What is the best way to measure how much water my sprinkler's are outputting?

Question

I have over 20+ sprinklers on my lawn and i have read in Scott's Lawn Care book that i need to lay down 1 inch of water per week for it to remain healthy.

Does anyone have a good way to measure this?

Answer 1

A simple and cheap method (recommended by many on the Scott's lawn care forum) is the tuna can method. Take a few empty tuna cans and put them out on the lawn in various places. Then run your sprinkler. When the can is full, you've put down an inch of water.

Keep in mind that the one inch per week includes what we get from mother nature in the form of rain. Chances are, you won't have to water a full inch yourself. If you want to find out how much rain you've received, check this link out. It will tell you from day to day how much precipitation you've received.

http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/USPA0906?from=36hr_topnav_undeclared

(if you go to weather.com's home page and put in your zip code, you can get to this "layout" by clicking on the "Month" link.)

Also, you want to water infrequently. What that means is you don't want your lawn to get 1/7th of an inch every day. Ideally, that inch of rain per week will come in one or two waterings. This will encourage deeper root growth and give you a healthier lawn.

Answer 2

Go back to the installer of the sprinkler system for the help which should have come with the package. If you did not have the system installed you still need to have a vendor to service the unit yearly and in case of adjustment/repair issues.
The one inch a week is a general rule of thumb. An upgraded system will have a rain gauge that will automatically shut-down a system when it is raining and when the combination of the rainfall and watering is at one inch. Most systems use a series of collection devices (cones) outside your home and connected to the control unit.
It will cost money to upgrade, however, it is worth it. You will save money from unneeded water usage and reduce damage and disease from your turf. Set your unit to give you the true one inch per week. You need to know that the one inch is the level received at the 4-6in level where the roots grow. A few minutes per day is fine for the surface. Set the system to deep water the turf at least once a week. In the bad summer months twice a week would be desired. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Put a flat pan out in the lawn and run your sprinklers for 15 minutes. Measure the depth of the water in the pan and multiply by 4. That will tell you how much water (in inches) per hour your sprinklers are putting out.

Answer 4

Buy the inexpensive plastic rain gages and place them in different locations in your lawn. This should give you a good indication of the coverage of your sprinklers and the amount of water you are putting in your lawn.

Answer 5

Find out what type of sprinkler heads you have and check with the manufacturer on the sprinkler rating. They will be able to tell you precisely wha the usage is for your system. Each sprinkler head is designed for a specific GPM rating @ X.XX psi. Once you find out out what the heads are rated for, you can do the math.

Answer 6

Build a 12x12 inch box about 2 inches in depth and put it in the yard when you water, when you get one inch of water in the box, then you know you have enough water. Note how long it takes to fill and then you know how long to run the sprinkler system to get an inch.