Low pressure at sprinkler heads.?

Question

I am trying to install a residential sprinkler system. Most of the system works fine with sufficient pressure. However, the further zones with rotary heads basically trickle. I measured the pump output to be 5 GPM, is this my problem. I even tried a pressure tank which made little difference. I can also hear a gurgle of water at the valve for the furthest section. I used 1 inch piping. What can I do?

I am only trying to run 3 heads, per zone.

The pump is only for irragation, not for home supply.

Answer 1

Closed system so it's probably a system problem. If most of the system works fine then its likely only one of three problems:
a pipe blockage (not likely)
a small leak somewhere from the last two spinklers that work to the end (can be a solder issue) or
the pipes in the farthest zones are higher than the first.
I did a sprinkler check on a building in the winter and the maintenance folks said ours was ok because all zones were installed separately, with separate cutoffs. They suggested bigger buildings sometimes started their installation from the top down, but that sounded weird.
However, I'd see what the pressure rating for the pump is supposed to be before digging through the copper.

Answer 2

Should user smaller piping the further from the valve, 1" down to 3/4" down to 1/2" etc. This should increase the pressure as you go down the line. I am not sure this is your problem though.

Answer 3

You're probably gonna have to have the furthest ones on there own separate line so they have sufficient pressure.