Irrigation Audit Protocols
Introduction:
Irrigation by Design has developed a water management plan following the guidelines created by the California Department of Water Resources and California State Polytechnic University -
Irrigation Training and Resource Centre, and sanctioned by The Irrigation Association to provide clients with organized testing procedures in an effort to assist in improving water management.
These procedures include methods for evaluating irrigation system performance in terms of uniformity (how evenly) and precipitation rate (how fast).
These results are combined with fair estimates of plant water requirements to calculate an efficient irrigation schedule.
Landscape Water Management Procedures:
Landscape water management procedures are defined by two equally weighted protocols - Irrigation Audits and Irrigation Management.
Irrigation Audit:
The irrigation schedule, which defines the days to water, the time each cycle starts and the run time for each station, is the key to improved water management.
It is the primary means to accomplish irrigation goals with minimum water use, potentially resulting in lower water costs and better quality landscapes.
The schedule is derived through a three step audit process:
Site Inspection/System Tune-up—Data regarding the system's technical characteristics and controller capabilities are obtained, followed by an inspection of each station under operation.
System Test — "Catch Cans" (small water collection devices of a specified throat area, see Fig. 2) are spread throughout each station.
By running each station for a known length of time and measuring the water collected in the cans, the relative performance of the stations can be determined.
Calculation of Base Watering Schedule — This step develops the relationship between weather and plants, soil and irrigation.
Weather and type of plants define the landscape's consumptive use of water.
Soils, effective rainfall and the efficiency of the irrigation system influence the amount of water required to meet the landscape's consumptive requirement.
Plant species, density, and station micro-climate factors are included to determine the landscape coefficient value specific to each station of the irrigation system,
which will ultimately define the recommended water schedule.
Irrigation Management:
To fully benefit from the results of the irrigation audit and the recommended base schedule, effective irrigation management must be subsequently employed on a regular basis.
These management practices will maintain the integrity of the irrigation system and will potentially reduce water usage and save on operating expenses.
Ongoing irrigation management practices include:
Implement the Base Schedule/Schedule Adjustments
— The implementation of the base schedule derived from the irrigation audit is typically the step that saves operating costs and water at most sites.
Regular System Maintenance
— A regularly scheduled routine maintenance program is necessary because irrigation system components may fail or go out of adjustment.
Track Water Use
— Tracking the water usage provides very useful feedback about the real water consumption versus the budgeted or allocated water use.
Monthly review of water use can be helpful in avoiding over use and the penalties for exceeding allocations.
Typically water rates are billed based on a tiered system of rates and users are regularly rewarded for conservation steps employed to reduce overall water use.
Other than the appearance of the plant material and turf, this is a way to evaluate water use practices.
Contact Us
for more information regarding Irrigation Audits or to schedule a meeting.
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