Drip, Drip, Drop: Questions for Planning your Drip System

Posted by Emilie Zahurones on

Have you ever taken on a project that fundamentally, seemed pretty straight forward? But, as you delved further and further into it, ended up having like 30 different paths you could have taken, just to get the same end result? …Welcome to drip irrigation. The thing is, some paths don’t always work as well as others when trying to reach your end goal. As a result, planning a drip irrigation system for your home can be really overwhelming, if you are unsure of what questions to ask. So, we are here to help simplify that process. Our goal is to lay out some base questions you may want to consider when planning out your very own drip irrigation system.

When thinking about installing a drip system, there are a few questions that often get tossed around.

“What is my budget?”
“Where am I irrigating to?”

“How am I going to hook up to water?”

Each of these questions are a great starting point, but when it comes to answering those queries, there are a few follow up questions that definitely need to come into play as well.

“What is my budget?” The question that seems the easiest to answer, more times than not, is always the one that is the hardest. Instead, there is a different question that we recommend you ask yourself first. “How much effort do I want to put forth?” Now this question can be thought of in two different contexts.

  • Will the install be contracted out to a landscaping company, or do you want to do it yourself?
  • Do you want the system to be automatic, or are you okay with manually turning it on and off for watering?

The question of “effort put forth” is great for context because it helps frame your desired experience, giving you an idea on whether or not a higher or a lower budget is required. Still, the idea of budget plays heavily in the original follow up questions of “where” and “how”. So, let’s tackle “where” next.

Where do you want to irrigate, is really a question of what do you want to irrigate to? The reasoning behind “where” verses “what” is that it allows you to better grasp the extent of your system. “Where” only implies the location, i.e. the front and/or back of your home. Whereas, asking what you want to irrigate to, implies location but, also brings up following questions like:

  • Am I irrigating to all of the same kind of plant or a variety of plants, shrubs, and trees?
  • Are those plants spaced out, or are the more naturally grouped?
  • Do those plants require a higher amount or frequency of watering?
  • What type of soil is the plant in?

All of these questions revolve around water consumption. As an irrigation supply store, we often see people walk into our location and ask us why their irrigated plant or tree is dying. And the answer is often the same, the amount of water reaching the plant is not correct for the type of plant it is, or the soil it is in. It’s pretty easy to understand why plant type is important to the amount of water it receives, but why is soil? Different soils have different rates of water retention. Meaning, sandy or rocky soils will dry out faster than clay-based soils, this results in the frequency of watering adjusting to fit the needs of the plant.

The chart below can be used as a rough guide to help figure out the amount of water needed for your plant or tree. Let’s go through an example together.

  • We are irrigating out to a young Aspen tree, with a canopy diameter of 4’, that is also growing in dense soil. Due to the soil type, we know it will take longer to dry out. So, we can assume the tree should be watered every other day. Since our store is located in is Flagstaff, AZ. We know we are “inland”.
    • So, a young tree that has a 4’ canopy and is not near a coastline, is estimated to need 2.8 gallons of water a day.
    • There are 7 days a week, so: 2.8 X 7 = 19.6 gallons a week
    • Due to the soil type, we want to water every other day, or 4 days a week. 19.6 ÷ 4 = 4.9 gallons per day.
  • Now, emitters are never going to be that specific and climate is variable in this chart. Which means we would want to round up to 5 gallons, and then add an additional gallon of water due to Arizona’s arid climate. Giving us an estimated 6 gallons of water per day.

So, if you have a diverse grouping of plants that need irrigation to them, then the type of tubing, emitters, and the number of irrigation stations needed, are all variable to change. Now, let’s pause for a moment, switch gears, and spend a teeny bit of time explaining the function of irrigation stations.

First and foremost, what is an irrigation station? It is a separate line of piping or tubing that is controlled by a valve, and allows water to enter the stations at different times. The easiest way to picture this is thinking of a split way water spigot. With this device, two systems can be hooked up to one water source. The levers allow the user to determine which valve they want to open, and what station will receive water to it. But, be aware, the more stations you have, the more you’ll need to control water pressure. A topic we will discuss in our next blog.

So now that we have talked about the where and the what, now its time to discuss the “how”.

“How will I hook up to water?”

This is probably the easiest question to answer, and is really based on the former questions relating to water consumption. If you are planning on irrigating to one or two “stations” of plants that require less water, then hooking directly up to a spigot should be perfectly fine. However, if you have multiple stations, or are irrigating out to large shrubs or trees (which both require more water) then you’ll probably want to hook up directly to your main waterline. The types of hook ups range from very simple to exceptionally complex. If you are planning on a more complex system, I would recommend having a technician come out and help you, as calculating water pressure plays a heavy hand in whether or not your system will function correctly.

Planning a drip irrigation system can require a lot work. But having a clear vision of the extent of your system can help simplify the process. Join us next week as we create a building scenario for a low budget drip system!


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