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Seasonal Adjustments to your Irrigation System

June 10, 2011

Ok, it’s time now for everyone to have their sprinklers on!  Earlier today I was starting up a system for a new customer, and I was struck by how dry the soil was in his lawn, after only about a week of truly spring like conditions.  But even though plants can now use some additional watering, at this time of year, they obviously don’t require as much as they will at the end of July.  But many systems operate by the rule of “Set it and forget it,” whereby once the controller is set in the spring, the program is never modified throughout the season.  Obviously, this is the easiest way to do things, but it’s equally obvious that this isn’t the best way to manage either our water or our landscapes.  So what to do?  There are several options:

      1)  Manually change the schedule in the controller periodically throughout the season- this is the most time-consuming, and possibly confusing, way to deal with the problem.  But if you (or perhaps your gardener or irrigation professional) are comfortable with doing things this way, it certainly can work.

      2) Seasonal Adjustment (or S. A.)- most modern irrigation controllers have a feature called “Seasonal Adjustment” (sometimes also “Water Budget,” or something similar).  This allows a simple universal adjustment of the irrigation schedule, based on a percentage.  As a general rule for most of the season in our region, systems should operate at 80% of the maximum “peak season” run times.  Historically, “peak season” actually only lasts for a few weeks at the end of July and into early August, when our “evapotranspiration” values are at their maximum.  So if the controller is programmed to water a particular area (or “zone” as we usually refer to them) for 10 minutes, it will water it for 10 minutes if the Seasonal Adjustment is set at 100%, but if you adjust the S. A. to 80%, the zone will only be watered for 8 minutes.  So 20 minutes, at 80%, becomes 16 minutes; at 70% it becomes 14 minutes, at 60% 12, etc.  How to change your Seasonal Adjustment: Many controllers have their “Seasonal Adjustment” or “Water Budget” setting on the dial.  To adjust, simply turn the dial to that setting, then use the “+(plus)” and/or “-(minus)“ buttons on the controller to change the setting.  Some Hunter Controllers have the Seasonal Adjustment controlled by 2 up and down arrows located to the left of the LCD display window- just use these buttons to move the Seasonal Adjustment percentage up or down.  Note: some controllers change the Seasonal Adjustment on a Program-by-Program basis.  So if Program A is your lawn, and Program B is your garden beds, you will need to change the S. A. for each separately.  Island Waterwise Irrigation offers a free Seasonal Adjustment e-mail service to our customers, notifying them periodically when we recommend they change their S. A. setting.

      3) Weather Sensors- there are also a number of sensors available on the market, that adjust controller settings based on current or historic weather conditions.  They range from fairly elaborate on-site weather stations, that can measure wind, rain, temperature, and solar radiation, and adjust program run times accordingly; subscription services, linked by computer, that send information to your controller from a regional weather station, or based on local weather records; and simpler devices, such as rain sensors, or one that I’m particularly fond of called the Hunter Solar Sync.  It measures rain, temperature, and solar radiation, and adjusts the controller’s Seasonal Adjustment settings based on the previous day’s weather.  It’s not as complicated as the weather stations, but still uses a good range of onsite data to manage system settings.

 

If you have any questions about any of this, or irrigation in general, please feel free to contact me any time.

 

Best regards,

Mike Isacson, CIC, CID, CIT, CLIA, CIS, CCCT (what do these letters mean? Click here to find out!)

Owner, Island Waterwise Irrigation Inc.

 

Upcoming Events:

 

CRD Irrigation Workshops: Click here to see a full list of CRD irrigation workshops for the spring and summer.  These courses are free, and are targeted at homeowners, with local irrigation professionals, including Island Waterwise owner Mike Isacson, providing a wealth of information.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                   

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Washington -- The Yankees' bullpen may have checked different on a daily basis this past time, but as Dellin Betances was able to learn at the the season, Mariano Rivera's presence and advice were still just a quick meaning away.

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Finishing third behind Bright Sox slugger Jose Abreu and Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker to the American League Jackie Robinson Newbie of the Year Award, as decided on by the hockey Writers' Association of America, Betances said that His picked up pointers that should help him build on of which impressive campaign.

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The 26-year-old Betances as well as Rivera bonded first as teammates and after that in the history books, because Betances shattered Rivera's franchise single-season record intended for strikeouts by a reliever, logging 135 strikeouts in 90 innings.

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The adjustments became predominant this spring, as Betances delivered his way onto the team and eventually moved into the build role in front of Robertson, showcasing a fastball in the high 90s together with a nasty slurve that prompted many swings and misses. Any time Betances was ahead in the rely, opponents batted just .076 against him.

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Betances led all AL prescriptions in innings pitched, holding foes to a .149 batting normal and ringing up the many strikeouts by a rookie reliever due to the fact Mark Eichhorn of the Blue Jays fanned 166 adult men in 1986.

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Washington, Fla. -- The Twins changed a slow start Sunday in addition to rallied to defeat the Marlins, 4-2, within a Grapefruit League game on Hammond Stadium.

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Minnesota fell into a young 2-0 hole, but scored the actual game's final four extends -- including two in the bottom in the seventh -- to secure the victory. With runners about second and third, a couple outs and the game deadlocked at 2, Twins shortstop Eduardo Escobar roped a line drive into left field that will scored both runners on what proved to be the game's important play. Escobar was caught in the rundown and was sooner or later tagged out between third and fourth on the play, but the damage had been done by that point.

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The game started with a battle involving two starting pitchers each going through his former team, because Twins sent Ricky Nolasco to the mound and Miami turned to Kevin Slowey, though neither factored into the decision. Each pitcher tossed five innings and departed with the game tied at A couple of.

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In his five innings, Slowey limited his former club to two operates with four hits, while eye-catching out one and jogging another. Nolasco, meanwhile, allowed a couple of runs on seven hits along with struck out three as part of his first start since being referred to as Minnesota's Opening Day starter.

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