Testing and Programming your System

Once you have your sprinkler system set up, you'll need to test it to find out how much water it needs to distribute during each watering session. This is fairly easy: just set up a number of receptacles (jars, cans-anything is fine, as long as the containers are all the same) around the lawn, then turn the system on. After ten minutes, turn the system off then check each receptacle to see how much water each contains. Each will probably contain a slightly different amount of water-estimate using the receptacle that contains the least. Measure the water depth, and then use that to determine the length of time to water. For example, if after ten minutes it contains 0.2 inches of water, you'll need to run the system for fifty minutes to apply a full inch to the lawn.

If you have a programmable system, make sure to allow for seasonal changes when programming it. Don't try and go through the entire year with one setting-you'll end up under or over-watering and probably comprising the health of your lawn (not to mention wasting water). Another good tip for saving water and making sure your lawn gets exactly as much as it needs is to choose a system with rain sensors. These can sense rainfall and automatically adjust sprinkler settings to compensate.

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