Want to save time and money in the summer when watering your lawn? Wish you knew how to install a
sprinkler system yourself? Benefits of an automatic irrigation system include uniform and efficient
distribution of water. It will start up at the times that you indicate through the programmer, and
it will distribute the right amount of water, assuming less expense. For these reasons it is not
surprising that it is worth installing one in your yard.
The installation process is not overly complicated, although it does require some skill. This post
will indicate the steps and materials necessary to teach you how to install a sprinkler system, so
you can decide if you have enough skills to do the assembly yourself or you need to hire a
professional. In any case, it is always good to know how these irrigation systems work, because that
knowledge will help you solve the common circumstances that may arise once it is running.
Elements of the irrigation system
Your automatic sprinkler irrigation system will consist of the following main elements, which you
will need to assemble:
The programmer is the brain, the control unit that manages the
irrigation times of each irrigation sector.
Solenoid valves are connected by cables to the programmer, and are
in charge of opening and closing the different irrigation sectors depending on what it
indicates, operating each area or irrigation phase independently.
Polyethylene pipe; in different measures, water will flow through
it towards the emitters. The pipe you use must be manageable, flexible and easy to cut.
Irrigation emitters are the elements that project water throughout
the surface, those responsible for carrying out irrigation. They are chosen based on what is
going to be watered and the extension of the surface. Each type of emitter has a utility, scope
and angle of irrigation, for small and large areas of grass.
Polyethylene irrigation accessories. Depending on the type and
characteristics of your installation, you will need other additional accessories, which you will
see later when you explain the steps to carry out the assembly. Suffice it to say for now that
the most frequent are collars, manifolds for solenoid valves, and elbows of different sizes.
Planning
Locate the water intake
This is your starting point, you have to know where you are going to get the water that
you will then distribute. Normally you can use the general entrance pipe to the house as
a water intake, in which case you will use a tee to draw the line for irrigation water,
or a tap that you have in the garden.
Choose the location where you will place our irrigation head
Each irrigation area in which you divide our plot has its own pipeline or circuit, which
will be controlled by an electrovalve located at the beginning of said circuit.
The irrigation head is the set of solenoid valves and other control elements of all the
circuits (or phases) of the installation, which are usually grouped in the same space to
facilitate their revision and manipulation.
Choose the location of the irrigation controller
Keep in mind that this must be connected by cable to the solenoid valves.
Measure the flow that you have in the water intake
This data will help you determine what type and how many emitters you can use. The more
flow the more sprinklers you can install per area, since each one “consumes” a part of
that total flow.
Map the yard
The next thing is to make a plan of the garden, preferably to scale. Said plan must
include the following points:
Irrigation programmer: the place where you place it must be protected from inclement
weather and equipped with electricity.
Irrigation head: areas to irrigate, including grass, trees, shrubs, etc.
Installation
Once you have your plan, now you buy the adequate quantity of main elements (length of pipe,
solenoid valves, emitters and programmer) that will make up our automatic home irrigation
and prepare to assemble the structure. Although you will have to add some accessories that
will depend on the characteristics of our installation.
Once you have all the tools in your hands you will get to work, you must do ten tasks to
complete your installation:
Mark the layout of the pipes that will be distributed throughout the plot, using twine or
marking on the ground.
Dig the trenches through which the pipes will run, if your installation is underground (the
usual in case of sprinkler irrigation).
Pull a pipe from the water intake to the place where you are going to place the irrigation
head.
Assemble the irrigation head, connect it to the pipe coming from the water intake and lodge
it in the manhole, in case the installation is buried.
Distribute the pipeline through the open trenches from the head to the different points
where the water must arrive.
Place the irrigation emitters of each zone. In some cases, most will be emerging turbine
sprinklers, and some diffusers.
Make the electrical connection from the programmer to the solenoid valves.
Verify that everything is working correctly and the irrigation angles of the sprinklers are
adjusted. Once you make sure there are no water leaks, you cover the trench by burying the
pipe.
