In digging up the front yard, we completely destroyed Zone 10 of the irrigation system. Having finished the excavation, we can now put it back. We start with a layout of the new front yard.
This was created by using a photo editor on the drone photos from June 2021,
We want to try using a different form of sprinkler head in the front -- one designed to generate less mist. We selected the Rain Bird 8SAFPROPR (360 degrees) and 8SAPROPR (adjustable) Mini Rotor Sprinklers.
These can cover up to 14 feet. Then we need heads in the corners. A couple more along the sides to fill the long runs. And two in the center to cover everything else. This gives us a design like:
We can then connect the heads with supply lines. All the lines are 3/4 inch PVC. Create a parts list and go to Home Depot to get the parts. The heads have to be special ordered. I wanted the "PR" versions which are supposed to be pressure regulated, so that if the water pressure is too high, it still works correctly. The heads cost $135.13; all the other parts are $87.10
This was followed by a couple of days of trenching. We do not have the final layer of dirt on the yard, so we don't have to trench as far down, but still the pipes and such should be another 4 to 6 inches deep, to allow 4 more inches of dirt and the standard 8 inch sprinkler heads plus an inch spacer and the pipe itself.
We started on the Western edge.
Then we ran the two lines that go across the yard.
And then splice in the lines running back to the house
and up to the street
Once all the lines are in, we installed the heads.
Then we could flush the system and test all of them.
Once it is all in, and the dirt is in place, and we are starting to plant, I ran a test to see how much water it uses. Running it for 30 minutes, and reading the water meter before and after, it uses 190 gallons, in 30 minutes. About 6 gallons a minute. And at 7.5 gallons per cubic foot, we have about 25 cubic feet of water (in 30 minutes). Spread over 1370 square feet of dirt, that comes to .22 inch deep. So we need to run this zone 10 about 2 hours to get one inch for the yard.
