controller? - are barrel unions the same as saddles apparently the FIL likes using saddles for risers etc - Meant PRV (pressure reducing valve) water pressure here is about 70psi but the srm seems to have a sweet spot around 36psi so need something to drop the pressure. Pretty sure we're going to run an adjustable valve in the mainline then fine tune with nozzles and or radius screw No worries, it did my head in trying to think about all the things for my system. In the end I had to sketch it all out and then count up all the parts. Got it mostly right first go which worked out well. * Don't know the solar sync, didn't know that was the rain sensor. * I've got 275m2 of turf which needs 800m of dripline. That's about $1500 worth. I know what you mean about a big build. My money tree is pretty bare too. * The master solenoid shouldn't use a zone but it will depend on your controller. Most have a specific input for a master. * I had to google saddles but no, they aren't the same. Saddles are used to attach risers to the pipe. A barrel union is a way to connect something and be able to get it out again easily later. e.g. if you put a barrel union on either side of your filter you could change it out if you had to. Otherwise once everything is all screwed and glued together you'd have to cut a pipe to get it out. * I realised you meant pressure reducing valve after I hit send. I didn't put one in cause I already didn't have enough pressure to shutoff the LFV. A variable one would be good. Google the "Techline AS Design Guide", it has some good info in there. I found it after I bought all the bits for mine. Luckily I didn't miss much. Re: New build - Irrigation system 7Apr 03, 2016 9:10 pm Yep I read the techline manuals (and a few others) as ideally I would defiantly put in sub soil but the money isn't there but the need for turf and not mud in our yard is. Will defiantly put barrel joiners in, was always going that way just didn't know the name. Also hoping to put in a fertigation Venturi for seasol and the like, did you do anything for injection? What turf did you lay? I'm tossing up between empire zoysia or sir Walter at the moment. I could go eureka kikuyu and save a heap but not sure at the moment. Re: New build - Irrigation system 8Apr 04, 2016 9:37 am I thought about putting in something to inject fertiliser but didn't in the end. Can always chop one in later. Haven't laid the turf yet, need to finish a retaining wall first. I'm tossing up between Sir Walter and Empire Zoysia. Hoping I can get a deal from a farm direct. Hi all I am looking to run a water line under my concrete footpath which is directly next to my home, was seeing if this is possible without cutting the entire section… 0 20193 Hi Brainstrust, I had a go at creating my own irrigation plan, keen to get some feedback. It will be run from one 750-800W pump, off 2* 5000L rain tanks. Each zone… 0 22775 Once you know the basics, the rest is easy. Read my post in the thread linked below. viewtopic.php?p=1919271#p1919271 2 19522 |